Where is violence highest?
Click any country to see its homicide rate — intentional killings per 100,000 people, a core measure of safety.
Overview
The homicide rate — killings per 100,000 people — is one of the most reliable cross-country measures of violence. It ranges from near zero in the safest countries to dozens in the most dangerous. This map compares them.
Key facts
- The safest countries record well under 1 homicide per 100,000.
- The highest rates are in parts of Latin America and the Caribbean.
- Homicide is the most comparable crime statistic across countries.
Common questions
What is the homicide rate?
The number of intentional homicides per 100,000 people in a year. Because it is consistently defined and recorded, it is the most reliable measure for comparing violence between countries.
Why does it vary so much?
Organised crime, inequality, weak rule of law and the availability of weapons all drive higher homicide rates in some regions.
Where does the data come from?
The UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), compiled via Our World in Data.
Sources & methodology
Data from UNODC (via Our World in Data), compiled via Our World in Data. Global figures are population-weighted across the countries that report this measure; countries without reliable recent data are shown as “no data”.
Last updated: 3 August 2026.
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