More than $14 trillion (£8.9 trillion) was spent on international conflicts in the past year, according to a report by the Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP), which found that Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan were responsible for a surge in war deaths.

The spending represents 13% of global GDP and is roughly the combined value of the economies of the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Canada, Spain and Brazil.

Steve Killelea, IEP Chief Executive, said reducing conflict was one way to help the world’s economic recovery.

“If global violence were to decrease by 10% uniformly, an additional $1.43 trillion would effectively be added to the world economy,” he said.

This year saw overall levels of conflict unchanged. However, the picture was uneven around the world, with 86 nations seeing their peace index fall while 76 enjoyed increased peace.