Homicides in Guatemala
Guatemala: Homicides was 4,235 homicides in 2023. ▲ Rising
Homicides in Guatemala, 1992–2023
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
In 2023, homicides in Guatemala stood at 4,235 homicides.
That represents a change of up 7.6% on the previous year and down 17.8% over ten years.
Over the whole period, homicides in Guatemala peaked at 6,498 homicides in 2009 and was at its lowest, 2,655 homicides, in 1999.
Guatemala ranks 14th of 179 countries on this measure, in the top 10%.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 30 years of available data.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 3,248 homicides | 2,655 homicides | 3,998 homicides | 8 |
| 2000s | 4,830 homicides | 2,904 homicides | 6,498 homicides | 10 |
| 2010s | 5,243 homicides | 4,437 homicides | 5,960 homicides | 8 |
| 2020s | 3,722 homicides | 3,157 homicides | 4,235 homicides | 4 |
Countries ranked near Guatemala
More social development data for Guatemala
- Political Rights Rating 4 (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of asy 1,586 (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of ori 34,994 (2025)
- Electoral democracy 1 (2025)
- Key features of democracy 0.637 (2025)
- Freedom of Expression Index 0.839 (2025)
- Freedom of Association Index 0.834 (2025)
- Electoral Democracy Index 0.637 (2025)
- Participatory Democracy Index 0.421 (2025)
- Liberal Democracy Index 0.523 (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is homicides in Guatemala?
- Homicides in Guatemala was 4,235 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 Guatemala?
- The highest recorded value was 6,498 homicides in 2009.
- What is the lowest homicides recorded in Guatemala?
- The lowest recorded value was 2,655 homicides in 1999.
- How does Guatemala rank for homicides?
- Guatemala ranks 14th out of 179 countries with data for 2023.
- Is homicides rising or falling in Guatemala?
- Over the last ten years it is down 17.8%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Guatemala 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 — 30 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).
About this data
Number of intentional homicides.