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Homicide rate in South Korea

South Korea: Homicide rate was 0.6243 deaths per 100,000 people in 2022. ▼ Falling

Latest (2022)
0.6243 deaths per 100,000 people
Change on year
down 10.7%
World rank
83rd
of 111 countries
All-time high
2.19 deaths per 100,000 people
in 1998
All-time low
0.6243 deaths per 100,000 people
in 2022
Years of data
38
1985–2022

Homicide rate in South Korea, 1985–2022

0.511.521985200320221985: 0.977 deaths per 100,000 people1986: 0.991 deaths per 100,000 people1987: 1.1 deaths per 100,000 people1988: 1 deaths per 100,000 people1989: 1.4 deaths per 100,000 people1990: 1.5 deaths per 100,000 people1991: 1.4 deaths per 100,000 people1992: 1.3 deaths per 100,000 people1993: 1.6 deaths per 100,000 people1994: 1.6 deaths per 100,000 people1995: 1.9 deaths per 100,000 people1996: 2 deaths per 100,000 people1997: 2.2 deaths per 100,000 people1998: 2.2 deaths per 100,000 people1999: 1.7 deaths per 100,000 people2000: 1.8 deaths per 100,000 people2001: 1.6 deaths per 100,000 people2002: 1.7 deaths per 100,000 people2003: 1.8 deaths per 100,000 people2004: 1.8 deaths per 100,000 people2005: 1.8 deaths per 100,000 people2006: 1.6 deaths per 100,000 people2007: 1.4 deaths per 100,000 people2008: 1.4 deaths per 100,000 people2009: 1.4 deaths per 100,000 people2010: 1.3 deaths per 100,000 people2011: 1.1 deaths per 100,000 people2012: 1.1 deaths per 100,000 people2013: 1.1 deaths per 100,000 people2014: 1 deaths per 100,000 people2015: 1 deaths per 100,000 people2016: 0.857 deaths per 100,000 people2017: 0.81 deaths per 100,000 people2018: 0.774 deaths per 100,000 people2019: 0.799 deaths per 100,000 people2020: 0.756 deaths per 100,000 people2021: 0.699 deaths per 100,000 people2022: 0.624 deaths per 100,000 people

Source: WHO Mortality Database (2025) – with minor processing by Our World in Data. Measured in deaths per 100,000 people.

Analysis

In 2022, homicide rate in South Korea stood at 0.6243 deaths per 100,000 people. That is the lowest value across all 38 years on record.

That represents a change of down 10.7% on the previous year and down 42.0% over ten years.

Over the whole period, homicide rate in South Korea peaked at 2.19 deaths per 100,000 people in 1998 and was at its lowest, 0.6243 deaths per 100,000 people, in 2022.

South Korea ranks 83rd of 111 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.

The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 38 years of available data.

Homicide rate in South Korea, year by year

Year deaths per 100,000 people Change
1985 0.9772 deaths per 100,000 people —
1986 0.9911 deaths per 100,000 people +1.4%
1987 1.08 deaths per 100,000 people +8.5%
1988 1.03 deaths per 100,000 people -4.6%
1989 1.4 deaths per 100,000 people +36.7%
1990 1.53 deaths per 100,000 people +9.5%
1991 1.43 deaths per 100,000 people -6.6%
1992 1.28 deaths per 100,000 people -10.5%
1993 1.64 deaths per 100,000 people +27.6%
1994 1.62 deaths per 100,000 people -1.0%
1995 1.88 deaths per 100,000 people +16.3%
1996 1.97 deaths per 100,000 people +4.4%
1997 2.19 deaths per 100,000 people +11.1%
1998 2.19 deaths per 100,000 people +0.1%
1999 1.72 deaths per 100,000 people -21.5%
2000 1.75 deaths per 100,000 people +2.2%
2001 1.61 deaths per 100,000 people -8.1%
2002 1.69 deaths per 100,000 people +4.9%
2003 1.77 deaths per 100,000 people +4.9%
2004 1.83 deaths per 100,000 people +3.4%
2005 1.8 deaths per 100,000 people -1.8%
2006 1.64 deaths per 100,000 people -9.0%
2007 1.44 deaths per 100,000 people -12.3%
2008 1.39 deaths per 100,000 people -3.5%
2009 1.36 deaths per 100,000 people -1.8%
2010 1.25 deaths per 100,000 people -8.1%
2011 1.1 deaths per 100,000 people -11.9%
2012 1.08 deaths per 100,000 people -2.3%
2013 1.12 deaths per 100,000 people +3.6%
2014 1.01 deaths per 100,000 people -9.6%
2015 1.02 deaths per 100,000 people +1.0%
2016 0.8569 deaths per 100,000 people -15.9%
2017 0.8101 deaths per 100,000 people -5.5%
2018 0.7739 deaths per 100,000 people -4.5%
2019 0.7986 deaths per 100,000 people +3.2%
2020 0.7556 deaths per 100,000 people -5.4%
2021 0.6994 deaths per 100,000 people -7.4%
2022 0.6243 deaths per 100,000 people -10.7%

South Korea compared with similar countries

  • South Korea's 0.6243 deaths per 100,000 people is below the median for high income countries, which is 0.7971 deaths per 100,000 people, 78% of the median. (57 countries reporting)
  • South Korea's 0.6243 deaths per 100,000 people is below the median for East Asia & Pacific, which is 0.7532 deaths per 100,000 people, 83% of the median. (12 countries reporting)

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
1980s 1.09 deaths per 100,000 people 0.9772 deaths per 100,000 people 1.4 deaths per 100,000 people 5
1990s 1.74 deaths per 100,000 people 1.28 deaths per 100,000 people 2.19 deaths per 100,000 people 10
2000s 1.63 deaths per 100,000 people 1.36 deaths per 100,000 people 1.83 deaths per 100,000 people 10
2010s 0.9811 deaths per 100,000 people 0.7739 deaths per 100,000 people 1.25 deaths per 100,000 people 10
2020s 0.6931 deaths per 100,000 people 0.6243 deaths per 100,000 people 0.7556 deaths per 100,000 people 3

Countries ranked near South Korea

  1. 80 Denmark 0.6684 deaths per 100,000 people compare
  2. 81 Belgium 0.656 deaths per 100,000 people compare
  3. 82 Spain 0.6535 deaths per 100,000 people compare
  4. 84 Austria 0.6167 deaths per 100,000 people compare
  5. 85 Norway 0.6111 deaths per 100,000 people compare
  6. 86 Czechia 0.5883 deaths per 100,000 people compare

See the full ranking of 111 places →

More social development data for South Korea

All data for South Korea →

Frequently asked questions

What is homicide rate in South Korea?
Homicide rate in South Korea was 0.6243 deaths per 100,000 people in 2022, according to WHO Mortality Database (2025) – with minor processing by Our World in Data.
What is the highest homicide rate recorded in South Korea?
The highest recorded value was 2.19 deaths per 100,000 people in 1998.
What is the lowest homicide rate recorded in South Korea?
The lowest recorded value was 0.6243 deaths per 100,000 people in 2022.
How does South Korea rank for homicide rate?
South Korea ranks 83rd out of 111 countries with data for 2022.
Is homicide rate rising or falling in South Korea?
Over the last ten years it is down 42.0%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
Where does this South Korea data come from?
The figures come from WHO Mortality Database (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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Homicide rate in South Korea. Statizoid, drawing on WHO Mortality Database (2025) – with minor processing by Our World in Data. Retrieved 23 October 2026, from https://social-development.statizoid.com/stat/homicide-rate-who-age-standardized/korea-rep/

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About this data

Indicator
Homicide rate
Unit
deaths per 100,000 people
Source
WHO Mortality Database (2025) – with minor processing by Our World in Data
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)
Coverage
111 places, 4,803 data points, 1950–2023
Last refreshed

Annual number of homicides per 100,000 people.