Homicides, England and Wales
Offences recorded as homicide in England and Wales each year since 1960 – as the police first recorded them and, from 1967, as they stand now – with the rate per million people, from the ONS's tables of the Home Office's Homicide Index.
Offences currently recorded as homicide
522
Year ending March 2025 · 8.6 per million people
Verified against source, 8 November 2026, 13:22 UTC- Offences currently recorded as homicide
- Offences initially recorded as homicide
Source: Office for National Statistics. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
Data table
66 periods, newest first
| Period | Offences currently recorded as homicide | Offences initially recorded as homicide |
|---|---|---|
| Year ending March 2025 | 522 | 524 |
| Year ending March 2024 | 566 | 571 |
| Year ending March 2023 | 581 | 583 |
| Year ending March 2022 | 672 | 682 |
| Year ending March 2021 | 555 | 568 |
| Year ending March 2020 | 676 | 689 |
| Year ending March 2019 | 641 | 655 |
| Year ending March 2018 | 698 | 719 |
| Year ending March 2017 | 689 | 707 |
| Year ending March 2016 | 538 | 556 |
| Year ending March 2015 | 504 | 526 |
| Year ending March 2014 | 520 | 539 |
| Year ending March 2013 | 543 | 567 |
| Year ending March 2012 | 525 | 545 |
| Year ending March 2011 | 631 | 653 |
| Year ending March 2010 | 592 | 621 |
| Year ending March 2009 | 637 | 672 |
| Year ending March 2008 | 731 | 773 |
| Year ending March 2007 | 711 | 751 |
| Year ending March 2006 | 709 | 766 |
| Year ending March 2005 | 777 | 833 |
| Year ending March 2004 | 773 | 855 |
| Year ending March 2003 | 942 | 1,041 |
| Year ending March 2002 | 793 | 857 |
| Year ending March 2001 | 760 | 847 |
| Year ending March 2000 | 668 | 761 |
| Year ending March 1999 | 639 | 741 |
| Year ending March 1998 | 602 | 728 |
| Year ending December 1997 | 607 | 734 |
| Year ending December 1996 | 586 | 676 |
| Year ending December 1995 | 662 | 752 |
| Year ending December 1994 | 633 | 728 |
| Year ending December 1993 | 566 | 674 |
| Year ending December 1992 | 581 | 681 |
| Year ending December 1991 | 622 | 725 |
| Year ending December 1990 | 554 | 661 |
| Year ending December 1989 | 521 | 622 |
| Year ending December 1988 | 547 | 645 |
| Year ending December 1987 | 600 | 687 |
| Year ending December 1986 | 563 | 659 |
| Year ending December 1985 | 536 | 625 |
| Year ending December 1984 | 537 | 619 |
| Year ending December 1983 | 482 | 552 |
| Year ending December 1982 | 557 | 618 |
| Year ending December 1981 | 501 | 556 |
| Year ending December 1980 | 535 | 626 |
| Year ending December 1979 | 547 | 620 |
| Year ending December 1978 | 468 | 536 |
| Year ending December 1977 | 413 | 484 |
| Year ending December 1976 | 488 | 565 |
| Year ending December 1975 | 443 | 508 |
| Year ending December 1974 | 526 | 599 |
| Year ending December 1973 | 391 | 465 |
| Year ending December 1972 | 409 | 480 |
| Year ending December 1971 | 407 | 459 |
| Year ending December 1970 | 339 | 396 |
| Year ending December 1969 | 332 | 395 |
| Year ending December 1968 | 360 | 420 |
| Year ending December 1967 | 354 | 414 |
| Year ending December 1966 | – | 364 |
| Year ending December 1965 | – | 325 |
| Year ending December 1964 | – | 296 |
| Year ending December 1963 | – | 307 |
| Year ending December 1962 | – | 299 |
| Year ending December 1961 | – | 265 |
| Year ending December 1960 | – | 282 |
Source and licence
- Publisher
- Office for National Statistics
- Check it yourself
- https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/crimeandjustice/datasets/appendixtableshomicideinenglandandwales
- Licence
- Open Government Licence v3.0 – Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
- Retrieved
- 8 November 2026, 13:08 UTC
- Raw files fetched
- https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/crimeandjustice/datasets/appendixtableshomicideinenglandandwales/dataSHA-256 70e615ea26d7776238c53550416b878da6ac387c6218655383b92e88baf1ebdd · 1,287 bytes
- https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/crimeandjustice/datasets/appendixtableshomicideinenglandandwales/current/dataSHA-256 5a2242a1e68913a99f3ed09f5e5d6f2321da967425a18dd85fbb6fbfa342034c · 3,411 bytes
- https://www.ons.gov.uk/file?uri=/peoplepopulationandcommunity/crimeandjustice/datasets/appendixtableshomicideinenglandandwales/current/homicideinenglandandwalesappendixtablesyemar2025finalv2.xlsxSHA-256 938496a2eef581ec0b979a8a3bd90c6e6fa748110fd823f88b903510436a2b7f · 293,889 bytes
Verification
Verified against source, 8 November 2026, 13:22 UTC Run at 8 November 2026, 13:22 UTC; 132 of 132 figures matched the live source.
| Result | Check | Detail |
|---|---|---|
| Pass | Provenance recorded | Office for National Statistics; Open Government Licence v3.0; retrieved 2026-11-08T13:08:30Z; 3 raw file(s) |
| Pass | Raw files match recorded SHA-256 | 3 of 3 files intact |
| Pass | Re-parsing raw files reproduces figures | 132 of 132 figures and the headline reproduced; the meta's accreditation and rate_per_million match |
| Pass | Figures are finite numbers | 132 figures, 0 invalid |
| Pass | Live source matches every figure | 132 of 132 figures match exactly after downloading 3 source file(s) again (3 byte-identical); the headline matches; the meta's accreditation and rate_per_million match |
| Pass | ONS edition is current | the current edition counts at 2025-03-31, 587 days before retrieval (limit 800) |
| Pass | Table 1 adds up | 59 of 59 cases of the years' offences no longer and still recorded as homicide add up to those first recorded |
| Pass | Worksheet 4a gives Table 1's | 11 of 11 cases of Worksheet 4a's years' offences of all ages are Table 1's |
| Pass | Source page answers | https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/crimeandjustice/datasets/appendixtableshomicideinenglandandwales – HTTP 200 |
Notes
- Offences recorded as homicide in England and Wales, one for each victim, as Table 1 of the ONS's appendix tables gives them from the Home Office's Homicide Index: by calendar year to 1997, then by the year to March. An offence first recorded as homicide stays one unless the police or the courts decide that a lesser offence, or none, took place, so the ONS counts both, from 1967 for those still recorded as homicide.
- The figures stand as the Home Office's index held them when the ONS made the tables and are revised as cases go through the courts. Some years include many victims of one incident, which the ONS's notes name. The headline's rate is offences still recorded as homicide per million people, on the ONS's population estimates.