Homicides in South Korea
South Korea: Homicides was 247 homicides in 2023. ▲ Rising
Homicides in South Korea, 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
The most recent figure for homicides in South Korea is 247 homicides, measured in 2023.
That represents a change of down 3.9% on the previous year and down 29.8% over ten years.
Over the whole period, homicides in South Korea peaked at 532.28 homicides in 2009 and was at its lowest, 208.03 homicides, in 1990.
South Korea ranks 76th of 179 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 34 years of available data.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 270.87 homicides | 208.03 homicides | 384.69 homicides | 10 |
| 2000s | 417.34 homicides | 369.96 homicides | 532.28 homicides | 10 |
| 2010s | 368.96 homicides | 297 homicides | 484.63 homicides | 10 |
| 2020s | 264.25 homicides | 245 homicides | 308 homicides | 4 |
Countries ranked near South Korea
More social development data for South Korea
- Political Rights Rating 2 (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of asy 4,407 (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of ori 117 (2025)
- Electoral democracy 1 (2025)
- Key features of democracy 0.819 (2025)
- Freedom of Expression Index 0.933 (2025)
- Freedom of Association Index 0.839 (2025)
- Electoral Democracy Index 0.819 (2025)
- Participatory Democracy Index 0.551 (2025)
- Liberal Democracy Index 0.739 (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is homicides in South Korea?
- Homicides in South Korea was 247 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 South Korea?
- The highest recorded value was 532.28 homicides in 2009.
- What is the lowest homicides recorded in South Korea?
- The lowest recorded value was 208.03 homicides in 1990.
- How does South Korea rank for homicides?
- South Korea ranks 76th out of 179 countries with data for 2023.
- Is homicides rising or falling in South Korea?
- Over the last ten years it is down 29.8%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this South Korea 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.