Homicide rate in Panama
Panama: Homicide rate was 11.71 homicides per 100,000 population in 2023. ▲ Rising
Homicide rate in Panama, 1990–2023
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
Panama recorded 11.71 homicides per 100,000 population for homicide rate in 2023.
That represents a change of up 3.2% on the previous year and down 32.5% over ten years.
Over the whole period, homicide rate in Panama peaked at 17.33 homicides per 100,000 population in 2013 and was at its lowest, 6.55 homicides per 100,000 population, in 2006.
That places Panama 30th out of 179 countries with data for 2023, putting it in the top quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 34 years of available data.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 11.23 homicides per 100,000 population | 8.92 homicides per 100,000 population | 13.84 homicides per 100,000 population | 10 |
| 2000s | 10.75 homicides per 100,000 population | 6.55 homicides per 100,000 population | 15.77 homicides per 100,000 population | 10 |
| 2010s | 12.95 homicides per 100,000 population | 9.22 homicides per 100,000 population | 17.33 homicides per 100,000 population | 10 |
| 2020s | 11.84 homicides per 100,000 population | 11.34 homicides per 100,000 population | 12.66 homicides per 100,000 population | 4 |
Countries ranked near Panama
- 27 French Guiana 13.39 homicides per 100,000 population compare
- 28 Venezuela 12.65 homicides per 100,000 population compare
- 29 Eswatini 12.51 homicides per 100,000 population compare
- 31 Botswana 11.37 homicides per 100,000 population compare
- 32 Nicaragua 11.35 homicides per 100,000 population compare
- 33 Uruguay 11.25 homicides per 100,000 population compare
More social development data for Panama
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of asy 2,694 (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of ori 375 (2025)
- Electoral democracy 1 (2025)
- Political Rights Rating 2 (2025)
- Freedom of Association Index 0.881 (2025)
- Human Rights Index 0.874 (2025)
- Liberal Democracy Index 0.575 (2025)
- Electoral democracy 2 (2025)
- Participatory Democracy Index 0.441 (2025)
- Key features of human rights 0.874 (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is homicide rate in Panama?
- Homicide rate in Panama was 11.71 homicides per 100,000 population in 2023, 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 Panama?
- The highest recorded value was 17.33 homicides per 100,000 population in 2013.
- What is the lowest homicide rate recorded in Panama?
- The lowest recorded value was 6.55 homicides per 100,000 population in 2006.
- How does Panama rank for homicide rate?
- Panama ranks 30th out of 179 countries with data for 2023.
- Is homicide rate rising or falling in Panama?
- Over the last ten years it is down 32.5%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Panama 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.
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About this data
Intentional homicide rate per 100,000 population.