Homicides in Nicaragua
Nicaragua: Homicides was 754 homicides in 2021. ▼ Falling
Homicides in Nicaragua, 1990–2021
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 2021, homicides in Nicaragua stood at 754 homicides.
Compared with earlier readings it is up 46.4% on the previous year and up 2.2% over ten years.
Over the whole period, homicides in Nicaragua peaked at 826 homicides in 1992 and was at its lowest, 431 homicides, in 2017.
Nicaragua ranks 44th of 179 countries on this measure, in the top quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 31 years of available data.
Homicides in Nicaragua, year by year
| Year | homicides | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1990 | 672 homicides | — |
| 1991 | 732 homicides | +8.9% |
| 1992 | 826 homicides | +12.8% |
| 1993 | 762 homicides | -7.7% |
| 1994 | 725 homicides | -4.9% |
| 1995 | 707 homicides | -2.5% |
| 1996 | 662 homicides | -6.4% |
| 1997 | 679 homicides | +2.6% |
| 1998 | 639 homicides | -5.9% |
| 1999 | 561 homicides | -12.2% |
| 2000 | 476 homicides | -15.2% |
| 2001 | 537 homicides | +12.8% |
| 2002 | 554 homicides | +3.2% |
| 2003 | 635 homicides | +14.6% |
| 2004 | 646 homicides | +1.7% |
| 2005 | 729 homicides | +12.8% |
| 2006 | 722 homicides | -1.0% |
| 2007 | 714 homicides | -1.1% |
| 2008 | 736 homicides | +3.1% |
| 2009 | 802 homicides | +9.0% |
| 2010 | 785 homicides | -2.1% |
| 2011 | 738 homicides | -6.0% |
| 2012 | 673 homicides | -8.8% |
| 2013 | 594 homicides | -11.7% |
| 2014 | 525 homicides | -11.6% |
| 2015 | 524 homicides | -0.2% |
| 2016 | 453 homicides | -13.5% |
| 2017 | 431 homicides | -4.9% |
| 2018 | 682 homicides | +58.2% |
| 2019 | 515 homicides | -24.5% |
| 2021 | 754 homicides | +46.4% |
Nicaragua compared with similar countries
- Nicaragua's 754 homicides is above the median for lower middle income countries, which is 635 homicides, 1.2× the median. (33 countries reporting)
- Nicaragua's 754 homicides is above the median for Latin America & Caribbean, which is 489 homicides, 1.5× the median. (41 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Homicides in Nicaragua changed far more than this series normally does. A large move can be a real event or a change in how the figure was measured — the source note below says who published it.
| Year | Change | From | To |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | +58.2% | 431 homicides | 682 homicides |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 696.5 homicides | 561 homicides | 826 homicides | 10 |
| 2000s | 655.1 homicides | 476 homicides | 802 homicides | 10 |
| 2010s | 592 homicides | 431 homicides | 785 homicides | 10 |
| 2020s | 754 homicides | 754 homicides | 754 homicides | 1 |
Countries ranked near Nicaragua
More social development data for Nicaragua
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 311 (2023)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 35,341 (2025)
- Political Rights Rating 7 (2025)
- Electoral democracy 0 (2025)
- Political rights rating fh, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Political rights rating fh, gaps filled 7 (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 0.005 units per person (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 35,341 (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 0 units per person (2023)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 0 units per US$ of GDP (2023)
Frequently asked questions
- What is homicides in Nicaragua?
- Homicides in Nicaragua was 754 homicides in 2021, 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 Nicaragua?
- The highest recorded value was 826 homicides in 1992.
- What is the lowest homicides recorded in Nicaragua?
- The lowest recorded value was 431 homicides in 2017.
- How does Nicaragua rank for homicides?
- Nicaragua ranks 44th out of 179 countries with data for 2021.
- Is homicides rising or falling in Nicaragua?
- Over the last ten years it is up 2.2%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Nicaragua 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 — 31 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).
About this data
Number of intentional homicides.