Homicides in Iraq
Iraq: Homicides was 5,478 deaths in 2021. ▼ Falling
Homicides in Iraq, 2000–2021
Source: World Health Organization (2024) – with major processing by Our World in Data. Measured in deaths.
Analysis
Iraq recorded 5,478 deaths for homicides in 2021.
Compared with earlier readings it is down 1.8% on the previous year and up 7.3% over ten years.
Over the whole period, homicides in Iraq peaked at 6,287 deaths in 2005 and was at its lowest, 4,914 deaths, in 2010.
Iraq ranks 19th 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.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 5,790 deaths | 5,179 deaths | 6,287 deaths | 10 |
| 2010s | 5,497 deaths | 4,914 deaths | 5,919 deaths | 10 |
| 2020s | 5,528 deaths | 5,478 deaths | 5,578 deaths | 2 |
Countries ranked near Iraq
More social development data for Iraq
- Political Rights Rating 5 (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of asy 322,345 (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of ori 270,671 (2025)
- Electoral democracy 1 (2025)
- Key features of democracy 0.369 (2025)
- Freedom of Expression Index 0.571 (2025)
- Freedom of Association Index 0.578 (2025)
- Electoral Democracy Index 0.369 (2025)
- Participatory Democracy Index 0.224 (2025)
- Liberal Democracy Index 0.22 (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is homicides in Iraq?
- Homicides in Iraq was 5,478 deaths in 2021, according to World Health Organization (2024) – with major processing by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest homicides recorded in Iraq?
- The highest recorded value was 6,287 deaths in 2005.
- What is the lowest homicides recorded in Iraq?
- The lowest recorded value was 4,914 deaths in 2010.
- How does Iraq rank for homicides?
- Iraq ranks 19th out of 194 countries with data for 2021.
- Is homicides rising or falling in Iraq?
- Over the last ten years it is up 7.3%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Iraq 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.