Homicides in Australia
Australia: Homicides was 226 homicides in 2023. ▼ Falling
Homicides in Australia, 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.
Analysis
Australia recorded 226 homicides for homicides in 2023.
Compared with earlier readings it is up 2.7% on the previous year and down 7.8% over ten years.
Over the whole period, homicides in Australia peaked at 385 homicides in 1999 and was at its lowest, 193 homicides, in 2021.
That places Australia 77th out of 179 countries with data for 2023, putting it in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 34 years of available data.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 346.1 homicides | 301 homicides | 385 homicides | 10 |
| 2000s | 295.9 homicides | 255 homicides | 366 homicides | 10 |
| 2010s | 232.7 homicides | 208 homicides | 248 homicides | 10 |
| 2020s | 215 homicides | 193 homicides | 226 homicides | 4 |
Countries ranked near Australia
More social development data for Australia
- Political Rights Rating 1 (2025)
- 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)
- Key features of democracy 0.844 (2025)
- Freedom of Expression Index 0.915 (2025)
- Freedom of Association Index 0.876 (2025)
- Electoral Democracy Index 0.844 (2025)
- Participatory Democracy Index 0.648 (2025)
- Liberal Democracy Index 0.793 (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is homicides in Australia?
- Homicides in Australia was 226 homicides 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 homicides recorded in Australia?
- The highest recorded value was 385 homicides in 1999.
- What is the lowest homicides recorded in Australia?
- The lowest recorded value was 193 homicides in 2021.
- How does Australia rank for homicides?
- Australia ranks 77th out of 179 countries with data for 2023.
- Is homicides rising or falling in Australia?
- Over the last ten years it is down 7.8%. 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 Homicides. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 34 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).
About this data
Number of intentional homicides.