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Homicide rate in Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka: Homicide rate was 1.18 deaths per 100,000 people in 2019. ▼ Falling

Latest (2019)
1.18 deaths per 100,000 people
World rank
58th
of 111 countries
All-time high
6.91 deaths per 100,000 people
in 1983
All-time low
1.18 deaths per 100,000 people
in 2019
Years of data
42
1955–2019

Homicide rate in Sri Lanka, 1955–2019

2461955198720191955: 4.3 deaths per 100,000 people1956: 4 deaths per 100,000 people1957: 3.7 deaths per 100,000 people1958: 4.9 deaths per 100,000 people1959: 4.3 deaths per 100,000 people1960: 3.3 deaths per 100,000 people1961: 2.7 deaths per 100,000 people1962: 3.2 deaths per 100,000 people1963: 2.4 deaths per 100,000 people1964: 2.5 deaths per 100,000 people1965: 2.9 deaths per 100,000 people1966: 3.4 deaths per 100,000 people1967: 2.6 deaths per 100,000 people1968: 2.2 deaths per 100,000 people1977: 6.7 deaths per 100,000 people1980: 2.3 deaths per 100,000 people1981: 2.8 deaths per 100,000 people1982: 3.5 deaths per 100,000 people1983: 6.9 deaths per 100,000 people1984: 5.3 deaths per 100,000 people1985: 6.9 deaths per 100,000 people1986: 6.8 deaths per 100,000 people1996: 6.7 deaths per 100,000 people1997: 4.9 deaths per 100,000 people1998: 4.3 deaths per 100,000 people1999: 4.7 deaths per 100,000 people2000: 5.2 deaths per 100,000 people2001: 4.1 deaths per 100,000 people2002: 4.5 deaths per 100,000 people2003: 3.8 deaths per 100,000 people2004: 4.2 deaths per 100,000 people2005: 3.5 deaths per 100,000 people2006: 3.3 deaths per 100,000 people2007: 3.8 deaths per 100,000 people2009: 3 deaths per 100,000 people2010: 2.1 deaths per 100,000 people2011: 1.9 deaths per 100,000 people2012: 1.8 deaths per 100,000 people2013: 2 deaths per 100,000 people2014: 1.8 deaths per 100,000 people2015: 1.6 deaths per 100,000 people2019: 1.2 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

Sri Lanka recorded 1.18 deaths per 100,000 people for homicide rate in 2019. That is the lowest value across all 42 years on record.

That represents a change of down 60.7% over ten years.

Over the whole period, homicide rate in Sri Lanka peaked at 6.91 deaths per 100,000 people in 1983 and was at its lowest, 1.18 deaths per 100,000 people, in 2019.

Sri Lanka ranks 58th of 111 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.

The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 42 years of available data.

Homicide rate in Sri Lanka, year by year

Year deaths per 100,000 people Change
1955 4.33 deaths per 100,000 people —
1956 4.03 deaths per 100,000 people -6.9%
1957 3.72 deaths per 100,000 people -7.7%
1958 4.87 deaths per 100,000 people +30.8%
1959 4.31 deaths per 100,000 people -11.4%
1960 3.29 deaths per 100,000 people -23.6%
1961 2.66 deaths per 100,000 people -19.4%
1962 3.19 deaths per 100,000 people +20.1%
1963 2.43 deaths per 100,000 people -23.8%
1964 2.49 deaths per 100,000 people +2.5%
1965 2.92 deaths per 100,000 people +17.2%
1966 3.43 deaths per 100,000 people +17.5%
1967 2.61 deaths per 100,000 people -23.7%
1968 2.17 deaths per 100,000 people -17.1%
1977 6.66 deaths per 100,000 people +207.3%
1980 2.29 deaths per 100,000 people -65.6%
1981 2.81 deaths per 100,000 people +22.7%
1982 3.48 deaths per 100,000 people +23.8%
1983 6.91 deaths per 100,000 people +98.6%
1984 5.35 deaths per 100,000 people -22.7%
1985 6.86 deaths per 100,000 people +28.3%
1986 6.83 deaths per 100,000 people -0.4%
1996 6.69 deaths per 100,000 people -2.1%
1997 4.85 deaths per 100,000 people -27.5%
1998 4.3 deaths per 100,000 people -11.3%
1999 4.74 deaths per 100,000 people +10.2%
2000 5.2 deaths per 100,000 people +9.7%
2001 4.13 deaths per 100,000 people -20.6%
2002 4.53 deaths per 100,000 people +9.8%
2003 3.78 deaths per 100,000 people -16.6%
2004 4.17 deaths per 100,000 people +10.2%
2005 3.54 deaths per 100,000 people -15.0%
2006 3.31 deaths per 100,000 people -6.6%
2007 3.76 deaths per 100,000 people +13.7%
2009 3.01 deaths per 100,000 people -20.0%
2010 2.06 deaths per 100,000 people -31.5%
2011 1.88 deaths per 100,000 people -8.8%
2012 1.78 deaths per 100,000 people -5.3%
2013 1.98 deaths per 100,000 people +11.6%
2014 1.75 deaths per 100,000 people -11.8%
2015 1.6 deaths per 100,000 people -8.5%
2019 1.18 deaths per 100,000 people -26.2%

Sri Lanka compared with similar countries

  • Sri Lanka's 1.18 deaths per 100,000 people is below the median for upper middle income countries, which is 3.11 deaths per 100,000 people, 38% of the median. (42 countries reporting)

Biggest year-on-year movements

Years where Homicide rate in Sri Lanka changed far more than this series normally does. A large move can be a real event or a change in how the figure was measured — the source note below says who published it.

YearChange FromTo
1977 +207.3% 2.17 deaths per 100,000 people 6.66 deaths per 100,000 people

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
1950s 4.25 deaths per 100,000 people 3.72 deaths per 100,000 people 4.87 deaths per 100,000 people 5
1960s 2.8 deaths per 100,000 people 2.17 deaths per 100,000 people 3.43 deaths per 100,000 people 9
1970s 6.66 deaths per 100,000 people 6.66 deaths per 100,000 people 6.66 deaths per 100,000 people 1
1980s 4.93 deaths per 100,000 people 2.29 deaths per 100,000 people 6.91 deaths per 100,000 people 7
1990s 5.15 deaths per 100,000 people 4.3 deaths per 100,000 people 6.69 deaths per 100,000 people 4
2000s 3.94 deaths per 100,000 people 3.01 deaths per 100,000 people 5.2 deaths per 100,000 people 9
2010s 1.75 deaths per 100,000 people 1.18 deaths per 100,000 people 2.06 deaths per 100,000 people 7

Countries ranked near Sri Lanka

  1. 55 Montenegro 1.29 deaths per 100,000 people compare
  2. 56 Romania 1.21 deaths per 100,000 people compare
  3. 57 Bosnia and Herzegovina 1.2 deaths per 100,000 people compare
  4. 59 Turkmenistan 1.13 deaths per 100,000 people compare
  5. 60 Finland 1.12 deaths per 100,000 people compare
  6. 61 North Macedonia 1.09 deaths per 100,000 people compare

See the full ranking of 111 places →

More social development data for Sri Lanka

All data for Sri Lanka →

Frequently asked questions

What is homicide rate in Sri Lanka?
Homicide rate in Sri Lanka was 1.18 deaths per 100,000 people in 2019, according to WHO Mortality Database (2025) – with minor processing by Our World in Data.
What is the highest homicide rate recorded in Sri Lanka?
The highest recorded value was 6.91 deaths per 100,000 people in 1983.
What is the lowest homicide rate recorded in Sri Lanka?
The lowest recorded value was 1.18 deaths per 100,000 people in 2019.
How does Sri Lanka rank for homicide rate?
Sri Lanka ranks 58th out of 111 countries with data for 2019.
Is homicide rate rising or falling in Sri Lanka?
Over the last ten years it is down 60.7%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
Where does this Sri Lanka 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 Sri Lanka. 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/sri-lanka/

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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.