Homicides in Peru
Peru: Homicides was 2,058 deaths in 2021. ▲ Rising
Homicides in Peru, 2000–2021
Source: World Health Organization (2024) – with major processing by Our World in Data. Measured in deaths.
Analysis
Peru recorded 2,058 deaths for homicides in 2021.
Compared with earlier readings it is up 8.4% on the previous year and up 67.6% over ten years.
Over the whole period, homicides in Peru peaked at 2,263 deaths in 2019 and was at its lowest, 1,227 deaths, in 2011.
Peru ranks 40th of 194 countries on this measure, in the top quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 22 years of available data.
Homicides in Peru, year by year
| Year | deaths | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2000 | 1,337 deaths | — |
| 2001 | 1,350 deaths | +1.0% |
| 2002 | 1,329 deaths | -1.5% |
| 2003 | 1,366 deaths | +2.8% |
| 2004 | 1,421 deaths | +4.0% |
| 2005 | 1,396 deaths | -1.8% |
| 2006 | 1,390 deaths | -0.4% |
| 2007 | 1,372 deaths | -1.4% |
| 2008 | 1,309 deaths | -4.6% |
| 2009 | 1,290 deaths | -1.4% |
| 2010 | 1,320 deaths | +2.3% |
| 2011 | 1,227 deaths | -7.0% |
| 2012 | 1,701 deaths | +38.6% |
| 2013 | 1,568 deaths | -7.8% |
| 2014 | 1,774 deaths | +13.1% |
| 2015 | 1,903 deaths | +7.2% |
| 2016 | 1,778 deaths | -6.5% |
| 2017 | 1,709 deaths | -3.9% |
| 2018 | 1,969 deaths | +15.2% |
| 2019 | 2,263 deaths | +14.9% |
| 2020 | 1,899 deaths | -16.1% |
| 2021 | 2,058 deaths | +8.4% |
Peru compared with similar countries
- Peru's 2,058 deaths is above the median for upper middle income countries, which is 237.51 deaths, 8.7× the median. (58 countries reporting)
- Peru's 2,058 deaths is above the median for Latin America & Caribbean, which is 702.19 deaths, 2.9× the median. (33 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 1,356 deaths | 1,290 deaths | 1,421 deaths | 10 |
| 2010s | 1,721 deaths | 1,227 deaths | 2,263 deaths | 10 |
| 2020s | 1,978 deaths | 1,899 deaths | 2,058 deaths | 2 |
Countries ranked near Peru
More social development data for Peru
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 6,788 (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 7,885 (2025)
- Political Rights Rating 3 (2025)
- Electoral democracy 1 (2025)
- Political rights rating fh, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Political rights rating fh, gaps filled 3 (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 7,885 (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 Peru?
- Homicides in Peru was 2,058 deaths in 2021, according to World Health Organization (2024) – with major processing by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest homicides recorded in Peru?
- The highest recorded value was 2,263 deaths in 2019.
- What is the lowest homicides recorded in Peru?
- The lowest recorded value was 1,227 deaths in 2011.
- How does Peru rank for homicides?
- Peru ranks 40th out of 194 countries with data for 2021.
- Is homicides rising or falling in Peru?
- Over the last ten years it is up 67.6%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Peru 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.