Charted: The World’s Highest Homicide Rates, in Each Region

Visual Capitalist

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June 8, 2024

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The World’s Highest Homicide Rates, by Region

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A rise in organized crime and the spread of illegal weapons are fueling violent deaths globally.

While there are varying trends across regions, the worldwide homicide rate reached 5.8 per 100,000 inhabitants in 2022. Overall, firearms were the leading cause of these deaths.

This graphic shows the world’s highest homicide rates by region, based on data from UNODC.

Countries With the Highest Homicide Rates

Here are the countries or territories with the highest homicide rate per 100,000 inhabitants in each region:

RegionRankCountryHomicide Rate per 100,000 People South America & Caribbean1🇯🇲 Jamaica53.3 2🇻🇨 Saint Vincent and the Grenadines40.4 3🇹🇹 Trinidad and Tobago39.5 Africa1🇿🇦 South Africa34.0 2🇳🇬 Nigeria21.7 3🇸🇿 Eswatini12.7 North America1🇲🇽 Mexico26.1 2🇧🇲 Bermuda10.9 3🇺🇸 United States of America6.4 Asia1🇮🇶 Iraq (Central Iraq)15.4 2🇲🇳 Mongolia6.2 3🇵🇭 Philippines4.3 Europe1🇷🇺 Russia6.8 2🇱🇮 Liechtenstein5.1 3🇺🇦 Ukraine3.8 Oceania1🇬🇺 Guam4.2 2🇫🇯 Fiji2.2 3🇹🇴 Tonga1.0 World5.8

All data is for 2022 except for South Africa, where data is as of 2020.

The highest homicide rates globally are found in the South America and Caribbean region, with the majority of homicides driven by crime-related activities.

Going further, the region is home to three of the world’s deadliest countries. With a murder rate of 53.3 per 100,000 people, Jamaica’s deadly violence is more than eight times as high as America. In recent years, a surge of illegal firearms have entered the country, with the majority of these weapons smuggled out of the U.S., particularly from Florida.

Following Jamaica are the island nations of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and Trinidad and Tobago. These two countries are known hubs for Venezuelan cocaine traffickers that transit illegal drugs to the U.S. and Europe.

Mexico ranks as the most dangerous country in North America, with more than 30,000

The full article is available here. This article was published at Visual Capitalist.