Law in Charts · Crime and violence

Intentional homicides per 100,000 people, over time

How has the homicide rate moved in nine countries since 2000?

intentional homicides per 100,000 people

Source: UN Office on Drugs and Crime, Intentional homicides (per 100,000 people), via the World Bank. Data for 2000 to 2023. What it counts, how to cite it and the data

At a glance

United States: 5.5 in 2000, 5.8 in 2023.
United Kingdom: 1.5 in 2000, 1.1 in 2021.
Germany: 1.7 in 2000, 0.9 in 2023.
France: 1.8 in 2000, 1.3 in 2023.
India: 4.6 in 2000, 2.8 in 2022.
Brazil: 26.1 in 2000, 19.3 in 2023.
Japan: 0.5 in 2000, 0.2 in 2023.
South Africa: 46.1 in 2000, 43.7 in 2022.
Bulgaria: 4.1 in 2000, 1.1 in 2023.

The countries shown are a selection from different regions and legal traditions, chosen for the length of their data and not for any result.

What it counts

Intentional homicide: an unlawful death inflicted on a person with the intent to cause death or serious injury, as defined by the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, counted per 100,000 people.

What it leaves out, and how far to trust a comparison

Homicide is the crime best recorded across countries, but definitions, recording and reporting still differ, and a small population makes a rate jump from year to year. It says nothing about other crime. A figure is not a judgment of a country, its courts or its people. Series based on police records and on health records can differ.

Source

UN Office on Drugs and Crime: Intentional homicides (per 100,000 people), via the World Bank, compiled in World Bank, World Development Indicators. Source licence: CC BY 4.0. Data retrieved 2026-10-23 to 2026-10-25.

Cite this chart

Free to use in teaching, articles, reports and slides, with credit. Our compilation is licensed CC BY 4.0; the source publishes the underlying data under its own licence, shown below.

Reference (APA style)

TheLawToKnow. (2026). Intentional homicides per 100,000 people, over time [Chart]. Law in Charts. https://tools.thelawtoknow.com/law-in-charts/homicide-trend. Data: UN Office on Drugs and Crime, Intentional homicides (per 100,000 people), via the World Bank, https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/VC.IHR.PSRC.P5 (data retrieved 2026-10-23 to 2026-10-25).

Short credit for slides and websites

Chart: TheLawToKnow, Law in Charts (https://tools.thelawtoknow.com/law-in-charts/homicide-trend). Data: UN Office on Drugs and Crime, via World Bank, World Development Indicators.

BibTeX

@misc{homicidetrend2026,
  author = {{TheLawToKnow}},
  title = {Intentional homicides per 100,000 people, over time},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {Law in Charts},
  url = {https://tools.thelawtoknow.com/law-in-charts/homicide-trend},
  note = {Data: UN Office on Drugs and Crime, Intentional homicides (per 100,000 people), via the World Bank, https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/VC.IHR.PSRC.P5. Retrieved 2026-10-23 to 2026-10-25.}
}

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