Homicides in Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe: Homicides was 1,086 homicides in 2022. ▼ Falling
Homicides in Zimbabwe, 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 Zimbabwe stood at 1,086 homicides.
Compared with earlier readings it is up 10.6% on the previous year and up 10.7% over ten years.
Over the whole period, homicides in Zimbabwe peaked at 1,623 homicides in 2002 and was at its lowest, 587 homicides, in 1990.
Zimbabwe ranks 35th of 179 countries on this measure, in the top quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 14 years of available data.
Homicides in Zimbabwe, year by year
| Year | homicides | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1990 | 587 homicides | — |
| 2001 | 1,529 homicides | +160.5% |
| 2002 | 1,623 homicides | +6.1% |
| 2003 | 1,360 homicides | -16.2% |
| 2004 | 1,356 homicides | -0.3% |
| 2005 | 1,350 homicides | -0.4% |
| 2006 | 1,072 homicides | -20.6% |
| 2010 | 711 homicides | -33.7% |
| 2012 | 981 homicides | +38.0% |
| 2018 | 734 homicides | -25.2% |
| 2019 | 790 homicides | +7.6% |
| 2020 | 780 homicides | -1.3% |
| 2021 | 982 homicides | +25.9% |
| 2022 | 1,086 homicides | +10.6% |
Zimbabwe compared with similar countries
- Zimbabwe's 1,086 homicides is above the median for lower middle income countries, which is 635 homicides, 1.7× the median. (33 countries reporting)
- Zimbabwe's 1,086 homicides is above the median for Sub-Saharan Africa, which is 539.5 homicides, 2.0× the median. (22 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Homicides in Zimbabwe 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | +160.5% | 587 homicides | 1,529 homicides |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 587 homicides | 587 homicides | 587 homicides | 1 |
| 2000s | 1,382 homicides | 1,072 homicides | 1,623 homicides | 6 |
| 2010s | 804 homicides | 711 homicides | 981 homicides | 4 |
| 2020s | 949.33 homicides | 780 homicides | 1,086 homicides | 3 |
Countries ranked near Zimbabwe
More social development data for Zimbabwe
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 8,570 (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 6,632 (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 0.0004 units per person (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 6,632 (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 0.0005 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 Zimbabwe?
- Homicides in Zimbabwe was 1,086 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 Zimbabwe?
- The highest recorded value was 1,623 homicides in 2002.
- What is the lowest homicides recorded in Zimbabwe?
- The lowest recorded value was 587 homicides in 1990.
- How does Zimbabwe rank for homicides?
- Zimbabwe ranks 35th out of 179 countries with data for 2022.
- Is homicides rising or falling in Zimbabwe?
- Over the last ten years it is up 10.7%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Zimbabwe 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 — 14 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).
About this data
Number of intentional homicides.