Brazil’s risk rating increased from medium to severe on Aon’s 2014 Terrorism and Political Violence Map due to widespread and large-scale violent anti-government protests throughout 2013, and the analysis indicates that this unrest will likely continue in 2014, especially ahead of the FIFA World Cup and the October general elections.

Despite some improvements in the ratings – eight decreases and one increase to the 37 country scores in Sub-Saharan Africa – Africa remains a continent of high political violence and terrorism risk. 22 countries in the continent have high to severe risk ratings.

Overall, the Middle East is the region most affected by terrorism, with a 28-percent share of all terrorist attacks recorded in 2013.

Four countries saw increase risk scores for 2014 – Brazil, Japan, Mozambique and Bangladesh. Europe, however, saw notable improvement with 11 countries having civil commotion perils removed, the report states.

On the sector side, 33 percent of terrorism attacks affected the retail sector, and 18 percent of attacks took place on the transportation sector. Retail environments, such as public markets, remain vulnerable to attack, as seen in the Kenyan mall shooting.