Homicides (World Health) in South Sudan
South Sudan: Homicides (World Health) was 1,693 deaths in 2021. ▲ Rising
Homicides in South Sudan, 2000–2021
Source: World Health Organization (2024) – with major processing by Our World in Data. Measured in deaths.
Analysis
In 2021, homicides in South Sudan stood at 1,693 deaths. That is the highest value across all 22 years on record.
That represents a change of up 3.3% on the previous year and up 21.1% over ten years.
Over the whole period, homicides in South Sudan peaked at 1,693 deaths in 2021 and was at its lowest, 1,185 deaths, in 2000.
That places South Sudan 46th out of 194 countries with data for 2021, putting it in the top quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 22 years of available data.
Homicides (World Health) in South Sudan, year by year
| Year | deaths | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2000 | 1,185 deaths | — |
| 2001 | 1,201 deaths | +1.3% |
| 2002 | 1,210 deaths | +0.7% |
| 2003 | 1,218 deaths | +0.7% |
| 2004 | 1,225 deaths | +0.6% |
| 2005 | 1,232 deaths | +0.5% |
| 2006 | 1,252 deaths | +1.6% |
| 2007 | 1,275 deaths | +1.9% |
| 2008 | 1,306 deaths | +2.4% |
| 2009 | 1,328 deaths | +1.7% |
| 2010 | 1,365 deaths | +2.8% |
| 2011 | 1,398 deaths | +2.5% |
| 2012 | 1,413 deaths | +1.0% |
| 2013 | 1,460 deaths | +3.3% |
| 2014 | 1,519 deaths | +4.1% |
| 2015 | 1,578 deaths | +3.9% |
| 2016 | 1,632 deaths | +3.5% |
| 2017 | 1,638 deaths | +0.4% |
| 2018 | 1,580 deaths | -3.5% |
| 2019 | 1,584 deaths | +0.2% |
| 2020 | 1,639 deaths | +3.5% |
| 2021 | 1,693 deaths | +3.3% |
South Sudan compared with similar countries
- South Sudan's 1,693 deaths is above the median for low income countries, which is 1,070 deaths, 1.6× the median. (25 countries reporting)
- South Sudan's 1,693 deaths is above the median for Sub-Saharan Africa, which is 971.62 deaths, 1.7× the median. (48 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 1,243 deaths | 1,185 deaths | 1,328 deaths | 10 |
| 2010s | 1,517 deaths | 1,365 deaths | 1,638 deaths | 10 |
| 2020s | 1,666 deaths | 1,639 deaths | 1,693 deaths | 2 |
Countries ranked near South Sudan
More social development data for South Sudan
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 601,818 (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 2.39 million (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 0.1958 units per person (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 2.39 million (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 0.0494 units per person (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 0 units per US$ of GDP (2015)
Frequently asked questions
- What is homicides in South Sudan?
- Homicides in South Sudan was 1,693 deaths in 2021, according to World Health Organization (2024) – with major processing by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest homicides recorded in South Sudan?
- The highest recorded value was 1,693 deaths in 2021.
- What is the lowest homicides recorded in South Sudan?
- The lowest recorded value was 1,185 deaths in 2000.
- How does South Sudan rank for homicides?
- South Sudan ranks 46th out of 194 countries with data for 2021.
- Is homicides rising or falling in South Sudan?
- Over the last ten years it is up 21.1%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this South Sudan 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.
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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.