New Zealand: Intentional homicides, male (per 100,000 male)

Key figures

What the numbers say

In 2022, New Zealand's intentional homicides, male (per 100,000 male) rose 0.11 on 2021 (from 1.7 to 1.81).

Across the 26 yearly changes before that (1996 to 2021), the average change was +0.00633 and a typical year strayed about 0.78 from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.1 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 2.48 in 2019 and the biggest yearly fall was 2.45 in 2020. The numbers show how large and when, not why; for the cause, look at what happened in that country in those years.

From 2013 to 2022 there is no clear straight-line trend: a straight line explains 10% of the movement over 10 observed years, so the value is moving around more than it is heading anywhere.

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

How it compares

In 2022, New Zealand had the 11th highest value of the 14 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 New Zealand in the 2022 ranking

• Mauritius — 7th of 14: 2.97
• Israel — 8th of 14: 2.78
• West Bank and Gaza — 9th of 14: 2.54
• Luxembourg — 11th of 14: 1.52
• Portugal — 12th of 14: 1.03
• United Arab Emirates — 13th of 14: 0.91

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 28 values

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

• Australia — 1.16 (2023)
• Fiji — 1.53 (2023)
• Hong Kong SAR, China — 0.45 (2023)
• Japan — 0.23 (2023)
• Korea, Rep. — 0.49 (2023)
• Macao SAR, China — 0.61 (2023)
• Mongolia — 10.05 (2023)
• Myanmar — 4.25 (2023)
• Philippines — 7.54 (2023)
• Singapore — 0.07 (2023)

More public sector data for New Zealand

• Military expenditure (current USD) — 2.86 billion (2025)
• Military expenditure (current LCU) — 4.91 billion (2025)
• Military expenditure (% of GDP) — 1.1% (2025)
• Arms imports (SIPRI trend indicator values) — 200 million (2024)
• Grants and other revenue (current LCU) — 17.87 billion (2024)
• Grants and other revenue (% of revenue) — 12.04% (2024)
• Revenue, excluding grants (current LCU) — 147.96 billion (2024)
• Revenue, excluding grants (% of GDP) — 34.25% (2024)
• Taxes on goods and services (current LCU) — 39.13 billion (2024)
• Taxes on goods and services (% of revenue)

Reading data like this

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Questions people ask

What is New Zealand's intentional homicides, male (per 100,000 male)?

1.81 in 2022, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

How has it changed since 1995?

It is up 17.9% from 1.53 in 1995 (0.61% a year on average, compounded). The highest value was 3.96 in 2019 and the lowest 0.92 in 2017.

How does New Zealand rank?

11th highest of 14 economies with data for 2022.

Is the latest change in intentional homicides, male (per 100,000 male) unusual for New Zealand?

In 2022, New Zealand's intentional homicides, male (per 100,000 male) rose 0.11 on 2021 (from 1.7 to 1.81). Across the 26 yearly changes before that (1996 to 2021), the average change was +0.00633 and a typical year strayed about 0.78 from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.1 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.MA.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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