Intentional homicides (per 100,000 people)
1995 - 2016 - VC.IHR.PSRC.P5 (Source database: World Development Indicators)
Overview
Series unique ID
VC.IHR.PSRC.P5
Series Name
Intentional homicides (per 100,000 people)
Database ID
WLD_2019_WDI_v01_M
Periodicity of data
Annual
Definition long
Intentional homicides are estimates of 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. Intentional homicide does not include all intentional killing; the difference is usually in the organization of the killing. Individuals or small groups usually commit homicide, whereas killing in armed conflict is usually committed by fairly cohesive groups of up to several hundred members and is thus usually excluded.
Limitations and exceptions
Statistics reported to the United Nations in the context of its various surveys on crime levels and criminal justice trends are incidents of victimization that have been reported to the authorities in any given country. That means that this data is subject to the problems of accuracy of all official crime data. The survey results provide an overview of trends and interrelationships between various parts of the criminal justice system to promote informed decision-making in administration, nationally and internationally.
The degree to which different societies apportion the level of culpability to acts resulting in death is also subject to variation. Consequently, the comparison between countries and regions of "intentional homicide", or unlawful death purposefully inflicted on a person by another person, is also a comparison of the extent to which different countries deem that a killing be classified as such, as well as the capacity of their legal systems to record it. Caution should therefore be applied when evaluating and comparing homicide data.
The degree to which different societies apportion the level of culpability to acts resulting in death is also subject to variation. Consequently, the comparison between countries and regions of "intentional homicide", or unlawful death purposefully inflicted on a person by another person, is also a comparison of the extent to which different countries deem that a killing be classified as such, as well as the capacity of their legal systems to record it. Caution should therefore be applied when evaluating and comparing homicide data.
Relevance
In some regions, organized crime, drug trafficking and the violent cultures of youth gangs are predominantly responsible for the high levels of homicide. There has been a sharp increase in homicides in some countries, particularly in Central America, are making the activities of organized crime and drug trafficking more visible. Greater use of firearms is often associated with the illicit activities of organized criminal groups, which are often linked to drug trafficking.
Knowledge of the patterns and causes of violent crime are crucial to forming preventive strategies. Young males are the group most affected by violent crime in all regions, particularly in the Americas. Yet women of all ages are the victims of intimate partner and family-related violence in all regions and countries. Indeed, in many of them, it is within the home where a woman is most likely to be killed.
Data on intentional homicides are from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), which uses a variety of national and international sources on homicides - primarily criminal justice sources as well as public health data from the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Pan American Health Organization - and the United Nations Survey of Crime Trends and Operations of Criminal Justice Systems to present accurate and comparable statistics. The UNODC defines homicide as "unlawful death purposefully inflicted on a person by another person." This definition excludes deaths arising from armed conflict.
Knowledge of the patterns and causes of violent crime are crucial to forming preventive strategies. Young males are the group most affected by violent crime in all regions, particularly in the Americas. Yet women of all ages are the victims of intimate partner and family-related violence in all regions and countries. Indeed, in many of them, it is within the home where a woman is most likely to be killed.
Data on intentional homicides are from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), which uses a variety of national and international sources on homicides - primarily criminal justice sources as well as public health data from the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Pan American Health Organization - and the United Nations Survey of Crime Trends and Operations of Criminal Justice Systems to present accurate and comparable statistics. The UNODC defines homicide as "unlawful death purposefully inflicted on a person by another person." This definition excludes deaths arising from armed conflict.
Aggregation method
Weighted average
Notes
Compliance with international resolution
API documentation
Description
See the Developer Information webpage for detailed documentation of the API
Documentation Link
https://datahelpdesk.worldbank.org/knowledgebase/topics/125589-developer-information
Series links
Series links
| Link type | Description | Link | Format |
|---|---|---|---|
| API | Data in JSON | https://api.worldbank.org/v2/countries/all/indicators/VC.IHR.PSRC.P5?date=1995:2016&format=json | json |
| API | Data in XML | https://api.worldbank.org/v2/countries/all/indicators/VC.IHR.PSRC.P5?date=1995:2016 | XML |
| API | Metadata in JSON | https://api.worldbank.org/v2/sources/2/indicator/vc.ihr.psrc.p5/metadata?format=json | json |
| API | Metadata in XML | https://api.worldbank.org/v2/sources/2/indicator/vc.ihr.psrc.p5/metadata | XML |
Geographic information
Geographic locations
| Location name | Location code |
|---|---|
| Aruba | ABW |
| Afghanistan | AFG |
| Angola | AGO |
| Albania | ALB |
| Andorra | AND |
| Arab World | ARB |
| United Arab Emirates | ARE |
| Argentina | ARG |
| Armenia | ARM |
| American Samoa | ASM |
| Antigua and Barbuda | ATG |
| Australia | AUS |
| Austria | AUT |
| Azerbaijan | AZE |
| Burundi | BDI |
| Belgium | BEL |
| Benin | BEN |
| Burkina Faso | BFA |
| Bangladesh | BGD |
| Bulgaria | BGR |
| Bahrain | BHR |
| Bahamas, The | BHS |
| Bosnia and Herzegovina | BIH |
| Belarus | BLR |
| Belize | BLZ |
| Bermuda | BMU |
| Bolivia | BOL |
| Brazil | BRA |
| Barbados | BRB |
| Brunei Darussalam | BRN |
| Bhutan | BTN |
| Botswana | BWA |
| Central African Republic | CAF |
| Canada | CAN |
| Central Europe and the Baltics | CEB |
| Switzerland | CHE |
| Channel Islands | CHI |
| Chile | CHL |
| China | CHN |
| Côte d'Ivoire | CIV |
| Cameroon | CMR |
| Congo, Dem. Rep. | COD |
| Congo, Rep. | COG |
| Colombia | COL |
| Comoros | COM |
| Cabo Verde | CPV |
| Costa Rica | CRI |
| Caribbean small states | CSS |
| Cuba | CUB |
| Curaçao | CUW |
| Cayman Islands | CYM |
| Cyprus | CYP |
| Czech Republic | CZE |
| Germany | DEU |
| Djibouti | DJI |
| Dominica | DMA |
| Denmark | DNK |
| Dominican Republic | DOM |
| Algeria | DZA |
| East Asia & Pacific (excluding high income) | EAP |
| Early-demographic dividend | EAR |
| East Asia & Pacific | EAS |
| Europe & Central Asia (excluding high income) | ECA |
| Europe & Central Asia | ECS |
| Ecuador | ECU |
| Egypt, Arab Rep. | EGY |
| Euro area | EMU |
| Eritrea | ERI |
| Spain | ESP |
| Estonia | EST |
| Ethiopia | ETH |
| European Union | EUU |
| Fragile and conflict affected situations | FCS |
| Finland | FIN |
| Fiji | FJI |
| France | FRA |
| Micronesia, Fed. Sts. | FSM |
| Gabon | GAB |
| United Kingdom | GBR |
| Georgia | GEO |
| Ghana | GHA |
| Gibraltar | GIB |
| Guinea | GIN |
| Gambia, The | GMB |
| Guinea-Bissau | GNB |
| Equatorial Guinea | GNQ |
| Greece | GRC |
| Grenada | GRD |
| Greenland | GRL |
| Guatemala | GTM |
| Guam | GUM |
| Guyana | GUY |
| High income | HIC |
| Hong Kong SAR, China | HKG |
| Honduras | HND |
| Heavily indebted poor countries (HIPC) | HPC |
| Croatia | HRV |
| Haiti | HTI |
| Hungary | HUN |
| IBRD only | IBD |
| IDA & IBRD total | IBT |
| IDA total | IDA |
| IDA blend | IDB |
| Indonesia | IDN |
| IDA only | IDX |
| Isle of Man | IMN |
| India | IND |
| Ireland | IRL |
| Iran, Islamic Rep. | IRN |
| Iraq | IRQ |
| Iceland | ISL |
| Israel | ISR |
| Italy | ITA |
| Jamaica | JAM |
| Jordan | JOR |
| Japan | JPN |
| Kazakhstan | KAZ |
| Kenya | KEN |
| Kyrgyz Republic | KGZ |
| Cambodia | KHM |
| Kiribati | KIR |
| St. Kitts and Nevis | KNA |
| Korea, Rep. | KOR |
| Kuwait | KWT |
| Latin America & Caribbean (excluding high income) | LAC |
| Lao PDR | LAO |
| Lebanon | LBN |
| Liberia | LBR |
| Libya | LBY |
| St. Lucia | LCA |
| Latin America & Caribbean | LCN |
| Least developed countries: UN classification | LDC |
| Low income | LIC |
| Liechtenstein | LIE |
| Sri Lanka | LKA |
| Lower middle income | LMC |
| Low & middle income | LMY |
| Lesotho | LSO |
| Late-demographic dividend | LTE |
| Lithuania | LTU |
| Luxembourg | LUX |
| Latvia | LVA |
| Macao SAR, China | MAC |
| Morocco | MAR |
| Monaco | MCO |
| Moldova | MDA |
| Madagascar | MDG |
| Maldives | MDV |
| Middle East & North Africa | MEA |
| Mexico | MEX |
| Middle income | MIC |
| Macedonia, FYR | MKD |
| Mali | MLI |
| Malta | MLT |
| Myanmar | MMR |
| Middle East & North Africa (excluding high income) | MNA |
| Montenegro | MNE |
| Mongolia | MNG |
| Mozambique | MOZ |
| Mauritania | MRT |
| Mauritius | MUS |
| Malawi | MWI |
| Malaysia | MYS |
| North America | NAC |
| Namibia | NAM |
| New Caledonia | NCL |
| Niger | NER |
| Nigeria | NGA |
| Nicaragua | NIC |
| Netherlands | NLD |
| Norway | NOR |
| Nepal | NPL |
| Nauru | NRU |
| New Zealand | NZL |
| OECD members | OED |
| Oman | OMN |
| Other small states | OSS |
| Pakistan | PAK |
| Panama | PAN |
| Peru | PER |
| Philippines | PHL |
| Palau | PLW |
| Papua New Guinea | PNG |
| Poland | POL |
| Pre-demographic dividend | PRE |
| Puerto Rico | PRI |
| Korea, Dem. People's Rep. | PRK |
| Portugal | PRT |
| Paraguay | PRY |
| West Bank and Gaza | PSE |
| Pacific island small states | PSS |
| Post-demographic dividend | PST |
| French Polynesia | PYF |
| Qatar | QAT |
| Romania | ROU |
| Russian Federation | RUS |
| Rwanda | RWA |
| South Asia | SAS |
| Saudi Arabia | SAU |
| Sudan | SDN |
| Senegal | SEN |
| Singapore | SGP |
| Solomon Islands | SLB |
| Sierra Leone | SLE |
| El Salvador | SLV |
| San Marino | SMR |
| Somalia | SOM |
| Serbia | SRB |
| Sub-Saharan Africa (excluding high income) | SSA |
| South Sudan | SSD |
| Sub-Saharan Africa | SSF |
| Small states | SST |
| São Tomé and Principe | STP |
| Suriname | SUR |
| Slovak Republic | SVK |
| Slovenia | SVN |
| Sweden | SWE |
| Swaziland | SWZ |
| Seychelles | SYC |
| Syrian Arab Republic | SYR |
| Turks and Caicos Islands | TCA |
| Chad | TCD |
| East Asia & Pacific (IDA & IBRD) | TEA |
| Europe & Central Asia (IDA & IBRD) | TEC |
| Togo | TGO |
| Thailand | THA |
| Tajikistan | TJK |
| Turkmenistan | TKM |
| Latin America & Caribbean (IDA & IBRD) | TLA |
| Timor-Leste | TLS |
| Middle East & North Africa (IDA & IBRD) | TMN |
| Tonga | TON |
| South Asia (IDA & IBRD) | TSA |
| Sub-Saharan Africa (IDA & IBRD) | TSS |
| Trinidad and Tobago | TTO |
| Tunisia | TUN |
| Turkey | TUR |
| Tuvalu | TUV |
| Tanzania | TZA |
| Uganda | UGA |
| Ukraine | UKR |
| Upper middle income | UMC |
| Uruguay | URY |
| United States | USA |
| Uzbekistan | UZB |
| St. Vincent and the Grenadines | VCT |
| Venezuela, RB | VEN |
| British Virgin Islands | VGB |
| Virgin Islands (U.S.) | VIR |
| Vietnam | VNM |
| Vanuatu | VUT |
| World | WLD |
| Samoa | WSM |
| Kosovo | XKX |
| Yemen, Rep. | YEM |
| South Africa | ZAF |
| Zambia | ZMB |
| Zimbabwe | ZWE |