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Homicide rate in Saudi Arabia

0.87

homicide victims per 100,000 people, 2024

High trust, 86 of 100 The sources disagree: their figures run from 0.8 to 0.94.

Each source by year: homicide victims per 100,000 people
  • UNODC
  • WHO
00.511.52200320052010201520202024
Show the data as a table
YearUNODC Data Portal, victims of intentional homicideWHO Mortality Database, deaths by assault
20031.33–
20041.53–
20051.44–
20061.19–
20071.18–
2021–0.67
20220.810.72
20230.621.09
20240.80.94

All countriesAll of Saudi Arabia's figuresCompare

Saudi Arabia among 200 countries

155 have a higher figure and 43 a lower one. Definitions differ between countries, and their years run from 2007 to 2024.

Lowest: American Samoa, 0Highest: Haiti, 64.34
What this number counts
Counts
Intentional homicide victims per 100,000 people
Where
Saudi Arabia
When
2024 (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 homicideUnited Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) · Police and justice recordsRetrieved 2026-10-25 · Data (Excel file)
0.82024
Victims of intentional homicide (ICCS 0101: unlawful death inflicted with intent to cause death or serious injury), total for both sexes and all ages, rate per 100,000 from UNODC's own population figures (UN World Population Prospects 2024).

UNODC source code for this value: NSO/SDG. Year rule: the latest year both UNODC and WHO have is 2024, which is 2018 or later, so both lines use it.

Raw file: data_cts_intentional_homicide.xlsx (UNODC, updated 12 July 2026).

5 of 5 checks
  • Yes: Method and definitions published. UNODC publishes the ICCS definition and a metadata note for the dataset.
  • 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.
  • Yes: No known break or quality problem. UNODC marks no adjustment or estimate for this value.
50%
WHO Mortality Database, deaths by assaultWorld Health Organization (WHO) · Death and health registersRetrieved 2026-10-25
0.942024
Registered deaths with underlying cause assault, ICD-10 X85-Y09, all ages and both sexes, divided by the population in WHO's population file for the same year.

Codes used: ICD-10 3- and 4-character codes X85-Y09. Countries that report the condensed Tabulation List 1 contribute its assault item (1102), which covers the same X85-Y09 range; years where a country reports only a total for all external causes have no value. National rows only, no sub-national or partial-coverage rows. Year rule: the latest year both UNODC and WHO have is 2024, which is 2018 or later, so both lines use it.

Raw files: morticd10_part1-6.zip (333 assault deaths) and mort_pop.zip. WHO publishes the data as the country sent them and does not adjust for incomplete registration. The same file records 0 deaths of undetermined intent (Y10-Y34) for this year; some of these may be homicides.

5 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.
  • Yes: No known break or quality problem. No problem found: registered deaths from all causes for 2024 are 98% of the UN World Population Prospects estimate of all deaths, and WHO data notes flag nothing for this year.
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
Quality40 / 40

How well the sources are made

Agreement20.3 / 30

How close the sources are to each other

Independence16 / 20

How many separate ways the number was measured

Freshness10 / 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.

  • UNODC: no figure here for 14 years between 2003 and 2024
Years each source has a figure here
'03'05'10'15'20'24UNODCWHO

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

Why the numbers differ
  • They come from two separate systems: UNODC compiles police and criminal justice records, while the WHO Mortality Database counts death certificates with the cause coded as assault (ICD-10 X85-Y09).
  • Older UN crime survey series included attempted homicides for some countries, so older police figures can run above death records.
  • Death registration is not equally complete everywhere. Where many deaths go unregistered, or many violent deaths are coded as "undetermined intent", the WHO count falls below the police count.
  • Research comparing UN and WHO homicide data (Andersson and Kazemian) found that the two differ in level but show similar patterns. (source, retrieved 2026-10-25)
Common mistakes
  • Numbeo's "Crime Index" is not a crime rate. Numbeo builds it from surveys answered by its website visitors about how safe they feel, not from police or death records. (source, retrieved 2026-10-25)
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From the table What is the homicide rate in each country? Updated 2026-10-27.

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Cite as: RealStats, “Homicide rate in Saudi Arabia”, updated 2026-10-27, with the original sources listed on the page.

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