Homicides in Somalia
Somalia: Homicides was 848.81 deaths in 2021. ▲ Rising
Homicides in Somalia, 2000–2021
Source: World Health Organization (2024) – with major processing by Our World in Data. Measured in deaths.
Analysis
Somalia recorded 848.81 deaths for homicides in 2021.
The figure is down 0.2% on the previous year and up 15.3% over ten years.
Over the whole period, homicides in Somalia peaked at 850.93 deaths in 2020 and was at its lowest, 603.78 deaths, in 2000.
Somalia ranks 63rd 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.
Homicides in Somalia, year by year
| Year | deaths | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2000 | 603.78 deaths | — |
| 2001 | 612.44 deaths | +1.4% |
| 2002 | 621.87 deaths | +1.5% |
| 2003 | 635.58 deaths | +2.2% |
| 2004 | 647.64 deaths | +1.9% |
| 2005 | 659.48 deaths | +1.8% |
| 2006 | 673.2 deaths | +2.1% |
| 2007 | 683.93 deaths | +1.6% |
| 2008 | 688.53 deaths | +0.7% |
| 2009 | 749.47 deaths | +8.9% |
| 2010 | 726.24 deaths | -3.1% |
| 2011 | 736.39 deaths | +1.4% |
| 2012 | 723.73 deaths | -1.7% |
| 2013 | 738.48 deaths | +2.0% |
| 2014 | 757.02 deaths | +2.5% |
| 2015 | 777.79 deaths | +2.7% |
| 2016 | 797.38 deaths | +2.5% |
| 2017 | 814.19 deaths | +2.1% |
| 2018 | 814.99 deaths | +0.1% |
| 2019 | 828.27 deaths | +1.6% |
| 2020 | 850.93 deaths | +2.7% |
| 2021 | 848.81 deaths | -0.2% |
Somalia compared with similar countries
- Somalia's 848.81 deaths is below the median for low income countries, which is 1,070 deaths, 79% of the median. (25 countries reporting)
- Somalia's 848.81 deaths is below the median for Sub-Saharan Africa, which is 971.62 deaths, 87% of the median. (48 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 657.59 deaths | 603.78 deaths | 749.47 deaths | 10 |
| 2010s | 771.45 deaths | 723.73 deaths | 828.27 deaths | 10 |
| 2020s | 849.87 deaths | 848.81 deaths | 850.93 deaths | 2 |
Countries ranked near Somalia
More social development data for Somalia
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 20,967 (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 892,037 (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 0.0454 units per person (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 892,037 (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 0.0011 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 Somalia?
- Homicides in Somalia was 848.81 deaths in 2021, according to World Health Organization (2024) – with major processing by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest homicides recorded in Somalia?
- The highest recorded value was 850.93 deaths in 2020.
- What is the lowest homicides recorded in Somalia?
- The lowest recorded value was 603.78 deaths in 2000.
- How does Somalia rank for homicides?
- Somalia ranks 63rd out of 194 countries with data for 2021.
- Is homicides rising or falling in Somalia?
- Over the last ten years it is up 15.3%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Somalia 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.