What is the homicide rate in each country?
For the 106 countries and territories where police records (UNODC) and death registrations (WHO) cover the same year (2018 or later), the two rates are within 25% of each other in 46, the WHO rate is the lower one in 76, and the largest gaps per 100,000 people are in Jamaica (UNODC 51.94, WHO 0.81 in 2021), South Africa (UNODC 32.98, WHO 9.42 in 2020), Turks and Caicos Islands (UNODC 30.94, WHO 17.68 in 2021).
homicide victims per 100,000 people
0125102560
Year varies by country (2007–2024) · grey: no figure
Latest figure for each country
United Kingdom: England and Wales; Scotland and Northern Ireland are listed separately. Too small or not separate on this map: French Guiana, Gibraltar, Guadeloupe, Martinique, Mayotte, Réunion, Tuvalu. Each colour is one figure per country: one year, not an average, for the year shown in the ranking and when you point at a country.With "How sure" on, hatching marks countries whose latest figure has a trust score below 60 (Low or Very low).
All countries
Each source's value links to its publisher; point at it for the source and year. A value in brackets is shown but doesn't count, and pointing at it says why. Retrieved 2026-10-25.
About this data
Every source on this page (2)
Who is behind the sources
- 100% International body
Each publisher, its funding and its own description
- UNODC · International bodyFunding: Mostly voluntary contributions from member states, multilateral organisations and private donors. sourceIn its own words: “The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) advances justice and security around the globe…” source, retrieved 2026-10-27
- World Health Organization (WHO) · International bodyFunding: Assessed contributions (membership dues) from member states, plus voluntary contributions from member states and other partners. sourceIn its own words: “…WHO is the United Nations agency that connects nations, partners and people to promote health…” source, retrieved 2026-10-27
- UNODC Data Portal, victims of intentional homicideUsed for 201 countries; counts toward 198. Years 2006 to 2024. Retrieved 2026-10-25.Not counted where: it republishes WHO.Open the publisher's pageData (Excel file)
- WHO Mortality Database, deaths by assaultUsed for 142 countries; counts toward 134. Years 2001 to 2024. Retrieved 2026-10-25.Not counted where: too few deaths were registered that year for its rate to count (each row says how many).Open the publisher's page
Why the numbers differ (4)
- 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 (1)
- 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)
Context (3)
- UNODC metadata for the intentional homicide data (definitions and sources). Retrieved 2026-10-25.
- WHO rating of death registration completeness and usability by country. Retrieved 2026-10-25.
- Andersson and Kazemian: Reliability and validity of cross-national homicide data, a comparison of UN and WHO data. Retrieved 2026-10-25.
Sources considered and not used (9)
- IHME Global Burden of Disease (interpersonal violence deaths): The GBD Results tool asks users to register and sign in before downloading estimates (checked 25 October 2026), so no values were taken from it.
- WHO Mortality Database, United Kingdom total: UNODC reports England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland separately, so the page shows those three jurisdictions from both sources instead of a UK total.
- UNODC, Central Iraq and Kurdistan Region rows: Sub-national parts of Iraq; the national Iraq series is used instead.
- WHO Mortality Database, Rodrigues and former entities: Rodrigues is part of Mauritius, and former entities (such as the Netherlands Antilles and Serbia and Montenegro) are not current countries.
- WHO Mortality Database, ICD-7 file: The ICD-7 file (morticd07.zip) ends in 1972, before the 1980 start of the series. (source, retrieved 2026-10-27)
- WHO Mortality Database, ICD-8 List B: Used only for Turkey in 1981 and 1982. Its one item that holds homicide (B050, E960-E999) also holds deaths of undetermined intent and from war, so it is not a homicide count. (source, retrieved 2026-10-27)
- UNODC Data Portal, homicide series before 2003: The portal's only download for victims of intentional homicide (data_cts_intentional_homicide.xlsx, July 2026 release) starts in 2003, and the portal offers no longer series (checked 27 October 2026), so the UNODC lines start in 2003 at the earliest. (source, retrieved 2026-10-27)
- WHO Mortality Database, countries with no ICD-10 data: WHO's files hold ICD-9 or ICD-8 deaths for these countries but no year coded in ICD-10, so there is no recent WHO figure and the old years are not shown on their own: Albania, Macau, Monaco, Sao Tome and Principe, Zimbabwe. (source, retrieved 2026-10-27)
- WHO Mortality Database, some years from 1980 on: These have deaths but no population either in WHO's population file or in UN World Population Prospects 2024, so no rate was computed: United Kingdom, Scotland. (source, retrieved 2026-10-25)
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