UNODC Homicide Statistics provide users with a reference for the largest number of countries and the longest time series on homicide data possible. A variety of national and international sources on homicide have been considered to compile UNODC Homicide Statistics and, in order to present accurate and comparable statistics, data have been selected which conform as much as possible to the definition of intentional homicide used by UNODC for statistical purpose: ‘‘unlawful death purposefully inflicted on a person by another person”.
All existing data sources on intentional homicides, both at national and international level, stem from either criminal justice or public health systems. In the former case, data are generated by law enforcement or criminal justice authorities in the process of recording and investigating a crime event while, in the latter, data are produced by health authorities certifying the cause of death of an individual. Public health data on homicides were derived from databases on deaths by cause disseminated by WHO, both at central level and through some of its regional offices.
Data included in the dataset correspond to the original value provided by the source of origin, since no statistical procedure or modelling was used to change collected values or to create new or revised figures.
