Homicides in Ukraine
Ukraine: Homicides was 1,673 homicides in 2021. ▼ Falling
Homicides in Ukraine, 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
Ukraine recorded 1,673 homicides for homicides in 2021. That is the lowest value across all 28 years on record.
The figure is down 1.5% on the previous year and down 15.8% over ten years.
Over the whole period, homicides in Ukraine peaked at 4,896 homicides in 1996 and was at its lowest, 1,673 homicides, in 2021.
That places Ukraine 27th out of 179 countries with data for 2021, putting it in the top quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 28 years of available data.
Homicides in Ukraine, year by year
| Year | homicides | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1990 | 2,558 homicides | — |
| 1991 | 2,648 homicides | +3.5% |
| 1992 | 3,370 homicides | +27.3% |
| 1993 | 3,696 homicides | +9.7% |
| 1994 | 4,223 homicides | +14.3% |
| 1995 | 4,407 homicides | +4.4% |
| 1996 | 4,896 homicides | +11.1% |
| 1997 | 4,231 homicides | -13.6% |
| 1998 | 4,195 homicides | -0.9% |
| 1999 | 4,250 homicides | +1.3% |
| 2000 | 4,418 homicides | +4.0% |
| 2001 | 4,854 homicides | +9.9% |
| 2002 | 4,296 homicides | -11.5% |
| 2003 | 4,041 homicides | -5.9% |
| 2004 | 3,487 homicides | -13.7% |
| 2005 | 3,030 homicides | -13.1% |
| 2006 | 2,958 homicides | -2.4% |
| 2007 | 2,646 homicides | -10.5% |
| 2008 | 2,466 homicides | -6.8% |
| 2009 | 2,240 homicides | -9.2% |
| 2010 | 1,988 homicides | -11.2% |
| 2012 | 2,336 homicides | +17.5% |
| 2014 | 2,845 homicides | +21.8% |
| 2017 | 2,751 homicides | -3.3% |
| 2018 | 2,002 homicides | -27.2% |
| 2019 | 1,820 homicides | -9.1% |
| 2020 | 1,698 homicides | -6.7% |
| 2021 | 1,673 homicides | -1.5% |
Ukraine compared with similar countries
- Ukraine's 1,673 homicides is above the median for upper middle income countries, which is 241.5 homicides, 6.9× the median. (52 countries reporting)
- Ukraine's 1,673 homicides is above the median for Europe & Central Asia, which is 74.5 homicides, 22.5× the median. (52 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 3,847 homicides | 2,558 homicides | 4,896 homicides | 10 |
| 2000s | 3,444 homicides | 2,240 homicides | 4,854 homicides | 10 |
| 2010s | 2,290 homicides | 1,820 homicides | 2,845 homicides | 6 |
| 2020s | 1,686 homicides | 1,673 homicides | 1,698 homicides | 2 |
Countries ranked near Ukraine
More social development data for Ukraine
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 2,370 (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 5.22 million (2025)
- Political Rights Rating 4 (2025)
- Electoral democracy 1 (2025)
- Political rights rating fh, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Political rights rating fh, gaps filled 4 (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 0.134 units per person (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 5.22 million (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 0 units per US$ of GDP (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is homicides in Ukraine?
- Homicides in Ukraine was 1,673 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 Ukraine?
- The highest recorded value was 4,896 homicides in 1996.
- What is the lowest homicides recorded in Ukraine?
- The lowest recorded value was 1,673 homicides in 2021.
- How does Ukraine rank for homicides?
- Ukraine ranks 27th out of 179 countries with data for 2021.
- Is homicides rising or falling in Ukraine?
- Over the last ten years it is down 15.8%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Ukraine 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 — 28 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).
About this data
Number of intentional homicides.