Countries by murder rate – ranked

A global index of countries by murder rate, measured by intentional homicides per 100,000 people, using the latest UN data.

According to the United Nations 2019 Global Study on Homicide report, homicide kills considerably more people than armed conflict.

Intentional homicides are defined by the UN as:

“Unlawful homicides purposely inflicted as a result of domestic disputes, interpersonal violence, violent conflicts over land resources, intergang violence over turf or control and predatory violence and killing by armed groups.”

UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC)

Intentional homicide does not include all intentional killing such as killing during armed conflict.

10 countries with the highest and lowest murder rates

Key findings from the report

• The 2017 average global murder rate was 6.1 homicides per 100,000 people.
• The global homicide rate decreased from 7.2 in 1992 to 6.1 in 2017.
• The rate in the Americas (17.2) is the highest recorded in the region since reliable records began in 1990.
• Africa’s murder rate (13.0) is also above the global average.
• Asia, Europe and Oceania all have a murder rate below the global average: 2.3, 3.0 and 2.8 respectively.
• 81% of homicide victims recorded in 2017 were male.
• 90% of suspects in homicide incidents were male.
• Latin America and Caribbean countries have nine of 10 highest homicide rates in the world.
• Organized crime alone was responsible for up to 19% of all homicides in 2017.

A map of countries by murder rate

Countries by murder rate – complete ranking

The table below ranks the world’s countries by their murder rate using intentional homicides per 100,000 people.

It draws on the latest data available from the UN Office on Drugs and Crime’s International Homicide Statistics database made available through the World Bank.

Some countries have been omitted due to insufficient or unreliable data.

Rank	Country	Year	Rate
1	El Salvador	2017	61.8
2	Jamaica	2017	57
3	Venezuela	2016	56.3
4	Honduras	2017	41.7
5	Lesotho	2015	41.2
6	Belize	2017	37.9
7	St. Vincent & Gren.	2016	36.5
8	South Africa	2017	35.9
9	St. Kitts & Nevis	2012	34.2
10	Trinidad & Tobago	2015	30.9

11	The Bahamas	2017	30.9
12	Brazil	2017	30.5
13	St. Lucia	2017	29.6
14	Guatemala	2017	26.1
15	Dominica	2017	25.7
16	Colombia	2017	24.9
17	Mexico	2017	24.8
18	Central African Rep.	2016	19.8
19	Tuvalu	2012	18.6
20	Puerto Rico	2017	18.5

21	Namibia	2012	17.1
22	Botswana	2010	15.0
23	Guyana	2017	14.8
24	South Sudan	2012	13.9
25	Seychelles	2016	12.7
26	Costa Rica	2017	12.3
27	Cabo Verde	2016	11.5
28	Dominican Rep.	2017	11.3
29	Grenada	2017	11.1
30	Uganda	2017	11.0

31	Barbados	2017	10.5
32	Antigua & Barbuda	2012	10.3
33	Papua New Guinea	2010	10.0
34	Iraq	2013	9.9
35	Panama	2017	9.7
36	Haiti	2016	9.5
37	Eswatini	2017	9.5
38	Russia	2017	9.2
39	Paraguay	2016	8.9
40	Cayman Is.	2014	8.4

41	Philippines	2017	8.4
42	Uruguay	2017	8.2
43	Bermuda	2017	8.2
44	Peru	2017	7.7
45	Kiribati	2012	7.5
46	Nicaragua	2016	7.4
47	Afghanistan	2017	7.1
48	Yemen	2013	6.7
49	Zimbabwe	2012	6.7
50	Bolivia	2016	6.3

51	Ukraine	2017	6.2
52	Tanzania	2016	6.2
53	Mongolia	2017	6.2
54	Turks & Caicos Is.	2014	6
55	Burundi	2016	5.9
56	Ecuador	2017	5.8
57	Suriname	2017	5.5
58	American Samoa	2016	5.4
59	USA	2017	5.3
60	Zambia	2015	5.3

61	Greenland	2016	5.3
62	Sudan	2008	5.2
63	Argentina	2017	5.1
64	Kazakhstan	2017	5
65	Cuba	2016	5
66	Kenya	2017	5
67	Angola	2012	4.8
68	Lithuania	2017	4.5
69	Niger	2012	4.4
70	Turkey	2012	4.3

71	Chile	2017	4.3
72	Latvia	2017	4.2
73	Kyrgyz Rep.	2017	4.2
74	Pakistan	2017	4.2
75	Turkmenistan	2006	4.2
76	Lebanon	2016	4
77	Marshall Is.	1994	4
78	Solomon Islands	2008	4
79	Timor-Leste	2015	3.9
80	Belarus	2014	3.6

81	Sao Tome & Principe	2011	3.4
82	Mozambique	2011	3.4
83	Thailand	2016	3.2
84	Liberia	2012	3.2
85	New Caledonia	2009	3.2
86	Moldova	2014	3.2
87	Samoa	2013	3.1
88	India	2016	3
89	Tunisia	2012	3
90	Iran	2014	2.5

91	Egypt	2012	2.5
92	Hungary	2017	2.5
93	Rwanda	2015	2.5
94	Armenia	2017	2.4
95	Montenegro	2017	2.4
96	Albania	2017	2.3
97	Sri Lanka	2017	2.3
98	Fiji	2014	2.3
99	Myanmar	2016	2.3
100	Syria	2010	2.2

101	Nepal	2016	2.2
102	Estonia	2017	2.2
103	Bangladesh	2017	2.2
104	Kosovo	2016	2.1
105	Malaysia	2013	2.1
106	Morocco	2017	2.1
107	Ghana	2017	2.1
108	Azerbaijan	2017	2
109	Aruba	2014	1.9
110	Kuwait	2012	1.8

111	Cambodia	2011	1.8
112	Canada	2017	1.8
113	Mauritius	2016	1.8
114	Sierra Leone	2015	1.7
115	Malawi	2012	1.7
116	Belgium	2017	1.7
117	Tajikistan	2011	1.6
118	Bhutan	2017	1.6
119	Slovakia	2017	1.5
120	North Macedonia	2017	1.5

121	Vietnam	2011	1.5
122	Romania	2017	1.5
123	Bulgaria	2017	1.5
124	Jordan	2017	1.4
125	Algeria	2015	1.4
126	Cameroon	2017	1.4
127	Israel	2015	1.4
128	Saudi Arabia	2017	1.3
129	France	2017	1.3
130	Burkina Faso	2017	1.3

131	Denmark	2017	1.2
132	Finland	2017	1.2
133	UK	2017	1.2
134	Bosnia & Herz.	2017	1.2
135	Sweden	2017	1.1
136	Uzbekistan	2017	1.1
137	Croatia	2017	1.1
138	Guinea-Bissau	2017	1.1
139	Serbia	2017	1.1
140	Benin	2017	1.1

141	Germany	2017	1
142	Tonga	2012	1
143	Georgia	2016	1
144	Ireland	2017	0.9
145	Iceland	2017	0.9
146	Malta	2015	0.9
147	Slovenia	2017	0.9
148	Australia	2017	0.8
149	Netherlands	2017	0.8
150	Maldives	2013	0.8

151	Poland	2017	0.8
152	Austria	2016	0.7
153	New Zealand	2017	0.7
154	Spain	2017	0.7
155	Italy	2016	0.7
156	Portugal	2017	0.7
157	Greece	2017	0.7
158	South Korea	2017	0.6
159	Cyprus	2017	0.6
160	Czech Rep.	2017	0.6

161	China	2017	0.6
162	UAE	2017	0.5
163	Switzerland	2017	0.5
164	Norway	2017	0.5
165	Oman	2017	0.5
166	Bahrain	2014	0.5
167	Brunei Darussalam	2013	0.5
168	Qatar	2014	0.4
169	Indonesia	2017	0.4
170	Macao SAR	2017	0.3

171	Hong Kong SAR	2017	0.3
172	Luxembourg	2017	0.3
173	Singapore	2017	0.2
174	Japan	2017	0.2
175	Andorra	2015	0
176	Liechtenstein	2016	0
177	San Marino	2011	0
178	Monaco	2015	0

Source: World Bank, World Development Indicators