Deaths and Homicides in America and Around the World

Introduction and Caveats

Homicide stats are very interesting because they help illustrate trends in our society. Keep in mind, the only reliable homicide stats are long term. In other words, one cannot make judgements based upon the numbers for only 1 or 2 years. Generally, that means one shouldn’t start drawing conclusions until they’ve examined the numbers and patterns for at least 5-7 years.

For example, New York City might have a spike in homicides over a 1 or 2 year period, but it could be an anomaly, caused by something such as a pandemic. However, if you examine the numbers over a 5-7 year time frame, they are more meaningful. Nonetheless, I’m going to push on and hope you find these stats are as interesting as I do.

Note: Some of the numbers below are from the year 2020 and some are from the year 2021. Please keep in mind that all the numbers for 2021 aren’t yet final. In addition, the numbers from various studies are different.  You might find one study which states there were 17,500 homicides in a specific year and another one may have a very different number for the very same year. I can’t explain why.

Therefore, I try to use the term approximate numbers. More importantly, I cannot verify the accuracy of the statistics, but I’m confident they are relatively close to the actual number of murders.

Here’s a generic gender-based summary of homicides in America.

• Males are more likely to be murder victims (76.8%).
• Females are most likely to be victims of domestic homicides (63.7%) and sex-related homicides (81%).
• Males are far more likely to be the perpetrator who commit homicides.

As scary as some of these numbers are, please keep in mind that most deaths are caused by natural factors such as heart disease or cancer. Here’s another depressing number to think about. In America, an estimated 42,915 people died in motor vehicle traffic accidents in 2021. That’s a staggering statistic! Last year, approximately 117 people died every day in a motor vehicle accident. Tell me that isn’t a mind-boggling number.

That’s very interesting, but in this article, as mentioned above, we’re going to primarily focus on homicides in America. We’re also going to take a quick look at global homicide rates, which will hopefully give us a perspective on how we compare with the rest of the world.

• We’re going to focus on 2020, when the homicide rate surged, and also 2021, where it continued to rise significantly.
• In America, there were about 20,000 murders in 2020. We don’t have the exact number yet for last year, but that total rose significantly in 2021
• At this point in time, approximately 55 – 60 people are murdered every day in America.
• As mentioned earlier in this article, the vast majority of victims were males.

2020 murders number by race

• 7,029 white people and 9,913 black people were murdered in 2020..
• Even though they make up about 12-13% of the population, more than 53% of homicides are committed against black people.
• The other category [not black or white] accounted for 497 In addition, there were 315 murders where race was unknown.
• Firearms accounted for 77% of the murders, the majority of them were handguns.

Are Homicides America’s Biggest Concern?

Americans primarily concentrate and focus upon the Murder Rate. That’s what we read online and in the newspapers, because it’s obviously a fascinating topic for many of us. Our TV series and movies almost always are about murders and the people who commit those crimes. I definitely fall into that category as I’m mesmerized by Dateline, 48 Hours, and Investigation Discovery.

But maybe we should ask ourselves if it’s time to rethink our priorities and concentrate on a far more prevalent form of death, which are not classified as murder?

• The U.S. Murder Rate in 2020 was approximately 40% lower than the suicide rate.  In 2020, there were about 46,000 suicides in America. Compare that with about 20,000 murders that same year.
• The U.S. Murder Rate in 2020 was significantly lower than deaths caused by a drug overdose. There were approximately 92,000 deaths from a drug overdose versus 20,000 homicides in 2020. That means drug overdoses account for more than 4X the number of deaths versus homicides.
• Far more Americans die annually from suicide and drug overdoses than they do from homicides. Did you know that? It doesn’t change the horrible impact of the homicide numbers, but it does provide a slightly different perspective. I’m sure most Americans have no idea that suicide and drug overdoses are so prominent. Obviously we concentrate almost solely upon homicide. Is that a mistake?

Global Homicide Statistics

• In 2020 approximately 304,000 men and boys worldwide were killed.
• In the year 2020, about 80 per cent of global homicide victims worldwide were men or boys. Most of the victims were between the ages of 15 and 29.
• Women and girls account for slightly less than 20% of all homicide victims.
• In 2020, approximately 47,000 women and girls worldwide were killed by their intimate partners or other family members.
• About 90 per cent of all homicides recorded worldwide were committed by male perpetrators

Homicide Rates in Different Countries

• El Salvador has the highest murder rate in the world. Other countries with a high rate of homicide include Honduras, Venezuela, Jamaica, Belize, South Africa, and Nigeria.
• Countries with the lowest murder rate include Japan, Singapore, Hong Kong, Luxembourg, Indonesia, Norway, Oman, Switzerland, United Arab Emirates, and China
• The United States global ranking for homicides is number 59. That was definitely a surprise to me.
• Asia has the highest rate of murders for women.

Interesting Numbers

• The homicide clearance rate [cases solved] was 82% in 1976. In 2020 it was down to approximately 51%. Wow!
• There are so many variables which explain that decline. Unfortunately, we don’t have the time to examine them. But in general, cultural changes, technology, and police methodologies are key factors.

I hope you found the numbers detailed and described above interesting.

I was told that Einstein’s definition of insanity is repeating the same behavior over and over while expecting a different outcome. We’ve been repeatedly trying, for over a half century, to stem the tide of illegal drugs using the same failed approach. Yet we probably have more illegal drugs available today, than at any time in recent history. I remember when the head of DEA was on national television a few years ago explaining that on their best days, DEA keeps about 5% of the drugs from coming into our country. Why does America persist in following a strategy which always proves to be a failure? Let me take a moment to point out that I detest those illegal drugs, but I’m smart enough to realize we can’t stop people from using them.

How many times have you seen a press conference where DEA or the FBI announces the arrest of a drug kingpin? The formula is almost always the same. It took them 2-3 years, sometimes longer, to gather enough evidence for a conviction. What they usually leave out of the equation are the millions of dollars the investigation cost the taxpayers. And sometimes, it’s more than money, as lives are often lost during their pursuit of the cartel leader. But in the end, DEA, the FBI, or a local law enforcement agency, makes an effort to proudly tell us the time, money, and/or lives was worth the effort. Really? Only foolish people should believe that BS.

What happens after a drug kingpin is arrested? It’s usually one of two things. Someone in the cartel takes the place of the leader who was arrested, and after a brief period of adjustment, they continue to smuggle drugs into American cities as if nothing happened.

But occasionally the arrest does enough damage to an organization, that they can no longer function at the same level of efficiency. But guess what? If that happens, one of their competitors will take over and we’re right back where we started. However, before that competing gang takes over, there’s usually an extended period of extreme violence, as both gangs compete for the right to earn huge amounts of money, selling drugs in America.

This is a cycle which America has repeated endlessly for the past 50 years or so. Yet, for whatever reason, we keep on doing the same thing over and over. We never learned our lesson from Prohibition, when the Christian right tried to impose their version of morality on America. That was way back in the 1920s and it quickly became a fiasco. It didn’t change our moral values, and it certainly didn’t stop the flow of alcohol into the hands of our citizens. But it did succeed in transforming the Mafia from a group of small, local gangs, into a national powerhouse. The government gave criminals a golden opportunity and they seized that moment in time to change American culture, in a negative manner for many decades. Ironically, Prohibition not only failed in its goal to change morality, it set us on a path which led to the deaths of countless thousands, at the hands of what became much more powerful organized crime syndicates.

Fast forward to the creation of our drug laws and it became a huge opportunity for gangs in every major city, as well as newly developed Drug Cartels in countries outside of America. Much of the violent crime and murders in our cities are gangs fighting turf wars over the profits from the sale of illegal drugs. Chicago is a prime example of a city where the lives of many are extinguished in part because of foolish, futile drug laws. The drug laws have created problems which are far worse than the use of narcotics. The biggest achievement of our drug laws is making the production and sale of illegal drugs a financial bonanza for violent criminals. It sounds just like prohibition, doesn’t it?

Those who watch Fox are obsessed with illegal immigration at the Mexican Border. Many of those people are fleeing countries which are run by violent gangs, fueled by drug trafficking profits. Eliminating the drug laws will almost certainly reduce the level of illegal immigration at our southern border.

Please understand that our drug laws took an addiction/health issue and turned it into a massive criminal problem. More than half of all crimes committed in America are drug related. Imagine what would happen if we changed that equation. I have no sympathy for drug users, but we should understand that drug addicts have the same addiction problem which heavy smokers and drinkers have. Why do we single out drug users and turn them into criminals? Why don’t we treat them as people who need help, just as we do with heavy smokers and alcoholics?

I think you can guess what my approach would be, but how would you change our failed drug laws? It’s obvious that law enforcement has proven to be a total failure over the past half century. Therefore, we need a brand-new  approach, which enables people to get help with their addiction, without becoming criminals and/or dealing with drug dealers. What solutions do you believe would work better? Please keep in mind that whatever you come up with, it couldn’t be any worse than what we’ve experienced throughout our lifetime.