China: Intentional homicides (per 100,000 people)

Key figures

What the numbers say

In 2020, China's intentional homicides (per 100,000 people) fell 0.02 on 2019 (from 0.52 to 0.5).

Across the 19 yearly changes before that (1996 to 2019), the average change was −0.09 and a typical year strayed about 0.09 from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.8 standard deviations above that average, so it was an ordinary year: it sits within the range of normal year-to-year movement.

On record, the biggest yearly rise was 0.04 in 1997 and the biggest yearly fall was 0.31 in 2005. The numbers show how large and when, not why; for the cause, look at what happened in that country in those years.

From 2011 to 2020 the straight-line trend is downward, about 0.04 a year. A straight line explains 97% of the movement over 10 observed years.

Worked out from the yearly values above. How the checks work: standard deviation, z-scores and straight-line trends.

How it compares

In 2020, China had the 12th highest value of the 13 economies reporting that year. Higher is not always better: for some indicators the lowest value is the one to aim for. See the full ranking.

Closest to China in the 2020 ranking

• Nepal — 9th of 13: 2.13
• Kyrgyz Republic — 10th of 13: 1.75
• Tajikistan — 11th of 13: 0.89
• Kuwait — 13th of 13: 0.25

What this measures

An intentional homicide is defined as an unlawful death inflicted upon a person with the intent to cause death or serious injury.

Limitations: Statistics reported to the United Nations in the context of its various surveys on crime levels and criminal justice trends are incidents of victimization that have been reported to the authorities in any given country. That means that this data is subject to the problems of accuracy of all official crime data. The survey results provide an overview of trends and interrelationships between various parts of the criminal justice system to promote informed decision-making in administration, nationally and internationally. The degree to which different societies apportion the level of culpability to acts resulting in death is also subject to variation.

Regional and income-group figures are computed by the World Bank as a aggregate values are computed by unodc. for additional information, please see the unodc website: https://dataunodc.un.org/sites/dataunodc.un.org/files/metadata_intentional_homicide.pdf.

All 22 values

Intentional homicides (per 100,000 people) in nearby economies

• American Samoa — 25.54 (2018)
• Australia — 0.85 (2023)
• Fiji — 2.06 (2023)
• Guam — 4.33 (2019)
• Hong Kong SAR, China — 0.38 (2023)
• Japan — 0.23 (2023)
• Korea, Rep. — 0.48 (2023)
• Macao SAR, China — 0.56 (2023)
• Malaysia — 0.73 (2023)
• Mongolia — 5.92 (2023)

More public sector data for China

• Arms exports (SIPRI trend indicator values) — 880 million (2025)
• Arms imports (SIPRI trend indicator values) — 207 million (2025)
• Military expenditure (current USD) — 335.52 billion (2025)
• Military expenditure (current LCU) — 2.41 trillion (2025)
• Military expenditure (% of GDP) — 1.72% (2025)
• Military expenditure (% of general government expenditure) — 5.12% (2025)
• Armed forces personnel, total — 2.54 million (2020)
• Armed forces personnel (% of total labor force) — 0.33% (2020)
• Statistical performance indicators (SPI): Pillar 1 data use score (scale 0-100) — 73.4 (2024)

Reading data like this

• Where to find free public data, and how to check it before you trust it — 2 min read
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Questions people ask

What is China's intentional homicides (per 100,000 people)?

0.5 in 2020, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

How has it changed since 1995?

It is down 77.62% from 2.24 in 1995 (5.81% a year on average, compounded). The highest value was 2.24 in 1995 and the lowest 0.5 in 2020.

How does China rank?

12th highest of 13 economies with data for 2020.

Is the latest change in intentional homicides (per 100,000 people) unusual for China?

In 2020, China's intentional homicides (per 100,000 people) fell 0.02 on 2019 (from 0.52 to 0.5). Across the 19 yearly changes before that (1996 to 2019), the average change was −0.09 and a typical year strayed about 0.09 from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.8 standard deviations above that average, so it was an ordinary year: it sits within the range of normal year-to-year movement.

Source

World Bank, World Development Indicators, indicator VC.IHR.PSRC.P5, licensed CC BY 4.0. Original source: UNODC Research - Data Portal – Intentional Homicide, UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) Figures are fetched from the World Bank API and refreshed monthly; see the series on data.worldbank.org. The full definition and method are in the World Bank's metadata glossary. Comparisons use the same World Bank release.

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