Homicides in New Zealand
New Zealand: Homicides was 66 deaths in 2018. ▲ Rising
Homicides in New Zealand, 1950–2018
Source: WHO Mortality Database (2025) – with minor processing by Our World in Data. Measured in deaths.
Analysis
New Zealand recorded 66 deaths for homicides in 2018.
Compared with earlier readings it is up 61.0% on the previous year and up 24.5% over ten years.
Over the whole period, homicides in New Zealand peaked at 85 deaths in 2009 and was at its lowest, 11 deaths, in 1956.
New Zealand ranks 58th of 113 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 69 years of available data.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1950s | 19.6 deaths | 11 deaths | 25 deaths | 10 |
| 1960s | 25.3 deaths | 15 deaths | 37 deaths | 10 |
| 1970s | 38.8 deaths | 25 deaths | 58 deaths | 10 |
| 1980s | 54.6 deaths | 38 deaths | 73 deaths | 10 |
| 1990s | 63.6 deaths | 45 deaths | 82 deaths | 10 |
| 2000s | 61.6 deaths | 49 deaths | 85 deaths | 10 |
| 2010s | 54.89 deaths | 41 deaths | 66 deaths | 9 |
Countries ranked near New Zealand
More social development data for New Zealand
- Political Rights Rating 1 (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of asy 2,148 (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of ori 58 (2025)
- Electoral democracy 1 (2025)
- Key features of democracy 0.849 (2025)
- Freedom of Expression Index 0.927 (2025)
- Freedom of Association Index 0.885 (2025)
- Electoral Democracy Index 0.849 (2025)
- Participatory Democracy Index 0.581 (2025)
- Liberal Democracy Index 0.787 (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is homicides in New Zealand?
- Homicides in New Zealand was 66 deaths in 2018, according to WHO Mortality Database (2025) – with minor processing by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest homicides recorded in New Zealand?
- The highest recorded value was 85 deaths in 2009.
- What is the lowest homicides recorded in New Zealand?
- The lowest recorded value was 11 deaths in 1956.
- How does New Zealand rank for homicides?
- New Zealand ranks 58th out of 113 countries with data for 2018.
- Is homicides rising or falling in New Zealand?
- Over the last ten years it is up 24.5%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this New Zealand data come from?
- The figures come from WHO Mortality Database (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 — 69 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).
About this data
Annual number of homicides.