In 2023, the homicide rate in Brazil reached 22.8 incidents per 100,000 inhabitants. The lowest number in the country since 2012 was recorded in 2021, when a homicide rate of 22.3 was recorded.

In 2024, six of the eight Brazilian cities with the highest homicide rates were in the Northeast. Feira da Santana led the ranking of the most violent city in Brazil, with a murder rate of 55.63 per 100,000 inhabitants. It was followed followed by Recife, with a homicide rate of more than 41 per 100,000 inhabitants. In Latin America and the Caribbean, Feira da Santana was the 22nd most deadly city.

The homicide rate registered in Brazil impacts ethnicities very differently. Whereas the number of homicides per 100,000 black or brown people increased by 33 percent between 2006 and 2017, the homicide rate of non-black or brown individuals declined by nearly 19 percent in the same period. In 2022, the homicide rate for the black ethnic group decreased compared to the previous year.

In 2023, Pernambuco reported the highest homicide rate in the country, at nearly 43 occurrences per 100,000 inhabitants. Pernambuco, in the country's northeastern region, ranked second, with 39 homicides per 100,000 inhabitants. Meanwhile, in 2021, Bahia also ranked first in numbers of homicides, with around 7.2 thousand occurrences reported.

In 2024, the number of homicides in Brazil reached its lowest level of the entire period under review, with approximately 39,000 occurrences. By comparison, there were more than 60,000 homicides in the country in 2017.

Considering the over 46,000 homicides registered in Brazil in 2022, almost 92 percent had men as victims. Meanwhile, approximately 3,810 women were killed in the South American country that year.

Brazil murder/homicide rate per 100K population for 2020 was 22.38, a 7.56% increase from 2019.

• Brazil murder/homicide rate per 100K population for 2019 was 20.81, a 21.87% decline from 2018.
• Brazil murder/homicide rate per 100K population for 2018 was 26.64, a 12.93% decline from 2017.
• Brazil murder/homicide rate per 100K population for 2017 was 30.59, a 3.39% increase from 2016.

Intentional homicides are estimates of unlawful homicides purposely inflicted as a result of domestic disputes, interpersonal violence, violent conflicts over land resources, intergang violence over turf or control, and predatory violence and killing by armed groups. Intentional homicide does not include all intentional killing; the difference is usually in the organization of the killing. Individuals or small groups usually commit homicide, whereas killing in armed conflict is usually committed by fairly cohesive groups of up to several hundred members and is thus usually excluded.

The number of violent crimes against property registered in Brazil showed a downward trend from 2017 to 2020. After an increase in 2021 and 2022, this number decreased again in 2023, with 366,260 such cases in the South American country.Furthermore, most of the violent crimes against property in Brazil consist of vehicle thefts and break-ins.

The number of black and Pardo Brazilian people murdered in Brazil had been increasing throughout the years up until 2017. In 2022, around 35,500 black and Pardo citizens were killed in the South American country, down from almost 37,000 recorded one year before.

Brazil BR: Intentional Homicides: Male: per 100,000 Male data was reported at 53.128 Ratio in 2015. This records an increase from the previous number of 52.224 Ratio for 2014. Brazil BR: Intentional Homicides: Male: per 100,000 Male data is updated yearly, averaging 44.855 Ratio from Dec 2000 (Median) to 2015, with 16 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 53.128 Ratio in 2015 and a record low of 40.825 Ratio in 2010. Brazil BR: Intentional Homicides: Male: per 100,000 Male data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Brazil – Table BR.World Bank: Health Statistics. Intentional homicides, male are estimates of unlawful male homicides purposely inflicted as a result of domestic disputes, interpersonal violence, violent conflicts over land resources, intergang violence over turf or control, and predatory violence and killing by armed groups. Intentional homicide does not include all intentional killing; the difference is usually in the organization of the killing. Individuals or small groups usually commit homicide, whereas killing in armed conflict is usually committed by fairly cohesive groups of up to several hundred members and is thus usually excluded.; ; UN Office on Drugs and Crime's International Homicide Statistics database.; ;

Although Brazil remains severely affected by civil violence, the state of São Paulo has made significant inroads into fighting criminality. In the last decade, São Paulo has witnessed a 70% decline in homicide rates, a result that policy-makers attribute to a series of crime-reducing measures implemented by the state government. While recent academic studies seem to confirm this downward trend, no estimation of the total impact of state policies on homicide rates currently exists. The present article fills this gap by employing the synthetic control method to compare these measures against an artificial São Paulo. The results indicate a large drop in homicide rates in actual São Paulo when contrasted with the synthetic counterfactual, with about 20,000 lives saved during the period. The theoretical usefulness of the synthetic control method for public policy analysis, the role of the Primeiro Comando da Capital as a causal mediator, and the practical implications of the security measures taken by the São Paulo state government are also discussed.

Brazil BR: Intentional Homicides: Female: per 100,000 Female data was reported at 4.441 Ratio in 2015. This records a decrease from the previous number of 4.461 Ratio for 2014. Brazil BR: Intentional Homicides: Female: per 100,000 Female data is updated yearly, averaging 3.884 Ratio from Dec 2000 (Median) to 2015, with 16 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 4.461 Ratio in 2014 and a record low of 3.649 Ratio in 2007. Brazil BR: Intentional Homicides: Female: per 100,000 Female data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Brazil – Table BR.World Bank: Health Statistics. Intentional homicides, female are estimates of unlawful female homicides purposely inflicted as a result of domestic disputes, interpersonal violence, violent conflicts over land resources, intergang violence over turf or control, and predatory violence and killing by armed groups. Intentional homicide does not include all intentional killing; the difference is usually in the organization of the killing. Individuals or small groups usually commit homicide, whereas killing in armed conflict is usually committed by fairly cohesive groups of up to several hundred members and is thus usually excluded.; ; UN Office on Drugs and Crime's International Homicide Statistics database.; ;

In 2022, the state of Bahia reported the largest number of homicides in Brazil. That year, 6,776 homicides were recorded in this northeastern state. Bahia was followed by the state of Rio de Janeiro, with 3,762 murders reported. Despite that, the number of homicides in Brazil reached the lowest figure that year since at least 2006, totaling 40,464. Homicide targets Data shows that homicides affected men disproportionaly more than women in this South American country. Considering the over 46,340 homicides registered in Brazil in 2022, nearly 92 percent had men as victims. Again, it is important to remember the deterioration of data quality, specially in the case of femicides: there was a woman victim of violent death with no clear cause for every woman victim of homicide in Brazil. In that regard, the Brazilian states of Mato Grosso and Rondônia had the highest femicide rates. At least three of every 100,000 women who lived in those territories were murdered on account of their gender in 2023. Not only women, but the number of black and brown people murdered in Brazil had been growing throughout the years up until 2017, revealing that minorities are increasingly becoming the targets of violence. In 2022, nearly 35,500 people of color were killed in Brazil, over three times the number of non-black or non-brown people. Police Violence Police brutality has been gaining attention from the media, especially after George Floyd violent death in 2020. In Brazil, police violence, particularly in poor areas, such as favelas, is an old and well-known problem that affects society as a whole. Figures have shown that the number of civilians killed by police officers in Brazil surpassed 6,350 in both 2021 and 2022. Coincidentally, Rio de Janeiro and Bahia, the Brazilian states with the highest number of homicides, are also the ones with the highest number of people killed by the police. In Rio, the state with the second-highest figure, people of color were the main victims of deadly police interventions.

Out of every 100,000 men in Brazil, approximately 41 were murdered throughout 2022, down from about 42 homicides per 100,000 male inhabitants a year earlier. Meanwhile, among women in the South American country, homicide rate decreased from 3.53 murders per 100,000 females in 2021 to 3.48 homicides per 100,000 women in the following year.

Mean values and SD of selected variables for the Brazilian municipalities (n. 5.507).

The number of violent crimes against property registered in Brazil has been oscillating in recent years, experiencing a steep decline in 2020. In 2023, the figures were lower than the previous year, with around 355,000 car thefts or break-ins being reported in the South American country.Meanwhile, the number of violent deaths in Brazil has decreased lately.

The number of homicides with firearms has been increasing in Brazil throughout the years up until 2017. In that year, approximately 47.51 thousand murders were committed with guns in the South American country, up from around 44.48 thousand homicides recorded a year earlier. However, by 2022 it had decreased to over 33,000

The number of homicides of persons aged between 15 and 29 years had been rising in Brazil up until 2017. In that year, nearly 35,800 people from that age group were murdered in the South American country, up from almost 33,600 recorded one year before. In 2022, this figure had fallen to over 22,800.

The annual robbery rate in the city of Rio de Janeiro has stabilized since 2020, after it more than doubled from roughly 850 robberies per 100,000 inhabitants in 2012 to almost 1,900 in 2017. The sharpest decline in the robbery rate occurred between 2019 and 2020 when it fell from 1,500 to below 1,000 thefts, reflecting a decrease of approximately 38 percent. In 2024, the annual robbery rate was 973 thefts per 100,000 inhabitants, however this still equates to almost one percent of the population being robbed each year.

Pelotas/RS-Brazil, 2012.*Chi-square test of heterogeneity.#Score combined with the five previous variables.Sample description and the prevalence of physical activity according to the variables related to perceived safety from crime.