Governance · Africa ranking
Homicide Rate by African country
South Africa has the highest intentional homicide rate of any African country, at 43.7, ahead of Lesotho and Central African Republic.
Intentional homicides per 100,000 people (UNODC via World Bank). 39 of 54 countries, ranked · World Bank — World Development Indicators, 2022.
Latest available year varies by country (2008–2023); each row shows its year, and values more than 5 years behind the most recent are marked ⚠.
South Africa
Lesotho
Central African RepublicBy region
Full ranking
| # | Country | Homicide Rate | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | South Africa | 43.7 | |
| 2 | Lesotho | 38.2 ⚠ ’08 | |
| 3 | Central African Republic | 20.1 ⚠ ’16 | |
| 4 | Nigeria | 15.7 | |
| 5 | Eritrea | 15.6 ⚠ ’12 | |
| 6 | South Sudan | 14 ⚠ ’12 | |
| 7 | Eswatini | 12.5 | |
| 8 | Botswana | 11.4 | |
| 9 | Namibia | 11.2 | |
| 10 | Uganda | 9 | |
| 11 | Ethiopia | 8.5 ⚠ ’12 | |
| 12 | Seychelles | 8 | |
| 13 | Cabo Verde | 7 | |
| 14 | Cameroon | 6.8 | |
| 15 | Zimbabwe | 6.8 | |
| 16 | Burundi | 5.6 ⚠ ’16 | |
| 17 | Zambia | 5.2 ⚠ ’15 | |
| 18 | Sudan | 5.1 ⚠ ’08 | |
| 19 | Kenya | 4.9 | |
| 20 | Tunisia | 4.7 | |
| 21 | Niger | 4.4 ⚠ ’12 | |
| 22 | Angola | 4.1 ⚠ ’16 | |
| 23 | Tanzania | 3.7 | |
| 24 | Rwanda | 3.6 | |
| 25 | Mozambique | 3.6 ⚠ ’11 | |
| 26 | Sao Tome and Principe | 3.2 ⚠ ’11 | |
| 27 | Liberia | 3.1 ⚠ ’12 | |
| 28 | Mauritius | 2.3 | |
| 29 | Sierra Leone | 2.2 | |
| 30 | Ghana | 1.8 | |
| 31 | Malawi | 1.8 ⚠ ’12 | |
| 32 | Morocco | 1.7 | |
| 33 | Egypt | 1.3 ⚠ ’17 | |
| 34 | Burkina Faso | 1.3 ⚠ ’17 | |
| 35 | Algeria | 1.2 | |
| 36 | Benin | 1.1 ⚠ ’17 | |
| 37 | Guinea-Bissau | 1.1 ⚠ ’17 | |
| 38 | Mauritania | 1 | |
| 39 | Senegal | 0.3 ⚠ ’15 |
Nigeria
Eritrea
South Sudan
Eswatini
Botswana
Namibia
Uganda
Ethiopia
Seychelles
Cabo Verde
Cameroon
Zimbabwe
Burundi
Zambia
Sudan
Kenya
Tunisia
Niger
Angola
Tanzania
Rwanda
Mozambique
Sao Tome and Principe
Liberia
Mauritius
Sierra Leone
Ghana
Malawi
Morocco
Egypt
Burkina Faso
Algeria
Benin
Guinea-Bissau
Mauritania
SenegalGet this ranking via API
One call to /v1/data returns the latest Homicide Rate figure for every country you pass — JSON, with source metadata on each observation.
curl "https://api.africa-api.com/v1/data?metric_key=homicide_rate_per_100k&latest=true&country_codes=NG,KE,ZA,EG" \
-H "Authorization: Bearer $AFRICA_API_KEY"Cite or republish this ranking
Data: Africa API — World Bank — World Development Indicators, 2022. Free to republish with a link to this page. Pull the live figures via the API above so your version never goes stale.
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Drop this chart into your article or site — it stays live as the data updates. Paste the snippet anywhere HTML is allowed (a citation link is included).
Frequently asked questions
Which African country has the highest intentional homicide rate?
South Africa has the highest intentional homicide rate in Africa at 43.7 (2022), followed by Lesotho and Central African Republic.
Which African country has the lowest intentional homicide rate?
Senegal has the lowest intentional homicide rate of the 39 African countries with data, at 0.3 (2015).
How many African countries report Homicide Rate data?
39 of 54 African countries have a Homicide Rate figure in the Africa API, each from the latest year available for that country (which can differ between countries, here 2008–2023). Every value links to its full series with source and history.
How do I get this ranking via API?
Call GET /v1/data?metric_key=homicide_rate_per_100k&latest=true with the country codes you need and a free Africa API key — the response returns the latest value per country as JSON.
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