Number of terrorist attacks in Australia

Australia: Number of terrorist attacks was 1 attacks in 2021. ◆ Volatile

Latest (2021)
1 attacks
Change on year
down 80.0%
World rank
65th
of 188 countries
All-time high
12 attacks
in 2015
All-time low
0 attacks
in 1973
Years of data
51
1970–2021

Number of terrorist attacks in Australia, 1970–2021

02.557.51012.5197019952021

Source: National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism (START) (2022) – with major processing by Our World in Data. Measured in attacks.

Analysis

Australia recorded 1 attacks for number of terrorist attacks in 2021.

The figure is down 80.0% on the previous year and down 88.9% over five years.

Over the whole period, number of terrorist attacks in Australia peaked at 12 attacks in 2015 and was at its lowest, 0 attacks, in 1973.

That places Australia 65th out of 188 countries with data for 2021, putting it in the middle of the range.

The series is highly variable year to year, so single readings are best treated with caution.

Number of terrorist attacks in Australia, year by year

Annual values for Number of terrorist attacks in Australia, 1970 to 2021.
Year attacks Change
1970 1 attacks
1971 1 attacks +0.0%
1972 8 attacks +700.0%
1973 0 attacks -100.0%
1974 1 attacks
1975 0 attacks -100.0%
1976 0 attacks
1977 0 attacks
1978 2 attacks
1979 2 attacks +0.0%
1980 6 attacks +200.0%
1981 1 attacks -83.3%
1982 2 attacks +100.0%
1983 0 attacks -100.0%
1984 0 attacks
1985 0 attacks
1986 2 attacks
1987 0 attacks -100.0%
1988 3 attacks
1989 2 attacks -33.3%
1990 0 attacks -100.0%
1991 4 attacks
1992 4 attacks +0.0%
1994 9 attacks +125.0%
1995 5 attacks -44.4%
1996 5 attacks +0.0%
1997 4 attacks -20.0%
1998 6 attacks +50.0%
1999 0 attacks -100.0%
2000 1 attacks
2001 2 attacks +100.0%
2002 0 attacks -100.0%
2003 0 attacks
2004 0 attacks
2005 0 attacks
2006 2 attacks
2007 0 attacks -100.0%
2008 1 attacks
2009 1 attacks +0.0%
2010 1 attacks +0.0%
2011 0 attacks -100.0%
2012 0 attacks
2013 1 attacks
2014 8 attacks +700.0%
2015 12 attacks +50.0%
2016 9 attacks -25.0%
2017 4 attacks -55.6%
2018 3 attacks -25.0%
2019 2 attacks -33.3%
2020 5 attacks +150.0%
2021 1 attacks -80.0%

Biggest year-on-year movements

Years where Number of terrorist attacks in Australia changed far more than this series normally does. A large move can be a real event or a change in how the figure was measured — the source note below says who published it.

YearChange FromTo
1972 +700.0% 1 attacks 8 attacks
2014 +700.0% 1 attacks 8 attacks

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
1970s 1.5 attacks 0 attacks 8 attacks 10
1980s 1.6 attacks 0 attacks 6 attacks 10
1990s 4.11 attacks 0 attacks 9 attacks 9
2000s 0.7 attacks 0 attacks 2 attacks 10
2010s 4 attacks 0 attacks 12 attacks 10
2020s 3 attacks 1 attacks 5 attacks 2

Countries ranked near Australia

  1. 65 Albania 1 attacks compare
  2. 65 Algeria 1 attacks compare
  3. 65 Benin 1 attacks compare
  4. 65 El Salvador 1 attacks compare
  5. 65 Ghana 1 attacks compare
  6. 65 Guatemala 1 attacks compare
  7. 65 Latvia 1 attacks compare
  8. 65 Lebanon 1 attacks compare
  9. 65 Maldives 1 attacks compare
  10. 65 Rwanda 1 attacks compare
  11. 65 Serbia 1 attacks compare
  12. 65 Sri Lanka 1 attacks compare
  13. 65 Western Sahara 1 attacks compare
  14. 65 Zambia 1 attacks compare

See the full ranking of 188 places →

More reference data data for Australia

All data for Australia →

Frequently asked questions

What is number of terrorist attacks in Australia?
Number of terrorist attacks in Australia was 1 attacks in 2021, according to National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism (START) (2022) – with major processing by Our World in Data.
What is the highest number of terrorist attacks recorded in Australia?
The highest recorded value was 12 attacks in 2015.
What is the lowest number of terrorist attacks recorded in Australia?
The lowest recorded value was 0 attacks in 1973.
How does Australia rank for number of terrorist attacks?
Australia ranks 65th out of 188 countries with data for 2021.
Where does this Australia data come from?
The figures come from National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism (START) (2022) – with major processing by Our World in Data, published as part of Number of terrorist attacks. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

Download this data

CSV · JSON — 51 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).

Share, cite or embed this page

Cite this page

Number of terrorist attacks in Australia. Statizoid, drawing on National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism (START) (2022) – with major processing by Our World in Data. Retrieved 23 September 2026, from https://reference.statizoid.com/stat/terrorist-attacks/australia/

Embed or link this data

Paste this into a page to link back to these figures. The data itself is free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data); please keep the attribution.

<a href="https://reference.statizoid.com/stat/terrorist-attacks/australia/">Number of terrorist attacks in Australia</a> — Statizoid

About this data

Indicator
Number of terrorist attacks
Unit
attacks
Source
National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism (START) (2022) – with major processing by Our World in Data
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)
Coverage
188 places, 9,021 data points, 1970–2021
Last refreshed

Total number of terrorist attacks.