Sub-categories

Choose categories from the dropdowns below to see different breakdowns of the data. Some will not be available until a higher level is chosen.

Download Headline CSV Download Source CSV

Download source CSV for disaggregations

Headline data

Source: Home Office - Homicide Index

Geographical Area: England and Wales

Unit of Measurement: Rate per 100,000 population

Footnote:

1. The period April to March is being used to report annual data.

2. Data for year ending March 2012, 2015 and 2019 each include 1 victim with unknown gender.

3. Data for year ending March 2016 includes 1 victim with unknown gender and sex.

4. Data for year ending March 2020 includes 1 victim with unknown gender and 1 victim with unknown age.

5. Data for City of London have been suppressed due to the small population size of the police force area.

6. Figures for 2010 to 2011 includes 12 victims of Derrick Bird. Figures for 2016 to 2017 includes 96 victims of Hillsborough and four victims of the Westminster Bridge attack. Figures for 2017 to 2018 incudes 31 victims of the terrorist attacks that involved multiple victims, including the Manchester Arena bombing, the London Bridge attack and 11 victims of the Shoreham air crash. Figures for 2019 to 2020 include 39 human traffic victims who were found dead in a lorry in Essex.

7. Figures for England and England and Wales include data for British Transport Police.

8. Rates where the number of homicides are fewer than five are supressed, and are therefore unreported.

This table provides metadata for the actual indicator available from UK statistics closest to the corresponding global SDG indicator. Please note that even when the global SDG indicator is fully available from UK statistics, this table should be consulted for information on national methodology and other UK-specific metadata information.

Indicator available
Indicator description
Geographical coverage

England and Wales

Unit of measurement

Rate per 100,000 population

Definitions

Homicide is defined as a collective term referring to the offences of murder, manslaughter and infanticide.

Murder and manslaughter are common law offences that have never been defined by statute, although they have been modified by statute.

The manslaughter category includes the offence of corporate manslaughter which was created by the Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007 which came into force on 6 April 2008.

The offence of infanticide was created by the Infanticide Act 1922 and refined by the Infanticide Act 1938. Infanticide is defined as the killing of a baby aged under one year by their mother while the balance of her mind was disturbed as a result of giving birth.

Available disaggregations
Calculations

Rate per 100,000 = (Rate per 1,000,000 population/10)

Other information

Homicide figures have been compiled from the Homicide Index recorded by the Home Office, which contains detailed record-level information about each homicide recorded by police in England and Wales. The Homicide Index data are based on the year when the offence was recorded as a crime, not when the offence took place or when the case was heard in court. While in the vast majority of cases the offence will be recorded in the same year as it took place, this is not always the case. Caution is therefore needed when looking at longer-term homicide trends.

The Homicide Index is continually updated with revised information from the police as investigations continue and as cases are heard by the courts. For further information, see the user guide for the Homicide Index.

Home Office statisticians and Police Forces have undertaken a review of all historical homicide data to update court outcomes and suspect data, this means totals shown in this table will not match previously published figures. Therefore, previous time series by region and police force area are not available.

These figures are revised from the earliest period and therefore only a 10 year period is available during each update.

As at 10 December 2021; figures are subject to revision as cases are dealt with by the police and by the courts, or as further information becomes available.

Home Office statisticians and police forces have undertaken a review of homicide data for year ending March 2019 and year ending March 2020 to update suspect data and cancelled crimes. Totals shown in this table will not match previously published figures.

Totals may not sum as numbers include some victims with unknown age or sex.

Data follows the UN specification for this indicator. This indicator has been identified in collaboration with topic experts.

Data last updated 24 June 2022
Metadata last updated 28 June 2022

This table provides information on metadata for SDG indicators as defined by the UN Statistical Commission. Complete global metadata is provided by the UN Statistics Division.

Indicator name

Number of victims of intentional homicide per 100,000 population, by sex and age

Target name

Significantly reduce all forms of violence and related death rates everywhere

Global indicator description
UN designated tier

Tier II

UN custodian agency

United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), World Health Organization (WHO)

Link to UN metadata United Nations Sustainable Development Goals metadata for target 16.1 opens in a new window
Organisation

Home Office - Homicide Index

Periodicity

Annual

Earliest available data

2009 to 2010

Geographical coverage

England and Wales

Link to data source Homicide in England and Wales opens in a new window
Release date 10 February 2022
Next release

To be announced

Statistical classification

Homicide Index data are not designated as National Statistics.

Contact details

crimestatistics@ons.gov.uk

Other information

Data for 2020/21 acquired from table 4b. Data for 2009/2010 to 2019/20 acquired from table 4.

Back to top