Homicides in Uganda
Uganda: Homicides was 4,366 homicides in 2023. ▲ Rising
Homicides in Uganda, 1995–2023
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
Uganda recorded 4,366 homicides for homicides in 2023.
That represents a change of up 5.4% on the previous year and up 13.2% over ten years.
Over the whole period, homicides in Uganda peaked at 4,735 homicides in 2017 and was at its lowest, 1,710 homicides, in 1995.
Uganda ranks 13th of 179 countries on this measure, in the top 10%.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 19 years of available data.
Homicides in Uganda, year by year
| Year | homicides | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1995 | 1,710 homicides | — |
| 1996 | 1,806 homicides | +5.6% |
| 1997 | 1,919 homicides | +6.3% |
| 2007 | 2,645 homicides | +37.8% |
| 2008 | 2,793 homicides | +5.6% |
| 2009 | 3,233 homicides | +15.8% |
| 2010 | 3,160 homicides | -2.3% |
| 2011 | 3,753 homicides | +18.8% |
| 2012 | 4,066 homicides | +8.3% |
| 2013 | 3,857 homicides | -5.1% |
| 2014 | 4,473 homicides | +16.0% |
| 2016 | 4,482 homicides | +0.2% |
| 2017 | 4,735 homicides | +5.6% |
| 2018 | 4,497 homicides | -5.0% |
| 2019 | 4,718 homicides | +4.9% |
| 2020 | 4,460 homicides | -5.5% |
| 2021 | 3,912 homicides | -12.3% |
| 2022 | 4,143 homicides | +5.9% |
| 2023 | 4,366 homicides | +5.4% |
Uganda compared with similar countries
- Uganda's 4,366 homicides is above the median for low income countries, which is 553.5 homicides, 7.9× the median. (10 countries reporting)
- Uganda's 4,366 homicides is above the median for Sub-Saharan Africa, which is 539.5 homicides, 8.1× the median. (22 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 1,812 homicides | 1,710 homicides | 1,919 homicides | 3 |
| 2000s | 2,890 homicides | 2,645 homicides | 3,233 homicides | 3 |
| 2010s | 4,193 homicides | 3,160 homicides | 4,735 homicides | 9 |
| 2020s | 4,220 homicides | 3,912 homicides | 4,460 homicides | 4 |
Countries ranked near Uganda
More social development data for Uganda
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 1.94 million (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 12,792 (2025)
- Political Rights Rating 6 (2025)
- Electoral democracy 0 (2025)
- Political rights rating fh, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Political rights rating fh, gaps filled 6 (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 0.0002 units per person (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 12,792 (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 0.0377 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 Uganda?
- Homicides in Uganda was 4,366 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 Uganda?
- The highest recorded value was 4,735 homicides in 2017.
- What is the lowest homicides recorded in Uganda?
- The lowest recorded value was 1,710 homicides in 1995.
- How does Uganda rank for homicides?
- Uganda ranks 13th out of 179 countries with data for 2023.
- Is homicides rising or falling in Uganda?
- Over the last ten years it is up 13.2%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Uganda 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 — 19 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).
About this data
Number of intentional homicides.