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. The reliability of underlying national murder rate data may vary. Only UNODC-vetted data is used in the main table to maintain consistency. In some cases, it may not be as up to date as other sources.

Homicide rates may be under-reported for political reasons.[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. UNODC calculated a global estimated rate of 6.9 per 100,000 in 2010; 6.2 per 100,000 in 2012; 6.1 per 100,000 in 2017; and a rate of 5.61 per 100,000 for 2022.

Definition

The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), which collects global data on intentional homicide, currently using the International Classification of Crime for Statistical Purposes, ICCS 2015, has offered details on the methodology and definitions used, and on the limitations which exist.

The UNODC in its 2013 Global Study on Homicide report stated that:

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. 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.

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. 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. The two sources usually match in the Americas, Europe and Oceania, but there are large discrepancies for the three African countries reporting both sources. For the 70 countries (as of 2013) in which neither source was made available, figures were derived from WHO statistical models.

Deaths resulting from an armed conflict between states are never included in the count. 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.

The World Bank Group stated with regard to statistics on intentional homicides per 100,000 people collected by UNODC that:

Statistics reported to the United Nations in the context of its various surveys on crime levels and criminal justice trends are incidents of victimization that have been reported to the authorities in any given country. That means that this data is subject to the problems of accuracy of all official crime data. The survey results provide an overview of trends and interrelationships between various parts of the criminal justice system to promote informed decision-making in administration, nationally and internationally. The degree to which different societies apportion the level of culpability to acts resulting in death is also subject to variation. Consequently, the comparison between countries and regions of "intentional homicide", or unlawful death purposefully inflicted on a person by another person, is also a comparison of the extent to which different countries deem that a killing be classified as such, as well as the capacity of their legal systems to record it. Caution should therefore be applied when evaluating and comparing homicide data.

UNODC's global study

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. See List of countries and territories by the United Nations geoscheme.

The U.N. recognizes that variability in the quality and integrity of data provided by certain countries may minimize country murder rates.

The table below features 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.

For some countries, the most recent homocide rate that UNODC publishes for a country is not from the same year as the most recent published total homocide count. Therefore, the 'rate' and 'count' columns below each have their own accompanying 'year' column.

• 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 February 2026 from UNODC. Individual countries updated since then.
• Note: Only UNODC-vetted data is used in the table.
• Asterisk (*) in Location column indicates a Crime in LOCATION article.

Other multi-country studies

A 2024 study by InSight Crime revealed that the Turks and Caicos Islands had the highest homicide rate in Latin America and the Caribbean. Haiti ranked second, followed by St. Kitts and Nevis in third place. In 2025, InSight Crime reported that the overall homicide rate across Latin America and the Caribbean declined. Haiti recorded the highest rate in the region, followed by the Turks and Caicos Islands, Ecuador, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and Saint Lucia.

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
• Homicide statistics by gender
• 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

Sources

• (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

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

External links