Number of homicides in London 2015-2023

There were 112 homicides recorded by the police in London for the period in the 2022/23 reporting year, compared with 124 in the previous reporting year. During this provided time period, the reporting year for 2017/18 had the most homicides in London at 159, with the fewest occurring in 2016/17, when there were 107.

Comparisons with rest of the UK

With a homicide rate of 12.7 per million people London had the second worst homicide rate among UK regions in 2022/23, with the North East of England having the highest rate of 15.9 in this year. On a more localized level, the Metropolitan Police of Greater London reported a lower homicide rate than many other police force areas that cover major cities such as Merseyside and West Midlands police. Across England and Wales as a whole, the number of homicides in 2022/23 was 602, compared with 697 in the previous year.

Knives the most common weapon used

In 2021/22 there were 282 homicides in England and Wales involving a knife or other sharp instrument . As a comparison, there were just 28 homicides caused by a firearm in the same reporting year. While guns are generally difficult to obtain in the United Kingdom, knives are far more prevalent and have become a major problem for the police, particularly in London. The number of knife crime offences in London rose from 9,752 in 2015/16 to over 15,928 by 2019/20, before falling back in recent years, to 12,786 in 2022/23.