Homicide rate from firearms in Australia
Australia: Homicide rate from firearms was 0.0945 homicides per 100,000 population in 2023. ▼ Falling
Homicide rate from firearms in Australia, 2005–2023
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
Australia recorded 0.0945 homicides per 100,000 population for homicide rate from firearms in 2023.
Compared with earlier readings it is down 20.1% on the previous year and down 33.5% over ten years.
Over the whole period, homicide rate from firearms in Australia peaked at 0.1991 homicides per 100,000 population in 2006 and was at its lowest, 0.0777 homicides per 100,000 population, in 2020.
That places Australia 66th out of 82 countries with data for 2023, putting it in the bottom quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 19 years of available data.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 0.1651 homicides per 100,000 population | 0.1404 homicides per 100,000 population | 0.1991 homicides per 100,000 population | 5 |
| 2010s | 0.1365 homicides per 100,000 population | 0.093 homicides per 100,000 population | 0.175 homicides per 100,000 population | 10 |
| 2020s | 0.0967 homicides per 100,000 population | 0.0777 homicides per 100,000 population | 0.1183 homicides per 100,000 population | 4 |
Countries ranked near Australia
- 63 Lithuania 0.1073 homicides per 100,000 population compare
- 64 Tanzania 0.1038 homicides per 100,000 population compare
- 65 Kazakhstan 0.1027 homicides per 100,000 population compare
- 67 Sri Lanka 0.0714 homicides per 100,000 population compare
- 68 Germany 0.0646 homicides per 100,000 population compare
- 69 Mongolia 0.0583 homicides per 100,000 population compare
More social development data for Australia
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of asy 33,415 (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of ori 41 (2025)
- Electoral democracy 1 (2025)
- Political Rights Rating 1 (2025)
- Freedom of Association Index 0.876 (2025)
- Human Rights Index 0.906 (2025)
- Liberal Democracy Index 0.793 (2025)
- Electoral democracy 2 (2025)
- Participatory Democracy Index 0.648 (2025)
- Key features of human rights 0.906 (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is homicide rate from firearms in Australia?
- Homicide rate from firearms in Australia was 0.0945 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 from firearms recorded in Australia?
- The highest recorded value was 0.1991 homicides per 100,000 population in 2006.
- What is the lowest homicide rate from firearms recorded in Australia?
- The lowest recorded value was 0.0777 homicides per 100,000 population in 2020.
- How does Australia rank for homicide rate from firearms?
- Australia ranks 66th out of 82 countries with data for 2023.
- Is homicide rate from firearms rising or falling in Australia?
- Over the last ten years it is down 33.5%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Australia 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 from firearms. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 19 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).
About this data
Intentional homicide rate per 100,000 population where the weapon was a firearm.