⚰️ Homicides per capita have fallen 14 percent since 2015

• The global homicide rate dropped from 5.9 to 5.1 victims per 100,000 people between 2015 and 2024.
• In the ten years before 2015, the figure held steady at around 6 victims per 100,000 people.
• If the decline continues at the same pace, the rate will reach 4.5 victims per 100,000 people by 2030.

Fewer people are being murdered per capita worldwide. This is shown in the UN Statistics Division's compilation of data for Sustainable Development Goal 16, based on submissions received up to 30 April 2026. The underlying data comes from the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, UNODC, and the World Health Organization, WHO.

The global homicide rate stood at 5.1 victims per 100,000 people in 2024. That is a decline of 14 percent compared with 5.9 victims per 100,000 in 2015. If the decline continues at the same pace through 2030, the figure will reach 4.5 victims per 100,000 people, roughly 25 percent lower than in 2015.

The decline broke a decade of unchanged figures

During the ten years preceding the adoption of the 2030 Agenda, the global homicide rate barely moved. It stayed at around 6 victims per 100,000 people year after year. Only after 2015 did the curve begin to point downward, and the decline is visible in almost every region.

Lowest level in Eastern and South-Eastern Asia

The differences between regions are large. The lowest homicide rate in 2024 was in Eastern and South-Eastern Asia, at 0.9 victims per 100,000 people. Next came Central and Southern Asia at 2.8, Oceania at 3.0, and Europe and Northern America at 3.2. Northern Africa and Western Asia stood at 4.9.

Latin America and the Caribbean had the highest rate in the world, at 19.3 victims per 100,000 people. The region is more affected by organized crime and gang-related violence than any other. Sub-Saharan Africa stood at 11.7 victims per 100,000 people, a figure that carries uncertainty because several countries in the region have limited data collection.

Two regions account for most homicides

Latin America and the Caribbean together with Sub-Saharan Africa are home to slightly less than a quarter of the world's population. At the same time, the two regions accounted for almost two-thirds of all homicide victims worldwide in 2024. That means the global figure is largely determined by what happens in these countries.

The decline applies to both men and women

Of all homicide victims in 2024, 80 percent were men and 20 percent were women. The report's trend lines from the year 2000 onward show that the homicide rate has fallen for both groups.

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