Homicides in Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia: Homicides was 285 homicides in 2019. ▲ Rising
Homicides in Saudi Arabia, 1999–2019
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
Saudi Arabia recorded 285 homicides for homicides in 2019.
That represents a change of up 27.2% on the previous year and up 7.5% over ten years.
Over the whole period, homicides in Saudi Arabia peaked at 301 homicides in 2004 and was at its lowest, 173 homicides, in 2000.
Saudi Arabia ranks 70th of 179 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 11 years of available data.
Homicides in Saudi Arabia, year by year
| Year | homicides | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1999 | 184 homicides | — |
| 2000 | 173 homicides | -6.0% |
| 2001 | 229 homicides | +32.4% |
| 2002 | 285 homicides | +24.5% |
| 2003 | 250 homicides | -12.3% |
| 2004 | 301 homicides | +20.4% |
| 2005 | 297 homicides | -1.3% |
| 2006 | 255 homicides | -14.1% |
| 2007 | 265 homicides | +3.9% |
| 2018 | 224 homicides | -15.5% |
| 2019 | 285 homicides | +27.2% |
Saudi Arabia compared with similar countries
- Saudi Arabia's 285 homicides is above the median for high income countries, which is 52.5 homicides, 5.4× the median. (76 countries reporting)
- Saudi Arabia's 285 homicides is above the median for Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan, which is 216.5 homicides, 1.3× the median. (20 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 184 homicides | 184 homicides | 184 homicides | 1 |
| 2000s | 256.88 homicides | 173 homicides | 301 homicides | 8 |
| 2010s | 254.5 homicides | 224 homicides | 285 homicides | 2 |
Countries ranked near Saudi Arabia
More social development data for Saudi Arabia
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 448 (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 2,368 (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 0.0001 units per person (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 2,368 (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 0 units per US$ of GDP (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is homicides in Saudi Arabia?
- Homicides in Saudi Arabia was 285 homicides in 2019, 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 Saudi Arabia?
- The highest recorded value was 301 homicides in 2004.
- What is the lowest homicides recorded in Saudi Arabia?
- The lowest recorded value was 173 homicides in 2000.
- How does Saudi Arabia rank for homicides?
- Saudi Arabia ranks 70th out of 179 countries with data for 2019.
- Is homicides rising or falling in Saudi Arabia?
- Over the last ten years it is up 7.5%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Saudi Arabia 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 — 11 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).
About this data
Number of intentional homicides.