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. 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

Intentional homicide is defined by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) in its Global Study on Homicide report thus: "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 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.

UNODC's global study

All data in this section comes from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) website.

By region

Rates vary widely within regions. See info on secondary sorting within regions and subregions below.

By country, region, or dependent territory

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. The U.N. recognizes that variability in the quality and integrity of data provided by certain countries may minimize country murder rates. Go to the more detailed country info in the references, and the country links in the table for more info. Table has 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.

Other multi-country studies

A 2020 study by InSight Crime found that Jamaica had the highest homicide rate in Latin America and the Caribbean, while Venezuela had the second highest rate.

Sources