List of countries by intentional homicide rate

The list of countries by homicide rate is derived from United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) data, and is expressed in number of deaths per 100,000 population per year. For example, a homicide rate of 30 out of 100,000 is presented in the table as "30", and corresponds to 0.03% of the population dying by homicide.^[2][3][4] The reliability of underlying national murder rate data may vary.^[5][6] Only UNODC-vetted data is used in the main table to maintain consistency.^[2] In some cases, it may not be as up to date as other sources.

The countries with the most homicides per unit population are generally countries with small populations (very narrow rectangles in chart, 2021).^[1]

Homicide rates may be under-reported for political reasons.^{[7][8][page needed]}

A study undertaken by the Geneva Declaration on Armed Violence and Development estimated that there were approximately 490,000 intentional homicides globally in 2004, for a rate of 7.6 per 100,000.^[9] UNODC calculated a global estimated rate of 6.9 per 100,000 in 2010;^[10] 6.2 per 100,000 in 2012;^[11][12] 6.1 per 100,000 in 2017; and a rate of 5.61 per 100,000 for 2022. ^[5][13]

Definition

The class of violent deaths documented in this article is intentional killing of others outside of war. Deaths occurring during situations of civil unrest are a grey area.

Map of countries by their intentional homicide rate per 100,000 people. Source (labeled on map): United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime.^[14]

Intentional homicide is defined by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) in its Global Study on Homicide report^[15] thus:

Within the broad range of violent deaths, the core element of intentional homicide is the complete liability of the direct perpetrator, which thus excludes killings directly related to war or conflicts, self-inflicted death (suicide), killings due to legal interventions or justifiable killings (such as self-defence), and those deaths caused when the perpetrator was reckless or negligent but did not intend to take a human life (non-intentional homicide).

Though some discrepancies exist in how specific categories of intentional killings are classified, the definitions used by countries to record data are generally close to the UNODC definition, making the homicide rates highly comparable at the international level.^[16] UNODC uses the homicide rate as a proxy for overall violence, as this type of crime is one of the most accurately reported and internationally comparable indicators.^[5]

Figures from the Global Study on Homicide are based on the UNODC Homicide Statistics dataset, which is derived from the criminal justice or public health systems of a variety of countries and territories.^[5] The homicide rates derived from criminal justice data (typically recorded by police authorities) and the public health system data (recorded when the cause of death is established) may diverge substantially for some countries.^[17] The two sources usually match in the Americas, Europe and Oceania, but there are large discrepancies for the three African countries reporting both sources.^[18] For the 70 countries in which neither source was made available, figures were derived from WHO statistical models.^[17]

Deaths resulting from an armed conflict between states are never included in the count.^[19] Killings caused by a non-international armed conflict may or may not be included, depending on the intensity of hostilities and whether it is classified as 'civil unrest' or a clash between organized armed groups.^[19]

UNODC's global study

United Nations geoscheme with region names in the UNODC data source used in table here

All data in this section comes from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) website.^[2][13]

By region

UNODC 2023 murder counts and rates (per 100,000). Gender is for the victim.^[13]

Region	Overall Rate	Rate. Female	Rate. Male	Counts
Africa	10.57	3.97	17.19	156,503
Americas	14.37	3.40	25.52	149,654
Asia	2.04	1.40	2.66	97.495
Europe	2.10	1.13	3.14	15,643
Oceania	2.94	1.92	3.97	1,342
World	5.19	2.11	8.25	420,638

Rates vary widely within regions. See info on secondary sorting within regions and subregions below.

By country, region, or dependent territory

The regions and subregions in the table are based on the United Nations geoscheme since the table sources are United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) reports. The U.N. recognizes that variability in the quality and integrity of data provided by certain countries may minimize country murder rates.^[20][3] Go to the more detailed country info in the references, and the country links in the table for more info.

Table has a total yearly count of homicides for each country. Rates are calculated per 100,000 inhabitants. Rates are to the 3rd decimal place in order to separate countries with low homicide rates.

• Note: When the regions or subregions are sorted the countries are also alphabetically sorted within those regions or subregions. Then shift-click rate or count column heads to secondarily sort countries by rates or counts within the regions or subregions previously sorted.

• Note: Table last fully updated from data retrieved 24 November 2024 from UNODC. Individual countries updated since then.^[2]

• Note: Only UNODC-vetted data is used in the table.

• Asterisk (*) in Location column indicates a Crime in LOCATION article.

Intentional homicide counts, and rates per 100,000 inhabitants.^[2][3][4]

Location	Rate	Count	Year	Region	Subregion
Afghanistan *	4.022	1,613	2021	Asia	Southern Asia
Albania *	1.387	39	2023	Europe	Southern Europe
Algeria	1.161	536	2023	Africa	Northern Africa
American Samoa	0	0	2019	Oceania	Polynesia
Andorra	2.574	2	2020	Europe	Southern Europe
Angola	4.102	1,196	2016	Africa	Sub-Saharan Africa
Anguilla	28.328	4	2014	Americas	Latin America and the Caribbean
Antigua and Barbuda *	10.665	10	2022	Americas	Latin America and the Caribbean
Argentina *	4.309	1,961	2022	Americas	Latin America and the Caribbean
Armenia *	2.186	61	2021	Asia	Western Asia
Aruba	1.931	2	2014	Americas	Latin America and the Caribbean
Australia *	0.854	226	2023	Oceania	Australia and New Zealand
Austria *	0.876	80	2023	Europe	Western Europe
Azerbaijan *	2.365	245	2022	Asia	Western Asia
Bahamas	31.221	128	2022	Americas	Latin America and the Caribbean
Bahrain *	0.204	3	2022	Asia	Western Asia
Bangladesh *	2.340	3,830	2018	Asia	Southern Asia
Barbados	15.268	43	2022	Americas	Latin America and the Caribbean
Belarus	2.326	225	2019	Europe	Eastern Europe
Belgium *	1.077	125	2021	Europe	Western Europe
Belize *	27.882	113	2022	Americas	Latin America and the Caribbean
Bermuda	6.183	4	2023	Americas	Northern America
Bhutan *	2.460	19	2020	Asia	Southern Asia
Bolivia *	4.369	535	2023	Americas	Latin America and the Caribbean
Bosnia and Herzegovina	1.224	39	2023	Europe	Southern Europe
Botswana	10.547	273	2021	Africa	Sub-Saharan Africa
Brazil *	20.606	44,367	2022	Americas	Latin America and the Caribbean
British Virgin Islands	8.223	2	2006	Americas	Latin America and the Caribbean
Brunei	0.486	2	2013	Asia	South-eastern Asia
Bulgaria *	1.088	74	2023	Europe	Eastern Europe
Burundi	5.824	635	2016	Africa	Sub-Saharan Africa
Cape Verde *	6.179	36	2020	Africa	Sub-Saharan Africa
Cambodia *	1.839	268	2011	Asia	South-eastern Asia
Cameroon	4.537	1,202	2020	Africa	Sub-Saharan Africa
Canada *	2.273	874	2022	Americas	Northern America
Cayman Islands	4.457	3	2020	Americas	Latin America and the Caribbean
Chile *	6.744	1,322	2022	Americas	Latin America and the Caribbean
China *	0.502	7,157	2020	Asia	Eastern Asia
Colombia *	25.269	13,108	2022	Americas	Latin America and the Caribbean
Cook Islands	3.490	1	2012	Oceania	Polynesia
Costa Rica *	17.745	906	2023	Americas	Latin America and the Caribbean
Croatia	0.769	31	2022	Europe	Southern Europe
Cuba *	4.418	500	2019	Americas	Latin America and the Caribbean
Curaçao	17.092	26	2007	Americas	Latin America and the Caribbean
Cyprus *	0.817	11	2023	Asia	Western Asia
Czech Republic *	0.768	83	2023	Europe	Eastern Europe
Denmark *	0.986	58	2022	Europe	Northern Europe
Dominica	26.121	19	2022	Americas	Latin America and the Caribbean
Dominican Republic *	12.370	1,389	2022	Americas	Latin America and the Caribbean
East Timor	4.064	49	2015	Asia	South-eastern Asia
Ecuador *	45.723	8,221	2023	Americas	Latin America and the Caribbean
Egypt *	1.336	1,360	2017	Africa	Northern Africa
El Salvador *	7.828	496	2022	Americas	Latin America and the Caribbean
Eritrea	14.573	474	2012	Africa	Sub-Saharan Africa
Estonia *	1.536	21	2023	Europe	Northern Europe
Eswatini	12.665	151	2021	Africa	Sub-Saharan Africa
Ethiopia *	8.632	8,153	2012	Africa	Sub-Saharan Africa
Fiji	2.173	20	2020	Oceania	Melanesia
Finland *	0.982	55	2023	Europe	Northern Europe
France *	1.335	887	2023	Europe	Western Europe
French Guiana	13.300	39	2020	Americas	Latin America and the Caribbean
French Polynesia	0.354	1	2009	Oceania	Polynesia
Georgia	2.042	77	2019	Asia	Western Asia
Germany *	0.823	686	2022	Europe	Western Europe
Ghana *	1.813	607	2022	Africa	Sub-Saharan Africa
Gibraltar *	3.199	1	2010	Europe	Southern Europe
Greece *	0.840	86	2023	Europe	Southern Europe
Greenland *	5.365	3	2016	Americas	Northern America
Grenada	6.378	8	2022	Americas	Latin America and the Caribbean
Guadeloupe *	5.781	23	2016	Americas	Latin America and the Caribbean
Guam	4.151	7	2019	Oceania	Micronesia
Guatemala *	19.990	3,520	2021	Americas	Latin America and the Caribbean
Guinea-Bissau	1.117	21	2017	Africa	Sub-Saharan Africa
Guyana *	16.198	131	2022	Americas	Latin America and the Caribbean
Haiti *	41.152	4,789	2023	Americas	Latin America and the Caribbean
Holy See *	0	0	2023	Europe	Southern Europe
Honduras *	31.442	3,347	2023	Americas	Latin America and the Caribbean
Hong Kong *	0.401	30	2022	Asia	Eastern Asia
Hungary *	0.774	75	2023	Europe	Eastern Europe
Iceland	1.073	4	2022	Europe	Northern Europe
India *	2.832	40,130	2022	Asia	Southern Asia
Indonesia *	0.307	847	2022	Asia	South-eastern Asia
Iran *	2.421	1,936	2014	Asia	Southern Asia
Iraq	9.410	3,339	2013	Asia	Western Asia
Iraq (Central Iraq)	15.397	5,459	2021	Asia	Western Asia
Iraq (Kurdistan Region)	2.246	111	2013	Asia	Western Asia
Ireland	0.654	34	2023	Europe	Northern Europe
Isle of Man	0	0	2016	Europe	Northern Europe
Israel *	1.626	147	2022	Asia	Western Asia
Italy *	0.545	322	2022	Europe	Southern Europe
Jamaica *	49.299	1,400	2023	Americas	Latin America and the Caribbean
Japan *	0.233	289	2022	Asia	Eastern Asia
Jordan *	0.988	113	2023	Asia	Western Asia
Kazakhstan *	2.634	511	2022	Asia	Central Asia
Kenya *	4.892	2,643	2022	Africa	Sub-Saharan Africa
Kiribati	7.167	8	2012	Oceania	Micronesia
Kosovo *	1.986	33	2021	Europe	Southern Europe
Kuwait *	0.252	11	2020	Asia	Western Asia
Latvia *	2.497	47	2023	Europe	Northern Europe
Lebanon	2.260	128	2020	Asia	Western Asia
Lesotho *	37.694	752	2008	Africa	Sub-Saharan Africa
Liberia *	3.117	135	2012	Africa	Sub-Saharan Africa
Liechtenstein	5.123	2	2021	Europe	Western Europe
Lithuania	2.628	75	2023	Europe	Northern Europe
Luxembourg	1.544	10	2022	Europe	Western Europe
Macau *	0.568	4	2023	Asia	Eastern Asia
Malawi *	1.791	279	2012	Africa	Sub-Saharan Africa
Malaysia *	0.724	243	2021	Asia	South-eastern Asia
Maldives *	0.595	3	2019	Asia	Southern Asia
Malta	0.563	3	2023	Europe	Southern Europe
Marshall Islands	4.013	2	1994	Oceania	Micronesia
Martinique	2.790	11	2009	Americas	Latin America and the Caribbean
Mauritania *	1.023	46	2020	Africa	Sub-Saharan Africa
Mauritius *	2.232	29	2022	Africa	Sub-Saharan Africa
Mayotte	5.816	12	2009	Africa	Sub-Saharan Africa
Mexico *	24.859	32,252	2023	Americas	Latin America and the Caribbean
Micronesia	0.898	1	2019	Oceania	Micronesia
Monaco	0	0	2008	Europe	Western Europe
Mongolia	5.915	203	2023	Asia	Eastern Asia
Montenegro *	0.789	5	2023	Europe	Southern Europe
Montserrat	0	0	2018	Americas	Latin America and the Caribbean
Morocco	1.705	643	2023	Africa	Northern Africa
Mozambique	3.573	849	2011	Africa	Sub-Saharan Africa
Myanmar *	3.872	2,098	2022	Asia	South-eastern Asia
Namibia *	12.450	315	2021	Africa	Sub-Saharan Africa
Nepal *	2.102	617	2020	Asia	Southern Asia
Netherlands	0.691	125	2023	Europe	Western Europe
New Caledonia	3.113	8	2009	Oceania	Melanesia
New Zealand *	1.111	57	2021	Oceania	Australia and New Zealand
Nicaragua	11.006	754	2021	Americas	Latin America and the Caribbean
Niger	4.389	788	2012	Africa	Sub-Saharan Africa
Nigeria *	21.741	44,200	2019	Africa	Sub-Saharan Africa
North Macedonia	1.529	28	2023	Europe	Southern Europe
Northern Ireland	1.413	27	2022	Europe	Northern Europe
Norway *	0.725	40	2023	Europe	Northern Europe
Oman *	0.139	7	2023	Asia	Western Asia
Pakistan *	4.335	10.729	2023	Asia	Southern Asia
Palau	11.195	2	2018	Oceania	Micronesia
Palestine *	1.410	74	2022	Asia	Western Asia
Panama *	11.319	499	2022	Americas	Latin America and the Caribbean
Papua New Guinea *	9.402	713	2010	Oceania	Melanesia
Paraguay *	6.961	472	2022	Americas	Latin America and the Caribbean
Peru *	8.462	2,853	2021	Americas	Latin America and the Caribbean
Philippines *	4.316	4,764	2019	Asia	South-eastern Asia
Poland *	0.802	311	2023	Europe	Eastern Europe
Portugal *	0.797	82	2021	Europe	Southern Europe
Puerto Rico *	14.312	464	2023	Americas	Latin America and the Caribbean
Qatar *	0.074	2	2022	Asia	Western Asia
South Korea *	0.531	275	2022	Asia	Eastern Asia
Moldova *	2.543	78	2023	Europe	Eastern Europe
Réunion	1.699	15	2009	Africa	Sub-Saharan Africa
Romania *	1.109	212	2023	Europe	Eastern Europe
Russia *	6.799	9,866	2021	Europe	Eastern Europe
Rwanda	3.590	472	2020	Africa	Sub-Saharan Africa
Saint Helena	0	0	2009	Africa	Sub-Saharan Africa
Saint Kitts and Nevis *	23.081	11	2022	Americas	Latin America and the Caribbean
Saint Lucia *	36.696	66	2022	Americas	Latin America and the Caribbean
Saint Martin	28.727	10	2016	Americas	Latin America and the Caribbean
Saint Pierre and Miquelon	16.518	1	2009	Americas	Northern America
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	40.405	42	2022	Americas	Latin America and the Caribbean
Samoa	6.199	13	2018	Oceania	Polynesia
San Marino	0	0	2011	Europe	Southern Europe
São Tomé and Príncipe	3.225	6	2011	Africa	Sub-Saharan Africa
Saudi Arabia *	0.795	285	2019	Asia	Western Asia
Scotland	0.967	53	2021	Europe	Northern Europe
Serbia *	1.314	89	2023	Europe	Southern Europe
Seychelles	9.335	10	2022	Africa	Sub-Saharan Africa
Sierra Leone	2.137	176	2020	Africa	Sub-Saharan Africa
Singapore *	0.069	4	2023	Asia	South-eastern Asia
Slovakia *	1.124	62	2023	Europe	Eastern Europe
Slovenia *	0.566	12	2023	Europe	Southern Europe
Solomon Islands	3.682	19	2008	Oceania	Melanesia
South Africa *	45.534	27,272	2022	Africa	Sub-Saharan Africa
South Sudan	14.054	1,504	2012	Africa	Sub-Saharan Africa
Spain *	0.691	331	2023	Europe	Southern Europe
Sri Lanka *	3.427	742	2019	Asia	Southern Asia
Suriname *	7.281	45	2022	Americas	Latin America and the Caribbean
Sweden *	1.147	121	2023	Europe	Northern Europe
Switzerland *	0.597	53	2023	Europe	Western Europe
Syria	2.073	463	2010	Asia	Western Asia
Tajikistan	0.912	87	2020	Asia	Central Asia
Tanzania	3.705	2,286	2020	Africa	Sub-Saharan Africa
Thailand *	4.813	3,307	2011	Asia	South-eastern Asia
Tonga *	0.953	1	2019	Oceania	Polynesia
Trinidad and Tobago *	39.516	605	2022	Americas	Latin America and the Caribbean
Tunisia	4.621	562	2020	Africa	Northern Africa
Turkey *	3.228	2,817	2023	Asia	Western Asia
Turkmenistan	1.093	63	2015	Asia	Central Asia
Turks and Caicos Islands	76.582	35	2022	Americas	Latin America and the Caribbean
Tuvalu *	0	0	2019	Oceania	Polynesia
Uganda	8.768	4,143	2022	Africa	Sub-Saharan Africa
Ukraine *	3.843	1,673	2021	Europe	Eastern Europe
United Arab Emirates *	0.752	71	2022	Asia	Western Asia
United Kingdom *. England and Wales	1.148	684	2021	Europe	Northern Europe
United States *	5.763	19,796	2023	Americas	Northern America
U.S. Virgin Islands	49.631	52	2012	Americas	Latin America and the Caribbean
Uruguay	11.190	383	2022	Americas	Latin America and the Caribbean
Uzbekistan	1.405	479	2021	Asia	Central Asia
Vanuatu	0.321	1	2020	Oceania	Melanesia
Venezuela *	12.607	3,568	2022	Americas	Latin America and the Caribbean
Vietnam *	1.537	1,358	2011	Asia	South-eastern Asia
Yemen *	6.311	1,703	2013	Asia	Western Asia
Zambia *	5.250	853	2015	Africa	Sub-Saharan Africa
Zimbabwe *	0.514	84	2023	Africa	Sub-Saharan Africa

Other multi-country studies

A 2020 study by InSight Crime found that Jamaica had the highest homicide rate in Latin America and the Caribbean, while Venezuela had the second highest rate.^[21]

See also

• Category:Homicide statistics - Homicide rate tables for countries will show up there first.
• Commons:Category:Homicide statistics - for images.
• Clearance rate
• Crime statistics
• List of cities by murder rate
• List of countries by firearm-related death rate
• List of countries by incarceration rate
• List of countries by intentional death rate – homicide plus suicide.
• List of countries by life expectancy
• List of countries by suicide rate
• List of Brazilian states by murder rate
• List of Brazilian federative units by homicide rate
• List of Canadian provinces and territories by homicide rate
• List of Mexican states by homicides
• List of federal subjects of Russia by murder rate
• List of U.S. states and territories by violent crime rate
• List of U.S. states and territories by intentional homicide rate

References

1. ● Homicide data from "Homicide rate UNODC / Homicide rate, 2021". OurWorldInData.org. United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. 2023. Archived from the original on 4 November 2024. UNODC data for most countries is for 2021.
   ● 2021 Population data from "The World Factbook (2021 Archive) Country Comparisons – Population". U.S. Central Intelligence Agency. Archived from the original on 4 July 2024.
2. "Intentional Homicide". dataunodc.un.org. United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). Table by country. Some have 2023 data. Can select countries, regions, years, gender, mechanisms, relationship, and more. Use fit-to-page button at bottom to see everything. Use dataset link to get all the data with higher accuracy. Table last fully updated from dataset retrieved 24 November 2024. Individual countries updated since then.
3. "Victims of Intentional Homicide: 2018". UNODC. United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. Map and table of rates and counts. Pick a country (or countries) in the sidebar "Country" dropdown menu. Then pick a year (1990-2018). Click that country on the map to see a timeline graph of homicide rates. Below the map see a timeline table of the rates and counts for that country or countries. There is a "Bulk data download" link at top right (hover to see name). May need to click twice to download.
4. "Homicide rate | dataUNODC". United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. Timeline graph of "Victims of intentional homicide 1990-2018". Can select a country and a region. Table below graph shows data 1990-2018. Download link icon below table offers multiple formats just for selected country and region. Click "bulk data download" link icon twice at top of page to get Excel file that covers years 1990-2018 for all countries.
5. Global Study on Homicide 2019. Booklet 2. United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). See page 11 for global rate. See page 9 about homicide rates as proxy for overall violence. See Box 1 on page 14 for criminal justice data sources versus public health sources. See figure 2 on page 14 for regional homicide rates in 2017. See figure 3 on page 16 for regional number of homicides. See page 85 about the six-booklet format of this study. Look for page numbers on the bottom of pages, and ignore the incorrect page numbers provided by your PDF reader.
6. Richards, Patsy (27 May 1999). "Homicide statistics, research paper 99/56" (PDF). London, UK: House of Commons of the United Kingdom library, Social and general statistics section. See page 7 for section called "Definition of the offence of homicide". See page 29 for table of nations and homicide rates for the years 1994–97. It also has further info on how homicide is defined across countries.
7. Fry, Don. (1985). Believing the news. Poynter Institute for Media Studies. ISBN 978-0-935742-11-4.
8. Vizzard, William J. (2000). Shots in the dark. Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 978-0-8476-9560-7.
9. Global Burden of Armed Violence Report (PDF) (report). Geneva, Switzerland: Geneva Declaration Secretariat. September 2008. pp. 67ff. ISBN 978-2-8288-0101-4. data from 2004-2007. The Geneva Declaration on Armed Violence and Development.
10. 2011 Global Study on Homicide: Trends, Contexts, Data. "data from 2010 or latest available year". United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). Vienna, Austria.
11. UNODC 2014, p. 12.
12. Intentional homicide count and rate per 100,000 population, by country/territory (2000–2012). Data (in spreadsheet format) for UNODC report titled "Global Study on Homicide 2013". United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). Linked from Global Study on Homicide – Data: UNODC Homicide Statistics 2013
13. "Victims of intentional homicide - Regional Estimate". dataunodc.un.org. United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. Choose regions, years, counts, rates, gender.
14. "Homicide rate". Our World in Data. Interactive map at source. With yearly slide bar. Hover over country to see graph timeline of rate.
15. UNODC 2014, p. 10.
16. UNODC 2014, pp. 102–103.
17. UNODC 2014, p. 99.
18. UNODC 2014, p. 101.
19. UNODC 2014, p. 104.
20. UNODC 2014, pp. 7–8.
21. "InSight Crime's 2020 Homicide Round-Up". 29 January 2021.

Sources

• Global Study on Homicide 2013: Trends, Contexts, Data (PDF). Vienna: United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. March 2014. ISBN 9789210542050. Look for page numbers on the bottom of pages, and ignore the incorrect page numbers provided by your PDF reader.

Further reading

• The Homicide Monitor map. Made by Brazil-based think tank, The Igarapé Institute.

External links