Homicides in New Zealand
New Zealand: Homicides was 75 homicides in 2022. ▲ Rising
Homicides in New Zealand, 1990–2022
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 2022, homicides in New Zealand stood at 75 homicides.
The figure is up 27.1% on the previous year and up 82.9% over ten years.
Over the whole period, homicides in New Zealand peaked at 114 homicides in 2019 and was at its lowest, 35 homicides, in 2017.
That places New Zealand 101st out of 179 countries with data for 2022, putting it in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 33 years of available data.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 52.28 homicides | 39 homicides | 66.6 homicides | 10 |
| 2000s | 52.8 homicides | 44 homicides | 67 homicides | 10 |
| 2010s | 51.4 homicides | 35 homicides | 114 homicides | 10 |
| 2020s | 62 homicides | 52 homicides | 75 homicides | 3 |
Countries ranked near New Zealand
More social development data for New Zealand
- Political Rights Rating 1 (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of asy 2,148 (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of ori 58 (2025)
- Electoral democracy 1 (2025)
- Key features of democracy 0.849 (2025)
- Freedom of Expression Index 0.927 (2025)
- Freedom of Association Index 0.885 (2025)
- Electoral Democracy Index 0.849 (2025)
- Participatory Democracy Index 0.581 (2025)
- Liberal Democracy Index 0.787 (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is homicides in New Zealand?
- Homicides in New Zealand was 75 homicides in 2022, 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 New Zealand?
- The highest recorded value was 114 homicides in 2019.
- What is the lowest homicides recorded in New Zealand?
- The lowest recorded value was 35 homicides in 2017.
- How does New Zealand rank for homicides?
- New Zealand ranks 101st out of 179 countries with data for 2022.
- Is homicides rising or falling in New Zealand?
- Over the last ten years it is up 82.9%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this New Zealand 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 — 33 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).
About this data
Number of intentional homicides.