Homicides in Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea: Homicides was 1,035 deaths in 2021. ▲ Rising
Homicides in Papua New Guinea, 2000–2021
Source: World Health Organization (2024) – with major processing by Our World in Data. Measured in deaths.
Analysis
The most recent figure for homicides in Papua New Guinea is 1,035 deaths, measured in 2021. That is the highest value across all 22 years on record.
The figure is up 3.4% on the previous year and up 44.6% over ten years.
Over the whole period, homicides in Papua New Guinea peaked at 1,035 deaths in 2021 and was at its lowest, 464.88 deaths, in 2000.
Papua New Guinea ranks 58th 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
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 583.62 deaths | 464.88 deaths | 692.78 deaths | 10 |
| 2010s | 855.51 deaths | 711.2 deaths | 975.07 deaths | 10 |
| 2020s | 1,018 deaths | 1,002 deaths | 1,035 deaths | 2 |
Countries ranked near Papua New Guinea
- 55 Mozambique 1,070 deaths compare
- 56 North Korea 1,064 deaths compare
- 57 Central African Republic 1,036 deaths compare
- 59 Lesotho 907.22 deaths compare
- 60 Panama 877.62 deaths compare
- 61 Malaysia 858.4 deaths compare
More social development data for Papua New Guinea
- Political Rights Rating 4 (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of asy 7,727 (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of ori 644 (2025)
- Electoral democracy 1 (2025)
- Key features of democracy 0.467 (2025)
- Freedom of Expression Index 0.839 (2025)
- Freedom of Association Index 0.879 (2025)
- Electoral Democracy Index 0.467 (2025)
- Participatory Democracy Index 0.28 (2025)
- Liberal Democracy Index 0.384 (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is homicides in Papua New Guinea?
- Homicides in Papua New Guinea was 1,035 deaths in 2021, according to World Health Organization (2024) – with major processing by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest homicides recorded in Papua New Guinea?
- The highest recorded value was 1,035 deaths in 2021.
- What is the lowest homicides recorded in Papua New Guinea?
- The lowest recorded value was 464.88 deaths in 2000.
- How does Papua New Guinea rank for homicides?
- Papua New Guinea ranks 58th out of 194 countries with data for 2021.
- Is homicides rising or falling in Papua New Guinea?
- Over the last ten years it is up 44.6%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Papua New Guinea 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.