Homicides in Japan
Japan: Homicides was 285 homicides in 2023. ▼ Falling
Homicides in Japan, 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
Japan recorded 285 homicides for homicides in 2023. That is the lowest value across all 34 years on record.
That represents a change of down 1.4% on the previous year and down 23.0% over ten years.
Over the whole period, homicides in Japan peaked at 775 homicides in 1998 and was at its lowest, 285 homicides, in 2021.
That places Japan 70th 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.
Homicides in Japan, year by year
| Year | homicides | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1990 | 676 homicides | — |
| 1991 | 639 homicides | -5.5% |
| 1992 | 673 homicides | +5.3% |
| 1993 | 715 homicides | +6.2% |
| 1994 | 751 homicides | +5.0% |
| 1995 | 724 homicides | -3.6% |
| 1996 | 652 homicides | -9.9% |
| 1997 | 710 homicides | +8.9% |
| 1998 | 775 homicides | +9.2% |
| 1999 | 736 homicides | -5.0% |
| 2000 | 678 homicides | -7.9% |
| 2001 | 697 homicides | +2.8% |
| 2002 | 662 homicides | -5.0% |
| 2003 | 697 homicides | +5.3% |
| 2004 | 699 homicides | +0.3% |
| 2005 | 643 homicides | -8.0% |
| 2006 | 619 homicides | -3.7% |
| 2007 | 574 homicides | -7.3% |
| 2008 | 654 homicides | +13.9% |
| 2009 | 506 homicides | -22.6% |
| 2010 | 465 homicides | -8.1% |
| 2011 | 442 homicides | -4.9% |
| 2012 | 429 homicides | -2.9% |
| 2013 | 370 homicides | -13.8% |
| 2014 | 395 homicides | +6.8% |
| 2015 | 363 homicides | -8.1% |
| 2016 | 362 homicides | -0.3% |
| 2017 | 306 homicides | -15.5% |
| 2018 | 334 homicides | +9.2% |
| 2019 | 319 homicides | -4.5% |
| 2020 | 318 homicides | -0.3% |
| 2021 | 285 homicides | -10.4% |
| 2022 | 289 homicides | +1.4% |
| 2023 | 285 homicides | -1.4% |
Japan compared with similar countries
- Japan's 285 homicides is above the median for high income countries, which is 52.5 homicides, 5.4× the median. (76 countries reporting)
- Japan's 285 homicides is above the median for East Asia & Pacific, which is 75 homicides, 3.8× the median. (27 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 705.1 homicides | 639 homicides | 775 homicides | 10 |
| 2000s | 642.9 homicides | 506 homicides | 699 homicides | 10 |
| 2010s | 378.5 homicides | 306 homicides | 465 homicides | 10 |
| 2020s | 294.25 homicides | 285 homicides | 318 homicides | 4 |
Countries ranked near Japan
More social development data for Japan
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 42,450 (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 56 (2025)
- Political Rights Rating 1 (2025)
- Electoral democracy 1 (2025)
- Political rights rating fh, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Political rights rating fh, gaps filled 1 (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 0 units per person (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 56 (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 0.0003 units per person (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 0 units per US$ of GDP (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is homicides in Japan?
- Homicides in Japan was 285 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 Japan?
- The highest recorded value was 775 homicides in 1998.
- What is the lowest homicides recorded in Japan?
- The lowest recorded value was 285 homicides in 2021.
- How does Japan rank for homicides?
- Japan ranks 70th out of 179 countries with data for 2023.
- Is homicides rising or falling in Japan?
- Over the last ten years it is down 23.0%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Japan 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.