Homicides in China
China: Homicides was 9,573 deaths in 2021. ▼ Falling
Homicides in China, 2000–2021
Source: World Health Organization (2024) – with major processing by Our World in Data. Measured in deaths.
Analysis
In 2021, homicides in China stood at 9,573 deaths. That is the lowest value across all 22 years on record.
That represents a change of down 7.3% on the previous year and down 37.6% over ten years.
Over the whole period, homicides in China peaked at 30,241 deaths in 2000 and was at its lowest, 9,573 deaths, in 2021.
China ranks 14th of 194 countries on this measure, in the top 10%.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 22 years of available data.
Homicides in China, year by year
| Year | deaths | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2000 | 30,241 deaths | — |
| 2001 | 27,907 deaths | -7.7% |
| 2002 | 25,772 deaths | -7.6% |
| 2003 | 24,400 deaths | -5.3% |
| 2004 | 23,036 deaths | -5.6% |
| 2005 | 21,984 deaths | -4.6% |
| 2006 | 21,411 deaths | -2.6% |
| 2007 | 19,537 deaths | -8.8% |
| 2008 | 18,390 deaths | -5.9% |
| 2009 | 16,896 deaths | -8.1% |
| 2010 | 15,181 deaths | -10.1% |
| 2011 | 15,338 deaths | +1.0% |
| 2012 | 15,534 deaths | +1.3% |
| 2013 | 14,465 deaths | -6.9% |
| 2014 | 13,845 deaths | -4.3% |
| 2015 | 13,370 deaths | -3.4% |
| 2016 | 13,094 deaths | -2.1% |
| 2017 | 12,916 deaths | -1.4% |
| 2018 | 11,657 deaths | -9.7% |
| 2019 | 11,115 deaths | -4.6% |
| 2020 | 10,322 deaths | -7.1% |
| 2021 | 9,573 deaths | -7.3% |
China compared with similar countries
- China's 9,573 deaths is above the median for upper middle income countries, which is 237.51 deaths, 40.3× the median. (58 countries reporting)
- China's 9,573 deaths is above the median for East Asia & Pacific, which is 123.38 deaths, 77.6× the median. (30 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 22,957 deaths | 16,896 deaths | 30,241 deaths | 10 |
| 2010s | 13,651 deaths | 11,115 deaths | 15,534 deaths | 10 |
| 2020s | 9,947 deaths | 9,573 deaths | 10,322 deaths | 2 |
Countries ranked near China
More social development data for China
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 230 (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 153,962 (2025)
- Political Rights Rating 7 (2025)
- Electoral democracy 0 (2025)
- Political rights rating fh, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Political rights rating fh, gaps filled 7 (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 153,962 (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 0 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 China?
- Homicides in China was 9,573 deaths in 2021, according to World Health Organization (2024) – with major processing by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest homicides recorded in China?
- The highest recorded value was 30,241 deaths in 2000.
- What is the lowest homicides recorded in China?
- The lowest recorded value was 9,573 deaths in 2021.
- How does China rank for homicides?
- China ranks 14th out of 194 countries with data for 2021.
- Is homicides rising or falling in China?
- Over the last ten years it is down 37.6%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this China 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
Estimated number of deaths from interpersonal violence in both sexes.