77.7
% of homicides committed with a gun, 2018
High trust, 86 of 100 The newest data is from 2018.
- UNODC
- WHO
Show the data as a table
| Year | UNODC Data Portal, victims of intentional homicide by mechanism | WHO Mortality Database, deaths by assault with a firearm |
|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 73.3 | 77.9 |
| 2011 | 69.7 | 76.7 |
| 2012 | 61.8 | 66.4 |
| 2013 | 66.8 | 72.9 |
| 2014 | 76.6 | 81.2 |
| 2015 | 83.2 | 84.3 |
| 2016 | 80.7 | 82.7 |
| 2017 | 75.9 | 76.9 |
| 2018 | 77.7 | 78.7 |
| 2019 | 73.1 | – |
| 2020 | 69.1 | – |
| 2021 | 65.1 | – |
| 2022 | 61.1 | – |
All countriesAll of El Salvador's figuresCompare
El Salvador among 118 countries
12 have a higher figure and 105 a lower one. Definitions differ between countries, and their years run from 2002 to 2024.
What this number counts
- Counts
- Share of intentional homicide victims killed with a firearm
- Where
- El Salvador
- When
- 2018 (one year, not an average)
Where the number comes from (2 sources)
| Source | Figure and year | Definition | Quality | Counts 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) | 77.72018 | Victims of intentional homicide killed with a firearm (2601) divided by all victims of intentional homicide (3346), 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: 1.6% for this year. Years with fewer than 20 victims are skipped. UNODC source codes: firearm count CTS, total OAS/CTS/SDG. Year rule: the latest year both UNODC and WHO have is 2018, 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". | 5 of 5 checks
| 56% |
WHO Mortality Database, deaths by assault with a firearmWorld Health Organization (WHO) · Death and health registersRetrieved 2026-10-25 | 78.72018 | Registered deaths from assault by firearm discharge (ICD-10 X93-X95: 2008) divided by all deaths from assault (X85-Y09: 2552), all ages and both sexes.Codes used: ICD-10 3- and 4-character codes. Assault by unspecified means (Y09) stays in the denominator: 0.3% 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 2018, which is 2018 or later, so both lines use it. Raw files: morticd10_part1-6.zip. The same file records 69 deaths from firearm discharge of undetermined intent (Y22-Y24) and 75 from accidental firearm discharge (W32-W34) for this year; they are in neither count. | 4 of 5 checks
| 44% |
- UNODC56%
- WHO44%
How the trust score was worked out
- Quality36.4 / 40
How well the sources are made
- Agreement29.2 / 30
How close the sources are to each other
- Independence16 / 20
How many separate ways the number was measured
- Freshness4 / 10
How recent the newest data is
Who reports it, and since when
No source of these kinds: independent count.
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.
Download every value in this table (CSV)
Cite as: RealStats, “Gun share of homicides in El Salvador”, updated 2026-10-27, with the original sources listed on the page.