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.