Homicides in India
India: Homicides was 51,496 deaths in 2021. ▬ Flat
Latest (2021)
51,496 deaths
Change on year
down 0.4%
World rank
2nd
of 194 countries
All-time high
53,956 deaths
in 2011
All-time low
51,496 deaths
in 2021
Years of data
22
2000–2021
Homicides in India, 2000–2021
Source: World Health Organization (2024) – with major processing by Our World in Data. Measured in deaths.
Analysis
India recorded 51,496 deaths for homicides in 2021. That is the lowest value across all 22 years on record.
That represents a change of down 0.4% on the previous year and down 4.6% over ten years.
Over the whole period, homicides in India peaked at 53,956 deaths in 2011 and was at its lowest, 51,496 deaths, in 2021.
That places India 2nd out of 194 countries with data for 2021, putting it in the top 10%.
Homicides in India, year by year
| Year | deaths | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2000 | 53,478 deaths | — |
| 2001 | 52,992 deaths | -0.9% |
| 2002 | 52,600 deaths | -0.7% |
| 2003 | 51,993 deaths | -1.2% |
| 2004 | 52,417 deaths | +0.8% |
| 2005 | 52,184 deaths | -0.4% |
| 2006 | 52,182 deaths | -0.0% |
| 2007 | 52,407 deaths | +0.4% |
| 2008 | 52,765 deaths | +0.7% |
| 2009 | 53,008 deaths | +0.5% |
| 2010 | 53,464 deaths | +0.9% |
| 2011 | 53,956 deaths | +0.9% |
| 2012 | 53,904 deaths | -0.1% |
| 2013 | 53,470 deaths | -0.8% |
| 2014 | 53,309 deaths | -0.3% |
| 2015 | 52,314 deaths | -1.9% |
| 2016 | 51,532 deaths | -1.5% |
| 2017 | 52,057 deaths | +1.0% |
| 2018 | 51,979 deaths | -0.1% |
| 2019 | 51,766 deaths | -0.4% |
| 2020 | 51,702 deaths | -0.1% |
| 2021 | 51,496 deaths | -0.4% |
India compared with similar countries
- India's 51,496 deaths is above the median for lower middle income countries, which is 743.83 deaths, 69.2× the median. (46 countries reporting)
- India's 51,496 deaths is above the median for South Asia, which is 546.09 deaths, 94.3× the median. (6 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 52,603 deaths | 51,993 deaths | 53,478 deaths | 10 |
| 2010s | 52,775 deaths | 51,532 deaths | 53,956 deaths | 10 |
| 2020s | 51,599 deaths | 51,496 deaths | 51,702 deaths | 2 |
Countries ranked near India
- 1 Brazil 69,651 deaths compare
- 3 Mexico 36,072 deaths compare
- 4 South Africa 19,488 deaths compare
- 5 United States 19,110 deaths compare
More social development data for India
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 238,643 (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 42,610 (2025)
- Political Rights Rating 2 (2025)
- Electoral democracy 1 (2025)
- Political rights rating fh, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Political rights rating fh, gaps filled 2 (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 42,610 (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 0.0002 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 India?
- Homicides in India was 51,496 deaths in 2021, according to World Health Organization (2024) – with major processing by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest homicides recorded in India?
- The highest recorded value was 53,956 deaths in 2011.
- What is the lowest homicides recorded in India?
- The lowest recorded value was 51,496 deaths in 2021.
- How does India rank for homicides?
- India ranks 2nd out of 194 countries with data for 2021.
- Is homicides rising or falling in India?
- Over the last ten years it is down 4.6%. The long-run trend across the full record is flat.
- Where does this India 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.