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Wars and conflicts

How many wars there have been since 1926, how many people died and which states were involved. With open data and method.

Wars and conflicts since 1926

How many armed conflicts were there each year, who took part, and what did they cost? The figures come from two recognised datasets of peace and conflict research. We do not count ourselves. We show what the datasets record under their own rules, and name their limits.

What is counted

UCDP/PRIO Armed Conflict Dataset, version 26.1 (Uppsala and Oslo): an armed conflict is a contested incompatibility over government or territory in which the use of armed force between two parties, at least one of them the government of a state, results in at least 25 battle-related deaths in a calendar year. From 1,000 such deaths in a year the dataset speaks of war. It covers 1946 to 2025.

Types: intrastate (government against armed groups), internationalised intrastate (the same, but other states fight with their own troops), interstate (state against state), extrasystemic (a state fights outside its territory for control of a territory, as in colonial wars).

Correlates of War (COW): a war is sustained combat between organised armed forces with at least 1,000 battle deaths among combatants within twelve months. A state is a war participant if it commits at least 1,000 troops or suffers 100 battle deaths. COW is the source for the years before 1946; Inter-State Wars version 4.0 runs to 2007, Intra-State Wars version 5.1 to 2014.

The two datasets count differently. Their figures are therefore shown separately and not joined into one line.

Armed conflicts per year, 1946 to 2025

According to UCDP/PRIO there were 65 armed conflicts in 2025, more than in any other year since 1946. 13 of them reached the war threshold of 1,000 deaths.

  • intrastate
  • internationalised intrastate
  • interstate
  • extrasystemic
Stacked columns: number of armed conflicts per year by type, 1946 to 2025, UCDP/PRIO 26.1.02040608019501960197019801990200020102020Number
Stacked columns: number of armed conflicts per year by type, 1946 to 2025, UCDP/PRIO 26.1.0204060801960198020002020Number
Values as a table
Yearintrastateinternationalised intrastateinterstateextrasystemictotalof which wars
19468225177
194790051410
1948120352013
194913035218
195011025188
19518024146
19527025145
19538017167
19548016154
19557006134
19569026176
19579116172
195811115186
195912103165
196011301154
196116212219
196213223207
196313322207
196414434257
196517334278
196619324287
1967222543311
196820213267
196917453299
197016523268
1971204232910
197217423266
197317333267
197420242286
197524420307
197629210328
197729430368
1978295403814
1979344304110
198030830419
1981337204213
1982375204415
1983336404314
1984345304215
1985324203813
1986365304412
1987375504715
1988324303916
1989345204110
1990443204914
1991492205313
1992455105114
199338600449
1994472105010
199538210419
1996363204110
199734410399
1998326204012
1999326204012
2000344204012
200131520389
200229310337
200328320336
200429400337
200528500335
200628500336
200731400354
200831710395
200930700377
201023800314
201127910377
201223910336
2013281010397
20142817104613
20153221105411
20163418205412
20173023105410
2018311920526
2019292620577
2020272730578
2021262620545
2022312230568
2023362120599
20243619405911
20253522806513

Wars per year according to Correlates of War, 1926 to 2007

COW counts only wars with at least 1,000 battle deaths. In 1992 there were 30 at the same time, the highest number in the period. In 1939 COW records four interstate wars, among them the Second World War.

  • intrastate
  • interstate
  • extra-state
Stacked columns: number of ongoing wars per year by COW type, 1926 to 2007.05101520253019301940195019601970198019902000Number
Stacked columns: number of ongoing wars per year by COW type, 1926 to 2007.0510152025301940196019802000Number
Values as a table
Yearintrastateinterstateextra-state
1926403
1927302
1928501
1929711
1930603
1931313
1932721
1933420
1934520
1935120
1936212
1937212
1938222
1939241
1940140
1941130
1942010
1943110
1944210
1945611
1946502
1947712
1948824
1949622
1950613
1951312
1952414
1953315
1954216
1955414
1956524
1957513
1958722
1959701
1960701
1961702
1962812
1963801
1964802
1965922
1966712
1967922
19681022
1969642
1970942
1971842
1972722
1973832
1974722
1975924
19761213
19771122
19781732
19791433
19801014
19811014
19821334
19831514
19841513
19851313
19861523
19871533
19881513
19891902
19902010
19912711
19922811
19932110
19942110
19951710
19961500
19971401
19981610
19991730
20001411
20011512
20021201
2003912
2004701
2005701
2006701
2007500

Deaths

Since 1989 UCDP has recorded deaths from organised violence in three forms. It counts people killed directly by violence, using the dataset’s best estimate; deaths from hunger, disease or destroyed supplies are not included. Highest value in the series: 1994 with 823,507 deaths, mainly from one-sided violence against civilians that UCDP locates in Rwanda, Burundi and the DR Congo; 1994 is the year of the genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda. 2025: 244,579 deaths.

  • fighting in conflicts involving a state
  • fighting between non-state groups
  • one-sided violence against civilians
Stacked columns: deaths from organised violence per year, 1989 to 2025, best estimate, UCDP 26.1.0200,000400,000600,000800,0001,000,0001990200020102020Deaths
Stacked columns: deaths from organised violence per year, 1989 to 2025, best estimate, UCDP 26.1.0200,000400,000600,000800,0001,000,00020002020Deaths
Values as a table
Yearfighting in conflicts involving a statefighting between non-state groupsone-sided violence against civilians
198955,6674,1708,108
199080,2975,2519,857
199170,3553,8609,746
199253,41010,45811,703
199344,95414,72214,109
199438,5235,299779,685
199536,7554,46921,085
199628,9034,19654,291
199740,3894,30621,204
199840,2383,52317,333
199981,4446,08714,601
200078,6747,4288,514
200123,6235,1268,927
200221,1576,39113,848
200323,2653,56413,552
200419,7164,16112,286
200512,4372,1925,816
200620,2873,0754,474
200719,3814,2085,014
200828,8676,1884,489
200936,0069,4356,113
201021,6528,8043,750
201125,6369,3636,926
201274,15510,0676,470
201393,4959,60311,679
2014116,00519,53915,339
2015104,47915,80910,883
201690,76417,1187,937
201772,13731,0519,349
201855,16627,8725,187
201952,67619,0325,536
202073,13920,6768,948
2021199,81621,90812,030
2022284,98119,74212,172
2023138,91719,14211,341
2024155,03817,72514,260
2025153,64314,48376,453

Interstate wars 1926 to 1945 according to COW

Sum of the battle deaths of all participants according to COW. Civilian victims are not included in this figure.

War (name in the dataset)YearsBattle deathsParticipating states
Manchurian19293,2002
Second Sino-Japanese1931 to 193360,0002
Chaco1932 to 193592,6612
Saudi-Yemeni19342,1002
Conquest of Ethiopia1935 to 193620,0002
Third Sino-Japanese1937 to 19411,000,0002
Changkufeng19381,7262
Nomonhan193928,0003
World War II1939 to 194516,634,90725
Russo-Finnish1939 to 1940151,7982
Franco-Thai1940 to 19411,4002

Participation of states in interstate wars and conflicts

For each state the table gives the number of interstate wars it took part in according to COW since 1926 and the number of interstate conflicts it was involved in according to UCDP since 1946. It is in alphabetical order and is not a ranking.

  • Participation says nothing about who attacked, who defended or who was in the right.
  • Every coalition counts every participant: a state that joins a large alliance with few troops counts the same as the main party.
  • COW ends in 2007. UCDP counts each conflict once, however long it lasts; primary and supporting parties are shown separately.
  • States that no longer exist appear under their name at the time. Both datasets list the Soviet Union and Russia under the same code.
Open table with 107 states
StateWars according to COW, 1926 to 2007Conflicts according to UCDP, primary party, 1946 to 2025additionally as supporting party
Afghanistan13
Albania1
Algeria1
Angola1
Argentina111
Armenia1
Australia514
Azerbaijan1
Bahrain2
Bangladesh1
Belgium22
Bolivia1
Bosnia and Herzegovina1
Brazil1
Bulgaria1
Burkina Faso1
Cambodia32
Cameroon1
Canada43
Chad12
China1051
Colombia11
Croatia1
Cuba21
Cyprus11
Czechoslovakia1
Democratic Republic of the Congo1
Denmark1
Djibouti1
Ecuador11
Egypt641
El Salvador11
Eritrea12
Ethiopia521
Finland2
France832
Germany2
Greece22
Grenada1
Honduras121
Hungary21
Hyderabad1
India53
Indonesia2
Iran12
Iraq54
Israel67
Italy41
Japan5
Jordan32
Kuwait11
Kyrgyzstan1
Laos11
Lebanon11
Libya21
Luxembourg1
Malaysia1
Mali1
Mongolia2
Morocco211
Myanmar1
Netherlands313
New Zealand13
Nicaragua1
Niger1
Nigeria2
North Korea112
Norway12
Oman11
Pakistan421
Panama1
Paraguay1
Peru11
Philippines22
Poland1
Portugal1
Qatar11
Romania1
Saudi Arabia31
Senegal1
Sierra Leone1
Singapore1
Somalia11
South Africa21
South Korea211
South Sudan1
South Vietnam21
South Yemen11
Soviet Union/Russia641
Spain11
Sri Lanka1
Sudan1
Syria521
Taiwan21
Tajikistan1
Tanzania11
Thailand432
Tunisia1
Türkiye312
Uganda11
Ukraine1
United Arab Emirates11
United Kingdom873
United States955
Vietnam (North Vietnam)63
Yemen (North Yemen)13
Yugoslavia3

Further consequences

Displacement: at the end of 2025, according to UNHCR’s Global Trends report, 117.8 million people were forcibly displaced, 68.7 million of them within their own country and 41.6 million as refugees abroad. The number fell for the first time in ten years. Besides war, persecution, violence and human rights violations also cause displacement.

Economy: the Institute for Economics and Peace puts the economic impact of violence in 2025 at 21.8 trillion US dollars in purchasing power parity, 10.5 percent of world output or 2,657 dollars per person (Global Peace Index 2026). Besides conflict losses the calculation includes military spending and internal security; it follows the institute’s method.

Sanctions and blockades: a tool alongside or instead of war

Chapter VII of the Charter of the United Nations sets out two steps. Under Article 41 the Security Council may decide on measures not involving the use of armed force, including the complete or partial interruption of economic relations. Only if these are inadequate may it take military action under Article 42.

How often sanctions achieve their aim is disputed in research and depends on the definition. In Economic Sanctions Reconsidered (3rd edition, 2007) Hufbauer, Schott, Elliott and Oegg rate about one third of cases as at least partly successful (34 percent). Pape (1997) re-examined the cases of an earlier edition and accepted only 5 of 115 as successes. Morgan, Bapat and Kobayashi (2014) find 27 to 56 percent in the TIES dataset, depending on the definition.

Findings on humanitarian effects differ. For 98 countries in 1977 to 2012, Gutmann, Neuenkirch and Neumeier (2021) find that UN sanctions lower life expectancy considerably more than US sanctions: UN sanctions by about 1.2 to 1.4 years, US sanctions by 0.4 to 0.5 years (separate estimates, abstract checked on 3 November 2026). Rodríguez, Rendón and Weisbrot (2025) estimate about 564,000 deaths per year associated with unilateral sanctions in 2012 to 2021 (95 percent interval 368,000 to 761,000) and find no statistically significant effect for UN sanctions. The authors themselves name limits: observational data and possible unobserved influences. The study was supported by the Center for Economic and Policy Research.

Since Resolution 2664 of 9 December 2022 a general humanitarian exemption applies to all UN asset freezes; the US, the EU and other states have adopted their own exemptions.

These sections set out research findings and the legal framework. They do not judge any single measure or state.

This overview is non-partisan and does not rank states. Please report errors to info@aciel-martinez-poll.com.

Data for download: ucdp_konflikte_je_jahr.csv, cow_kriege_je_jahr.csv, ucdp_todesopfer_je_jahr.csv, cow_kriege_1926_1945.csv, beteiligung_zwischenstaatlich.csv

Sources (11), accessed 3 November 2026
  1. Davies, S., Pettersson, T. and Öberg, M. (2026): Organized violence 1989 to 2025, and violent political protests. Journal of Peace Research 63(4). Gleditsch, N. P. et al. (2002): Armed Conflict 1946 to 2001, A New Dataset. Journal of Peace Research 39(5), 615 to 637. Data: UCDP/PRIO Armed Conflict Dataset 26.1, licence CC BY 4.0. https://ucdp.uu.se/downloads/
  2. UCDP Battle-Related Deaths Dataset 26.1, UCDP Non-State Conflict Dataset 26.1, UCDP One-Sided Violence Dataset 26.1, licence CC BY 4.0. https://ucdp.uu.se/downloads/
  3. Pettersson, T. (2026): UCDP/PRIO Armed Conflict Dataset Codebook v 26.1 (definitions). https://ucdp.uu.se/downloads/ucdpprio/ucdp-prio-acd-261.pdf
  4. Sarkees, M. R. and Wayman, F. (2010): Resort to War, 1816 to 2007. Washington DC: CQ Press. Data: COW Inter-State War Data 4.0, Intra-State Wars 5.1, Extra-State War Data 4.0; use with citation request, no licence stated. https://correlatesofwar.org/data-sets/cow-war/
  5. UNHCR, Global Trends: Forced Displacement in 2025 (June 2026), as reported by Africanews, 12.6.2026. https://www.unhcr.org/global-trends
  6. Institute for Economics and Peace, Global Peace Index 2026 (June 2026), as reported by Qazinform, 16.6.2026. https://www.visionofhumanity.org/
  7. Charter of the United Nations, Chapter VII, Articles 41 and 42. https://www.un.org/en/about-us/un-charter/chapter-7
  8. Hufbauer, G. C., Schott, J. J., Elliott, K. A. and Oegg, B. (2007): Economic Sanctions Reconsidered, 3. ed., Peterson Institute; Pape, R. A. (1997): Why Economic Sanctions Do Not Work. International Security 22(2); Morgan, T. C., Bapat, N. and Kobayashi, Y. (2014): Threat and Imposition of Economic Sanctions 1945 to 2005, Conflict Management and Peace Science 31(5); figures as summarised in Leng, Economic Statecraft, Chapter 3. https://bookdown.org/zengyuleng/economicstatecraft/sanctions-effectiveness.html
  9. Gutmann, J., Neuenkirch, M. and Neumeier, F. (2021): Sanctioned to Death? The Impact of Economic Sanctions on Life Expectancy and its Gender Gap. Journal of Development Studies 57(1), 139 to 162; working paper version: CESifo Working Paper 8033. https://econpapers.repec.org/RePEc:taf:jdevst:v:57:y:2021:i:1:p:139-162
  10. Rodríguez, F., Rendón, S. and Weisbrot, M. (2025): Effects of international sanctions on age-specific mortality, a cross-national panel data analysis. The Lancet Global Health 13(8), e1358 to e1366, DOI 10.1016/S2214-109X(25)00189-5, CC BY 4.0. https://cepr.net/publications/effects-of-international-sanctions-on-age-specific-mortality/
  11. UN Security Council, Resolution 2664 (2022) of 9.12.2022. https://docs.un.org/en/S/RES/2664(2022)