Homicides in Tanzania
Tanzania: Homicides was 5,097 deaths in 2021. ▲ Rising
Homicides in Tanzania, 2000–2021
Source: World Health Organization (2024) – with major processing by Our World in Data. Measured in deaths.
Analysis
Tanzania recorded 5,097 deaths for homicides in 2021. That is the highest value across all 22 years on record.
Compared with earlier readings it is up 3.8% on the previous year and up 30.1% over ten years.
Over the whole period, homicides in Tanzania peaked at 5,097 deaths in 2021 and was at its lowest, 2,639 deaths, in 2000.
That places Tanzania 20th out of 194 countries with data for 2021, putting it in the top 10%.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 22 years of available data.
Homicides in Tanzania, year by year
| Year | deaths | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2000 | 2,639 deaths | — |
| 2001 | 2,708 deaths | +2.6% |
| 2002 | 2,756 deaths | +1.8% |
| 2003 | 2,817 deaths | +2.2% |
| 2004 | 2,869 deaths | +1.9% |
| 2005 | 2,938 deaths | +2.4% |
| 2006 | 2,979 deaths | +1.4% |
| 2007 | 3,086 deaths | +3.6% |
| 2008 | 3,222 deaths | +4.4% |
| 2009 | 3,425 deaths | +6.3% |
| 2010 | 3,769 deaths | +10.0% |
| 2011 | 3,918 deaths | +3.9% |
| 2012 | 4,048 deaths | +3.3% |
| 2013 | 4,084 deaths | +0.9% |
| 2014 | 4,072 deaths | -0.3% |
| 2015 | 4,090 deaths | +0.4% |
| 2016 | 4,097 deaths | +0.2% |
| 2017 | 4,416 deaths | +7.8% |
| 2018 | 4,639 deaths | +5.1% |
| 2019 | 4,713 deaths | +1.6% |
| 2020 | 4,911 deaths | +4.2% |
| 2021 | 5,097 deaths | +3.8% |
Tanzania compared with similar countries
- Tanzania's 5,097 deaths is above the median for lower middle income countries, which is 743.83 deaths, 6.9× the median. (46 countries reporting)
- Tanzania's 5,097 deaths is above the median for Sub-Saharan Africa, which is 971.62 deaths, 5.2× the median. (48 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 2,944 deaths | 2,639 deaths | 3,425 deaths | 10 |
| 2010s | 4,185 deaths | 3,769 deaths | 4,713 deaths | 10 |
| 2020s | 5,004 deaths | 4,911 deaths | 5,097 deaths | 2 |
Countries ranked near Tanzania
More social development data for Tanzania
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 171,142 (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 1,592 (2025)
- Political Rights Rating 6 (2025)
- Electoral democracy 0 (2025)
- Political rights rating fh, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Political rights rating fh, gaps filled 6 (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 0 units per person (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 1,592 (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 0.0024 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 Tanzania?
- Homicides in Tanzania was 5,097 deaths in 2021, according to World Health Organization (2024) – with major processing by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest homicides recorded in Tanzania?
- The highest recorded value was 5,097 deaths in 2021.
- What is the lowest homicides recorded in Tanzania?
- The lowest recorded value was 2,639 deaths in 2000.
- How does Tanzania rank for homicides?
- Tanzania ranks 20th out of 194 countries with data for 2021.
- Is homicides rising or falling in Tanzania?
- Over the last ten years it is up 30.1%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Tanzania 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.