Homicides in Canada

Canada: Homicides was 626.21 deaths in 2021. ▲ Rising

Latest (2021)
626.21 deaths
Change on year
up 0.3%
World rank
77th
of 194 countries
All-time high
662.26 deaths
in 2005
All-time low
509 deaths
in 2013
Years of data
22
2000–2021

Homicides in Canada, 2000–2021

02004006002000201020212000: 543.5 deaths2001: 550.8 deaths2002: 577.4 deaths2003: 545.6 deaths2004: 621.9 deaths2005: 662.3 deaths2006: 603.7 deaths2007: 595.2 deaths2008: 614.7 deaths2009: 610.9 deaths2010: 557.3 deaths2011: 604.9 deaths2012: 549.6 deaths2013: 509 deaths2014: 523.1 deaths2015: 607.5 deaths2016: 609.5 deaths2017: 660.8 deaths2018: 603.5 deaths2019: 605 deaths2020: 624.5 deaths2021: 626.2 deaths

Source: World Health Organization (2024) – with major processing by Our World in Data. Measured in deaths.

Analysis

Canada recorded 626.21 deaths for homicides in 2021.

Compared with earlier readings it is up 0.3% on the previous year and up 3.5% over ten years.

Over the whole period, homicides in Canada peaked at 662.26 deaths in 2005 and was at its lowest, 509 deaths, in 2013.

Canada ranks 77th of 194 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.

The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 22 years of available data.

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
2000s 592.58 deaths 543.48 deaths 662.26 deaths 10
2010s 583.03 deaths 509 deaths 660.83 deaths 10
2020s 625.36 deaths 624.51 deaths 626.21 deaths 2

Countries ranked near Canada

  1. 74 France 643.04 deaths compare
  2. 75 Nicaragua 632.6 deaths compare
  3. 76 Sierra Leone 629.73 deaths compare
  4. 78 Trinidad and Tobago 569.54 deaths compare
  5. 79 Cuba 566.26 deaths compare
  6. 80 Morocco 563.87 deaths compare

See the full ranking of 194 places →

More social development data for Canada

All data for Canada →

Frequently asked questions

What is homicides in Canada?
Homicides in Canada was 626.21 deaths in 2021, according to World Health Organization (2024) – with major processing by Our World in Data.
What is the highest homicides recorded in Canada?
The highest recorded value was 662.26 deaths in 2005.
What is the lowest homicides recorded in Canada?
The lowest recorded value was 509 deaths in 2013.
How does Canada rank for homicides?
Canada ranks 77th out of 194 countries with data for 2021.
Is homicides rising or falling in Canada?
Over the last ten years it is up 3.5%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
Where does this Canada data come from?
The figures come from World Health Organization (2024) – with major processing by Our World in Data, published as part of Homicides. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

Download this data

CSV · JSON — 22 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).

About this data

Indicator
Homicides
Unit
deaths
Source
World Health Organization (2024) – with major processing by Our World in Data
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)
Coverage
194 places, 4,268 data points, 2000–2021
Last refreshed

Estimated number of deaths from interpersonal violence in both sexes.