Record number of conflicts between states: “Worrying trend”
Dark war headlines can make the world feel dark - and that's not just a feeling.
In 2025, there were a record number of conflicts between states and the year was the bloodiest in over 30 years.
- It's a very worrying trend, says Therese Pettersson at Uppsala University's conflict data program UCDP.
A total of 65 conflicts with states involved on one or both sides were registered in 2025, according to UCDP. This is the highest number since statistics began in 1946.
The number of pure conflicts between states increased to eight – also the highest level since World War II. These include the wars between Russia and Ukraine, Iran and Israel, and the conflict between India and Pakistan.
"The fact that conflicts between states are increasing is very worrying, because these types of conflicts have the potential to be much more deadly," says Therese Pettersson, senior analyst and project manager at UCDP.
She sees a development where both old and new battles have flared up.
"The conflict issue may have existed for a long time without being fought with military force. But now we are seeing several border conflicts and an increased tendency to use military force across international borders.
The US not the “world policeman”
According to Therese Pettersson, a number of factors may be behind the development. First, we are seeing a more multipolar world where the US is not as clearly the "world policeman", and second, conflict resolution through diplomacy has become more difficult and the focus on mediation has decreased, she believes.
Individual leaders can also play a role, for example, US presidents have had different attitudes towards intervening in other countries' conflicts.
- But we have seen the trend of increased violence for quite some time, so it is not as simple as the Trump administration or a policy change being the cause.
Violence against civilians is increasing
Last year was the bloodiest since 1994 and the genocide in Rwanda, according to UCDP. In total, around 244,600 people were killed in organized violence and the war in Ukraine remained the deadliest conflict.
In addition, unilateral violence against civilians increased by over 400 percent compared to 2024.
- It is an absolutely horrifying development, driven almost exclusively by the war in Sudan and the massacres that took place in El Fasher in Darfur. There, we have registered over 60,000 civilian deaths in 2025.
And it could get even worse. In the first four months of the year, UCDP has provisionally registered almost twice as many deaths compared to the same period last year.
- So the trend of very high death tolls and many conflicts looks set to continue.
FACTS
Conflicts in the world
Since 2023, when two interstate conflicts were registered, the number has increased to eight in 2025. This is the highest number since UCDP began collecting data in 1946.
In total, UCDP registered 65 conflicts in which states were involved on one or both sides last year. 13 of them were classified as wars, which means they caused at least 1,000 combat-related deaths in a year.
In the deadliest conflict, the war in Ukraine, at least 94,700 deaths were registered. This corresponds to around 62 percent of all combat-related deaths globally. The war between Israel and Hamas and the war in Sudan were also among the world's deadliest conflicts.
The UCDP recorded 76,500 deaths in unilateral violence (such as massacres of civilians) in 2025. This is an increase of over 400 percent compared to 2024 and the highest level since 1994.
One bright spot is that non-state conflicts, such as fighting between drug cartels in Mexico, continued to decline. Theses types of conflicts caused a total of about 14,500 deaths in 2025, the lowest number since 2013.
Source: Uppsala University's conflict data program UCDP
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