The Islamic State of Iraq and Greater Syria (ISIS) takes in about $80 million a month in revenue, according to a new report by IHS.
Unlike other terror groups, ISIS does not rely primarily on donations, but has created its own revenue sources—primarily through producing and smuggling oil and taxing the areas it controls, but also by selling drugs and antiquities and kidnapping for ransom, the Financial Times reports.
According to IHS, strikes by the U.S.-led coalition have been somewhat successful in hindering ISIS’s ability to make money on oil production.
Multiplied out by 12 months, that revenue is roughly equal to the 2014 GDP of Samoa, population: 198,000.
[FT]
More Must-Read Stories From TIME
- LeBron James Could Take Pickleball—Yes, Pickleball—to the Next Level
- It's Going to Be a Lot More Expensive to Heat Your Home This Winter. Here's What To Expect
- The U.S. Might Be the Surprising Determining Factor in the Future of Armenia
- Rapper Saucy Santana Is Opening a Door For His Community
- Here are the Biggest Moments from the TIME100 Leadership Forum and Impact Awards in Singapore
- Column: Russia Wants to Lock Ukraine Back in the Soviet Cellar
- As the Kanjuruhan Tragedy Shows, Indonesia Has Not Resolved Its Long-Standing Problem of Soccer Violence
- Here's Everything New on Netflix in October 2022
- A New Documentary Series Illuminates the History and Evolution of Queer Horror
