In the past 45 years, there have been more than 16,000 terror attacks in Western Europe, an average of more than 350 per year, according to the Global Terrorism Database, maintained by the National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism.

The peak was reached in 1979, when 1,019 attacks were perpetrated in Europe, but all through the 1970s, 1980s, and mid-1990s attacks occurred with an average frequency of about 10 per week. Since 1997, the trend line has been even lower.

This year, however, stands out in terms of casualties. Both the number of dead and wounded is above the average of the past 45 years, though still below the levels of the 1970s and 1980s. The deadliest year was 1988, when terrorist in the region claimed 440 victims, mainly in the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, an attack for which Libya’s then-leader Muammar Gaddafi acknowledged responsibility. The highest number of wounded, 1,853, came in 2004, with the attacks in Madrid.

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