Shafaq News- Baghdad
Iraq recorded the fastest relativerise in protest activity among emerging markets, with events jumping 671% to44,763 in the second quarter of 2026 from 5,806 a year earlier, according toVerisk Maplecroft’s Civil Unrest Index.
The UK-based risk consultancy saidglobal civil unrest reached a six-year high, with the index tracking protestfrequency, scale, severity, deaths, and damage to commercial property.
Turkiye followed Iraq among emergingmarkets, rising 535% to 404,511 events from 63,724. India climbed 119% to583,589 from 266,841, the Philippines rose 333% to 105,712 from 24,414, andBrazil increased 108% to 95,990 from 46,150.
Beyond emerging markets, US activityrose 458% to 636,577 events from 114,034, Italy climbed 183% to 427,023 from150,795, Greece increased 307% to 107,477 from 26,377, and the Netherlands rose476% to 65,411 from 11,349. France rose 44% to 277,517 from 192,636.
Verisk Maplecroft linked the rise tomonths of higher energy and living costs, which weakened household purchasingpower despite lower oil prices after the US-Iran truce.
“Inflationary pressure from thedisruption to shipping and damage to energy infrastructure will continue wellinto the second half of 2026,” Torbjorn Soltvedt, head of EMEA at VeriskMaplecroft, told Reuters.
: Iraq’s protests: A system that learned how to contain the street