Homicides in Brazil
Brazil: Homicides was 40,698 homicides in 2023. ▲ Rising
Homicides in Brazil, 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
Brazil recorded 40,698 homicides for homicides in 2023.
The figure is down 3.6% on the previous year and down 28.4% over ten years.
Over the whole period, homicides in Brazil peaked at 63,788 homicides in 2017 and was at its lowest, 25,967 homicides, in 1992.
Brazil ranks 1st of 179 countries on this measure, in the top 10%.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 34 years of available data.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 33,955 homicides | 25,967 homicides | 42,914 homicides | 10 |
| 2000s | 48,858 homicides | 45,375 homicides | 51,461 homicides | 10 |
| 2010s | 56,072 homicides | 44,073 homicides | 63,788 homicides | 10 |
| 2020s | 42,853 homicides | 40,698 homicides | 45,515 homicides | 4 |
Countries ranked near Brazil
More social development data for Brazil
- Political Rights Rating 2 (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of asy 278,966 (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of ori 6,306 (2025)
- Electoral democracy 1 (2025)
- Key features of democracy 0.784 (2025)
- Freedom of Expression Index 0.91 (2025)
- Freedom of Association Index 0.882 (2025)
- Electoral Democracy Index 0.784 (2025)
- Participatory Democracy Index 0.528 (2025)
- Liberal Democracy Index 0.704 (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is homicides in Brazil?
- Homicides in Brazil was 40,698 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 Brazil?
- The highest recorded value was 63,788 homicides in 2017.
- What is the lowest homicides recorded in Brazil?
- The lowest recorded value was 25,967 homicides in 1992.
- How does Brazil rank for homicides?
- Brazil ranks 1st out of 179 countries with data for 2023.
- Is homicides rising or falling in Brazil?
- Over the last ten years it is down 28.4%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Brazil 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.