Homicide rate in Malawi
Malawi: Homicide rate was 1.78 homicides per 100,000 population in 2012. ▼ Falling
Homicide rate in Malawi, 2000–2012
Source: UN, World Population Prospects (2024); United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (2025) – with minor processing by Our World in Data. Measured in homicides per 100,000 population.
Analysis
The most recent figure for homicide rate in Malawi is 1.78 homicides per 100,000 population, measured in 2012.
Compared with earlier readings it is down 21.0% on the previous year and down 62.8% over ten years.
Over the whole period, homicide rate in Malawi peaked at 7.76 homicides per 100,000 population in 2001 and was at its lowest, 1.56 homicides per 100,000 population, in 2005.
Malawi ranks 109th of 179 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 13 years of available data.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 4.51 homicides per 100,000 population | 1.56 homicides per 100,000 population | 7.76 homicides per 100,000 population | 10 |
| 2010s | 2.51 homicides per 100,000 population | 1.78 homicides per 100,000 population | 3.51 homicides per 100,000 population | 3 |
Countries ranked near Malawi
- 106 Ghana 1.83 homicides per 100,000 population compare
- 107 Cambodia 1.82 homicides per 100,000 population compare
- 108 Reunion 1.79 homicides per 100,000 population compare
- 110 Albania 1.76 homicides per 100,000 population compare
- 111 Morocco 1.67 homicides per 100,000 population compare
- 112 Israel 1.63 homicides per 100,000 population compare
More social development data for Malawi
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of asy 35,241 (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of ori 551 (2025)
- Electoral democracy 1 (2025)
- Political Rights Rating 2 (2025)
- Freedom of Association Index 0.767 (2025)
- Human Rights Index 0.806 (2025)
- Liberal Democracy Index 0.462 (2025)
- Electoral democracy 2 (2025)
- Participatory Democracy Index 0.366 (2025)
- Key features of human rights 0.806 (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is homicide rate in Malawi?
- Homicide rate in Malawi was 1.78 homicides per 100,000 population in 2012, according to UN, World Population Prospects (2024); United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (2025) – with minor processing by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest homicide rate recorded in Malawi?
- The highest recorded value was 7.76 homicides per 100,000 population in 2001.
- What is the lowest homicide rate recorded in Malawi?
- The lowest recorded value was 1.56 homicides per 100,000 population in 2005.
- How does Malawi rank for homicide rate?
- Malawi ranks 109th out of 179 countries with data for 2012.
- Is homicide rate rising or falling in Malawi?
- Over the last ten years it is down 62.8%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Malawi data come from?
- The figures come from UN, World Population Prospects (2024); United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (2025) – with minor processing by Our World in Data, published as part of Homicide rate. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 13 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).
About this data
Intentional homicide rate per 100,000 population.