Title: Homicides - Our World in Data
Headings: Homicides
Homicides
Summary
All our charts on Homicides
In some countries, homicide is one of the leading causes of death
More than 400,000 people die from homicide each year
Homicide is a leading cause of death in young adults
The global distribution of homicides
Less than 1% of global deaths are from homicide, but in some countries it’s close to 10%
There are large differences in homicide rates across the world
How have homicide rates changed over time?
How have homicide rates changed over the long run until today?
Have homicides increased or decreased in recent decades?
Who are the victims of homicide?
Homicide deaths by age
Homicide rates by age
Child homicides
How and where are homicides committed?
By weapon/method
Definitions & Measurement
Origin and limitations of the available data on homicides
Comparisons of recent estimates
Data quality for long historical estimates
Data Sources
Historical sources
Homicide Data in the Post-War Time
Recent homicide estimates
Institute of Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME), Global Burden of Disease (GBD)

Content: Click to open interactive version
How have homicide rates changed over time? In this section
How have homicide rates changed over the long run until today? Have homicides increased or decreased in recent decades? How have homicide rates changed over the long run until today? Understanding how homicide rates have changed prior to the modern era requires the help of historians and archivists. Manuel Eisner, a criminology professor at the University of Cambridge, and his colleagues published the Historical Violence Database: a compilation of data on long-term trends in homicide rates, in addition to qualitative information such as the cause of death, perpetrator and victim. This database is limited to countries with relatively complete historical records on violence and crime – mainly Western Europe and the US. Starting in the second half of the nineteenth century, these European regions have consistent police records of those accused of murder or manslaughter and annual counts of homicide victims. To go back further in time, reaching as far back as the thirteenth century, Eisner collected estimates (from historical records of coroner reports, court trials, and the police) of homicide rates made in over ninety publications by scholars.