Homicides in Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka: Homicides was 252 deaths in 2019. ▲ Rising
Homicides in Sri Lanka, 1955–2019
Source: WHO Mortality Database (2025) – with minor processing by Our World in Data. Measured in deaths.
Analysis
Sri Lanka recorded 252 deaths for homicides in 2019. That is the lowest value across all 42 years on record.
That represents a change of down 58.3% over ten years.
Over the whole period, homicides in Sri Lanka peaked at 1,229 deaths in 1996 and was at its lowest, 252 deaths, in 2019.
That places Sri Lanka 35th out of 113 countries with data for 2019, putting it in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 42 years of available data.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1950s | 389 deaths | 341 deaths | 457 deaths | 5 |
| 1960s | 304 deaths | 257 deaths | 390 deaths | 9 |
| 1970s | 951 deaths | 951 deaths | 951 deaths | 1 |
| 1980s | 768 deaths | 338 deaths | 1,101 deaths | 7 |
| 1990s | 952.25 deaths | 799 deaths | 1,229 deaths | 4 |
| 2000s | 761.22 deaths | 605 deaths | 977 deaths | 9 |
| 2010s | 360.86 deaths | 252 deaths | 417 deaths | 7 |
Countries ranked near Sri Lanka
More social development data for Sri Lanka
- Political Rights Rating 3 (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of asy 213 (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of ori 148,369 (2025)
- Electoral democracy 1 (2025)
- Key features of democracy 0.783 (2025)
- Freedom of Expression Index 0.871 (2025)
- Freedom of Association Index 0.853 (2025)
- Electoral Democracy Index 0.783 (2025)
- Participatory Democracy Index 0.52 (2025)
- Liberal Democracy Index 0.613 (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is homicides in Sri Lanka?
- Homicides in Sri Lanka was 252 deaths in 2019, according to WHO Mortality Database (2025) – with minor processing by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest homicides recorded in Sri Lanka?
- The highest recorded value was 1,229 deaths in 1996.
- What is the lowest homicides recorded in Sri Lanka?
- The lowest recorded value was 252 deaths in 2019.
- How does Sri Lanka rank for homicides?
- Sri Lanka ranks 35th out of 113 countries with data for 2019.
- Is homicides rising or falling in Sri Lanka?
- Over the last ten years it is down 58.3%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Sri Lanka 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 — 42 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).
About this data
Annual number of homicides.