Asia, which contains 60 per cent of the global population, recorded the lowest rate of homicide in 2017 with only 2.3 killings per 100,000 people while the Americas region had the highest homicide rate, according to a UN report.
The Global Study on Homicide 2019 published Monday by the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) said that about 464,000 people across the world were killed in homicides in 2017, an increase from 395,542 in 1992. The number of people killed in homicides in 2017 far surpassed the 89,000 killed in armed conflicts in the same period.
However, because the global population has risen faster than the increase in recorded homicide victims, the overall risk of being killed in homicides has declined steadily. The global homicide rate, measured as the victims of homicide per 100,000 people, declined from 7.2 in 1992, to 6.1 in 2017, the report said.
The lowest regional rate of homicide in 2017 was reported in Asia, with 104,000 victims representing a rate of 2.3 per 100,000 population. Asia, which contains 60 per cent of the global population, accounted for 23 per cent of total homicide victims worldwide.
The 2017 global homicide rate masks dramatic regional variations.
Countries in the Americas reported 173,000 victims of intentional homicide 37 per cent of the global total in a region that accounts for only 13 per cent of the world's population.
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The homicide rate of 17.2 victims per 100,000 population in the Americas was the highest recorded in the region since reliable records began in 1990. Africa was the only other region with a homicide rate exceeding the global average, with 13.0 victims per 100,000 population, or 163,000 victims in total.
The report said that though homicide rates remain high in the Americas, the picture varies hugely within the region and within individual countries. In Central America, the country with the highest homicide rate (62.1) had a rate more than seven times that of the country with the lowest. In South America, the country with the highest homicide rate (56.8) had a rate more than 16 times that of the country with the lowest.
"The Global Study on Homicide seeks to shed light on gender-related killings, lethal gang violence and other challenges, to support prevention and interventions to bring down homicide rates," said UNODC Executive Director Yury Fedotov.
"Countries have committed to targets under the Sustainable Development Goals to reduce all forms of violence and related death rates by 2030. This report offers important examples of effective community-based interventions that have helped to bring about improvements in areas afflicted by violence, gangs and organized crime."