A study conducted by the International Centre for Research on Radicalisation and Political Violence (ICLRV) has revealed that the number of people who join Islamic State and al-Qaeda groups in the world has been increasing since the beginning of the decade.
According to the report, from 2007 to 2017, the number in these groups increased by approximately 30% and from 2020 to 2025, the figure increased by another 30%.
The ICLRV says that this is likely due to a number of factors, including increased economic and social instability, and an increase in the number and size of terrorist groups.
In 2018, there were 6,838 people identified as members of al-Shabaab, the report states.
The report notes that al-Nusra Front, a Syrian al-Qaida affiliate, grew by 6% in 2017 to 5,981 members.
This is more than the growth of the other jihadist groups, but less than the 6.2% that the Islamic State group grew.
In 2017, there was an increase of 12.4% in the numbers of people identifying as members or supporters of the Islamic Front, an organisation which the report says is largely responsible for the rise in al- Qaeda groups.
The ICLRLV also noted that the increase in membership and support for Islamic State groups is a clear indication that the global jihadist movement is on the march.
This is the first time the ICLR has analysed the global membership and membership levels of jihadist groups since the early 1990s.
According the report’s authors, the rise of these jihadist groups is due to the fact that they have been able to recruit young people in large numbers.
The authors explain that the increased recruitment has been fuelled by the availability of social media, as well as the rise and popularity of social-media platforms like Facebook and Twitter.
The number of members of the jihadist groups in 2017 was approximately 10 million people, with the number increasing by approximately 1.7 million from 2020.
According to the ICLRB, the global number of jihadist fighters was estimated at 8.7 billion by the end of 2020.
While the ICLU report says that al Qaeda and Islamic State are on the rise, the ICLA and the ICRLV say that the rise is primarily due to economic instability and instability caused by the Syrian civil war.