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Gun share of homicides in Australia

10.85

% of homicides committed with a gun, 2023

High trust, 80 of 100 The newest data is from 2023.

Each source by year: % of homicides committed with a gun
  • UNODC
  • WHO
051015202010201520202024UNODCWHO
Show the data as a table
YearUNODC Data Portal, victims of intentional homicide by mechanismWHO Mortality Database, deaths by assault with a firearm
201016.514.3
201112.513.2
201216.514.7
201313.515.7
201414.815.4
201511.49.6
201614.116.4
201711.112
201811.311.9
201916.915.5
2020911.2
20211313.7
202214.116.5
202311.310.4
2024–9.4

All countriesAll of Australia's figuresCompare

Australia among 118 countries

80 have a higher figure and 36 a lower one. Definitions differ between countries, and their years run from 2002 to 2024.

Lowest: Botswana, 0Highest: Puerto Rico, 92.4
What this number counts
Counts
Share of intentional homicide victims killed with a firearm
Where
Australia
When
2023 (one year, not an average)

The middle of the 2 sources' figures, with better sources counting more.

Where the number comes from (2 sources)
SourceFigure and yearDefinitionQualityCounts for
UNODC Data Portal, victims of intentional homicide by mechanismUnited Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) · Police and justice recordsRetrieved 2026-10-25 · Data (Excel file)
11.32023
Victims of intentional homicide killed with a firearm (25) divided by all victims of intentional homicide (222), both sexes and all ages, UNODC counts.

The firearm count is UNODC's ICCS category "Firearms or explosives - firearms". Victims recorded under "unspecified means" or in no mechanism category stay in the denominator: 11.3% for this year. Years with fewer than 20 victims are skipped. UNODC source codes: firearm count CTS, total GSH 2019 Revision/CTS. Year rule: the latest year both UNODC and WHO have is 2023, which is 2018 or later, so both lines use it.

Raw file: data_cts_intentional_homicide.xlsx (UNODC, updated 12 July 2026), indicator "Victims of intentional homicide", dimensions "by mechanisms" and "Total", unit "Counts". Directness 0.5: 11.3% of victims have no recorded mechanism (UNODC "unspecified means" or not in any mechanism category); some of them may have been shot, so the share is a lower bound.

4 of 5 checks
  • Yes: Method and definitions published. UNODC publishes the ICCS definitions, including the mechanism categories, and a metadata note.
  • Yes: Official statistics or peer-reviewed. National figures submitted by governments through the UN crime trends survey (UN-CTS) or official channels.
  • Yes: Full count or representative sample. A count of all victims recorded by the authorities, not a sample.
  • Yes: Raw data downloadable. The whole dataset is a free Excel download from the UNODC data portal.
  • No: No known break or quality problem. 11.3% of victims have no recorded mechanism, so the firearm share is a lower bound.
50%
WHO Mortality Database, deaths by assault with a firearmWorld Health Organization (WHO) · Death and health registersRetrieved 2026-10-25
10.42023
Registered deaths from assault by firearm discharge (ICD-10 X93-X95: 25) divided by all deaths from assault (X85-Y09: 240), all ages and both sexes.

Codes used: ICD-10 3- and 4-character codes. Assault by unspecified means (Y09) stays in the denominator: 16.2% for this year. Years with fewer than 20 assault deaths, and years a country reports only the condensed list without a firearm split, are skipped. National rows only. Year rule: the latest year both UNODC and WHO have is 2023, which is 2018 or later, so both lines use it.

Raw files: morticd10_part1-6.zip. The same file records 3 deaths from firearm discharge of undetermined intent (Y22-Y24) and 0 from accidental firearm discharge (W32-W34) for this year; they are in neither count. Directness 0.5: 16.2% of assault deaths are coded as unspecified means (Y09); some of them may have been shootings, so the share is a lower bound.

4 of 5 checks
  • Yes: Method and definitions published. WHO publishes the file layout, ICD-10 code lists and data notes in its documentation.
  • Yes: Official statistics or peer-reviewed. Official cause-of-death statistics sent to WHO by national authorities.
  • Yes: Full count or representative sample. Civil registration counts every registered, medically certified death, not a sample.
  • Yes: Raw data downloadable. Raw death and population files are free downloads.
  • No: No known break or quality problem. Known gap in the death records: 16.2% of assault deaths are coded as unspecified means (Y09); some of them may have been shootings, so the share is a lower bound.
50%

Better and more direct sources count for more. A source that only copies another does not count.

  • UNODC50%
  • WHO50%
How the trust score was worked out
Quality32 / 40

How well the sources are made

Agreement25 / 30

How close the sources are to each other

Independence16 / 20

How many separate ways the number was measured

Freshness7 / 10

How recent the newest data is

How the score works

Who reports it, and since when

Which kinds of source measure this number, which years each one published, and where the reporting stops or has holes.

No source of these kinds: independent count.

    Years each source has a figure here
    '10'15'20'24UNODCWHO

    figure no figure here, inside its range no later figure recorded change

    Why the numbers differ
    • UNODC compiles police and criminal justice records of intentional homicide by mechanism, while the WHO Mortality Database counts death certificates coded as assault by firearm discharge (ICD-10 X93-X95) out of all assault deaths (X85-Y09).
    • The share depends on how many killings have no recorded mechanism. UNODC "unspecified means" and WHO code Y09 (assault by unspecified means) stay in the denominator, so where they are large the share is a lower bound and the two sources can differ for that reason alone.
    • UNODC splits "firearms or explosives" into firearms and other parts for most countries; where only the combined count exists, the page uses it and marks the line as not exactly the defined number.
    • Deaths from firearm discharge of undetermined intent (ICD-10 Y22-Y24) are not counted as assault in death records, though police may record some of them as homicides.
    • Police counts can include victims who died abroad or cases later reclassified, and death records follow the place of registration, so the two counts of victims are not the same set of people.
    Common mistakes
    • The share of homicides committed with a gun is not the same as the share of gun deaths that are homicides. In many countries most firearm deaths are suicides, which this page does not count.
    • A high share does not by itself mean a high homicide rate: a country with few homicides can have a high firearm share, and the reverse. See the homicide rate page for the level.
    Download, cite and report an error

    From the table What share of murders are committed with a gun? Updated 2026-10-27.

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    Cite as: RealStats, “Gun share of homicides in Australia”, updated 2026-10-27, with the original sources listed on the page.

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