Homicide Rate
Homicide Rate by country
Commentary
Notable countries
The lowest homicide rates in the dataset are recorded at 0 in Monaco, San Marino, Tuvalu, and Vatican City. Among larger, more typical states, Singapore and Qatar are also extremely low at 0.069 per 100k, followed by Japan at 0.229. At the other end, Saint Kitts and Nevis has the highest rate at 64.16, with Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Jamaica, Ecuador, South Africa, and Haiti also among the worst performers. A notable surprise is that several Caribbean countries dominate the highest-rate group, while Europe and parts of Asia dominate the lowest-rate group.
Regional trends
Europe has the lowest continental average at 1.366 per 100k, followed by Asia at 2.28, indicating generally low homicide levels in those regions. Oceania sits higher at 3.726, while Africa is above the global mean at 7.816. The highest regional averages are in South America at 14.17 and especially North America at 24.18, showing that the Americas are the most affected overall in this dataset.
Data source
The data come from UNODC and are measured as homicide rate per 100k people. The dataset covers 196 countries. A caveat is that very small states appear among the best performers with zero recorded homicides, which can make rankings at the very top less comparable to larger countries.
Interpretation
Because lower is better, a high value means a country experiences more homicides relative to its population, while a low value indicates lower lethal violence. The global mean is 6.985 per 100k, but the large standard deviation of 10.58 suggests wide disparities across countries. Overall, the data point to very low homicide rates across much of Europe and Asia, but severe violence burdens in parts of the Caribbean, southern Africa, and South America.