Guess which terror group is the world’s deadliest. The answer may surprise you.

But if you think Islamic State is the world’s deadliest terror group, then think again because as it turns out, militant group Boko Haram have killed more people in a single year.

According to The 2015 Global Terrorism Index, published by the Institute for Economics & Peace, Boko Haram were responsible for the deaths of 6644 in 2014, compared to 6073 by IS.

And while Islamic State have certainly received ample coverage of its attacks, the report’s authors note most people it kills are actually on the battlefield with 20,000 casualties compared to 6000 terror-related deaths.

Security officers stand guard at the scene of an explosion at a mobile phone market in Kano, Nigeria on Wednesday. Picture: AP.Source:AP

Boko Haram, which sparked global headlines last year over the kidnapping of more than 200 schoolgirls, has already declared a caliphate in Nigeria.

Just days ago the extremist group killed 32 people and wounded 80 at a truck stop in northeastern Nigeria and was the third such bombing in as many months.

Boko Haram has killed thousands in recent years in its bid to create a state adhering to strict Sharia law in northeastern Nigeria.

Rescue workers inspect the scene of an explosion at a mobile phone market in Kano, Nigeria. Picture: APSource:AP

The country’s military has also foiled several suicide bombers in recent weeks, killing and capturing insurgents as it destroys Boko Haram camps in both air raids and ground attacks.

The Global Terrorism Index highlighted “the major intensification of the terrorist threat in Nigeria” and said it had “witnessed the largest increase in terrorist deaths ever recorded by any country”.

In March, the group pledged its loyalty to Islamic State in an audio message, which could not immediately be verified, but was posted on Boko Haram’s Twitter account and appeared to be by the group’s leader, Abubakar Shekau.

Alarmingly, the report found the total number of deaths from terrorism increased by 80 per cent in 2014 compared to the year before, and represents the largest annual increase in 15 years.

Protesters call for the release of a group of abducted Nigerian schoolgirls gather outside Nigeria House in London in May last year. Picture: APSource:AP

It found the total number of deaths from terrorism skyrocketed from 3329 in 2000 to 32,658 in 2014.

The report also points out while the increase may appear alarming, 437,000 people are murdered each year which is 13 times more than those killed in a terror attack.

While most deaths occurred in countries including Iraq, Nigeria, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Syria, last week’s attacks in Paris which killed more than 130 people showed the West had also suffered.

French gendarmes are pictured in front of the Notre-Dame cathedral in Paris. Picture: AFPSource:AFP

According to the report, more than 90 per cent of all attacks which took place between 1989 and last year, have been carried out in countries where political violence is widespread, suggesting a significant link between the two.

While acknowledging most countries did not experience any deaths from terror attacks, the report did find the number of nations to experience a death rose by eight and included Australia, Belgium, Canada, France and Austria.

However, of the attacks that took place in western nations since 2006, 70 per cent were carried out by so called Lone Wolves and, excluding 9/11, only 0.5 per cent of terror attack deaths have occurred in the West since 2000.

That hasn’t stopped many in Austalia fearing an attack can happen here or elsewhere and feeling anxious and depressed about the possibility of such an event occurring.

But according to clinical psychologist Rob Gordon the reason we fear it so much more than murder or domestic violence is because a terror attack is so much more unusual and dramatic and less familiar.

Dr Gordon, who has spent decades working with people affected by emergencies and disasters, said the emotional colouring of such an event outweighed any real rational threat.

“Often the media do focus on that unusual difference, of unfamiliarity,” he said.

“An event such as Paris is dramatic and we have to take it seriously but in reality you’ve got more chance of being killed on the roads.

“We need to put it in perspective.”

Islamic State have killed more than 20,000 people on the battlefield.Source:Supplied

Interestingly, the report also found Islamic fundamentalism was not the primary driver of such lone wolf attacks but rather some 80 per cent of those deaths “were attributed to a mixture of right wing extremists, nationalists, anti-government elements, other types of political extremism and suprematism.”

And it turns out such attacks are costing more than just lives.

According to the index, the economic cost of terrorism hit its highest ever level in 2014 at$US52.9 billion, a tenfold increase since 2000.

Islamic State remain a deadly force.Source:Supplied