Jamaica is one of the countries with the highest homicide rates in Latin America and the Caribbean. Indeed, the number of people murdered in Jamaica amounted to 1,141 in 2024, slightly down from 1,393 victims a year earlier.

Jamaica is one of the most violent countries in the Caribbean. In 2024, there were approximately 40.1 homicides per 100,000 inhabitants in the island nation. This was one of the highest homicide rate in Latin America and the Caribbean that year.

In 2023, there were 1,399 murder victims in Jamaica. Of these, 238 occurred in the parish of St. Andrews. Portland was the parish with the fewest recorded cases, with 14 murder victims.

Jamaica JM: Intentional Homicides: per 100,000 People data was reported at 43.200 Ratio in 2015. This records an increase from the previous number of 36.100 Ratio for 2014. Jamaica JM: Intentional Homicides: per 100,000 People data is updated yearly, averaging 41.373 Ratio from Dec 1995 (Median) to 2015, with 21 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 62.500 Ratio in 2005 and a record low of 31.688 Ratio in 1995. Jamaica JM: Intentional Homicides: per 100,000 People data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Jamaica – Table JM.World Bank: Health Statistics. 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.; ; UN Office on Drugs and Crime's International Homicide Statistics database.; Weighted average;

Jamaica JM: Intentional Homicides: Male: per 100,000 Male data was reported at 85.058 Ratio in 2016. This records an increase from the previous number of 76.415 Ratio for 2015. Jamaica JM: Intentional Homicides: Male: per 100,000 Male data is updated yearly, averaging 86.007 Ratio from Dec 2005 (Median) to 2016, with 12 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 109.756 Ratio in 2009 and a record low of 63.558 Ratio in 2014. Jamaica JM: 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 Jamaica – Table JM.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.; ;

In 2018, it was estimated that *** people were murdered per 100,000 inhabitants in Kingston, Jamaica. A year earlier, almost *** homicide victims per 100,000 population were reported in Jamaica's capital city. This Caribbean country has one of the highest homicide rates in the whole Latin American and Caribbean region.

Intentional homicides (per 100,000 people) in Jamaica was reported at 52.13 in 2021, according to the World Bank collection of development indicators, compiled from officially recognized sources. Jamaica - Intentional homicides (per 100;000 people) - actual values, historical data, forecasts and projections were sourced from the World Bank on July of 2025.

Historical dataset showing Jamaica murder/homicide rate per 100K population by year from 1990 to 2021.

Jamaica JM: Intentional Homicides: Female: per 100,000 Female data was reported at 9.330 Ratio in 2016. This records an increase from the previous number of 8.039 Ratio for 2015. Jamaica JM: Intentional Homicides: Female: per 100,000 Female data is updated yearly, averaging 9.777 Ratio from Dec 2005 (Median) to 2016, with 12 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 13.416 Ratio in 2005 and a record low of 6.953 Ratio in 2014. Jamaica JM: 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 Jamaica – Table JM.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.; ;

The crime rate in Jamaica decreased overall throughout the displayed time frame. Nonetheless, the highest growth was registered in 2012, leading to the highest value: ***** cases per 100,000 inhabitants. By the end of 2023, this figure had decreased to ******.

Several countries located in Central America and the Caribbean registered some of the highest homicide rates in the Latin American region in 2022. Jamaica ranked first, with around 53.34 homicides committed per 100,000 inhabitants. Saint Vincent and the Grenadines came second, with 40.41 homicides per 100,000 people. The source defines intentional homicide as the unlawful death inflicted upon a person with the intent to cause death or serious injury. When it comes to the total case count, Brazil was the Latin American country with the largest number of homicide victims. Central America and the falling rates El Salvador was commonly named the murder capital of the world for a few years. The inability of previous governments to control organized crime and gangs resulted in the highest homicide rate in the world for a couple of years. Nonetheless, the current administration and the measures applied during the Emergency State had an incredibly positive impact in terms of the security of the Salvadorean citizens. But not only El Salvador has seen a considerable reduction in its murder rate in Central America. Honduras and Guatemala are also two great examples of crime reduction, introducing new policies, institutions, and changes to their judicial system to achieve better results.
The Caribbean still ridden by crime Some islands in the Caribbean are not only known as tax heavens, as some nations in the region are considered the main enablers of tax evasion in the world, but also for being ridden by crime. Haiti is one example of the still rising levels of criminality. As a country with precarious conditions and extreme food insecurity, the homicide rate has been on the rise for almost four consecutive years. Another one is Jamaica, the top of the Latin American ranking, that has also seen an increase in the youth involved in organized crime due to lack of employment and economic conditions.

In 2024, the highest homicide rate among 22 Latin American and Caribbean countries surveyed was in Haiti, with around 62 murders committed per 100,000 inhabitants. Trinidad and Tobago came in second, with a homicide rate of 46, while Honduras ranked seventh, with 25. In the same year, the lowest rate was recorded in El Salvador, with a homicide rate of 1.9 per 100,000 inhabitants. A violence-ridden region Violence and crime are some of the most pressing problems affecting Latin American society nowadays. More than 40 of the 50 most dangerous cities in the world are located in this region, as well as one of the twenty countries with the least peace in the world according to the Global Peace Index. Despite governments’ large spending on security and high imprisonment rates, drug and weapon trafficking, organized crime, and gangs have turned violence into an epidemic that affects the whole region and a solution to this issue appears to be hardly attainable. The cost of violence in Mexico Mexico stands out as an example of the great cost that violence inflicts upon a country, since beyond claiming human lives, it also affects everyday life and has a negative impact on the economy. Mexicans have a high perceived level of insecurity, as they do not only fear becoming victims of homicide, but also of other common crimes, such as assault or rape. Such fear prevents people from performing everyday activities, for instance, going out at night, taking a taxi or going to the movies or the theater. Furthermore, the economic toll of violence in Mexico is more than considerable. For example, the cost of homicide and violent crime amounted to 2099.8 and 1778.1 billion Mexican pesos in 2023, respectively.

Jamaïque: Homicides per 100,000 people: Pour cet indicateur, The UN office on drugs and crime fournit des données pour la Jamaïque de 1990 à 2017. La valeur moyenne pour Jamaïque pendant cette période était de 40.7 homicides per 100,000 people avec un minimum de 22.4 homicides per 100,000 people en 1990 et un maximum de 61 homicides per 100,000 people en 2005.

Among the cities depicted in this statistic, Port-au-Prince, the capital of Haiti, registered the highest homicide rate as of 2023. An average of 118 people every 100,000 inhabitants in this city were reportedly murdered. In Kingston, the Jamaican capital, the homicide rate was estimated at 55.35.

Turks and Caicos Islands saw a murder rate of ***** per 100,000 inhabitants, making it the most dangerous country for this kind of crime worldwide as of 2024. Interestingly, El Salvador, which long had the highest global homicide rates, has dropped out of the top 29 after a high number of gang members have been incarcerated. Meanwhile, Colima in Mexico was the most dangerous city for murders. Violent conflicts worldwide Notably, these figures do not include deaths that resulted from war or a violent conflict. While there is a persistent number of conflicts worldwide, resulting casualties are not considered murders. Partially due to this reason, homicide rates in Latin America are higher than those in Afghanistan or Syria. A different definition of murder in these circumstances could change the rate significantly in some countries. Causes of death Also, noteworthy is that murders are usually not random events. In the United States, the circumstances of murders are most commonly arguments, followed by narcotics incidents and robberies. Additionally, murders are not a leading cause of death. Heart diseases, strokes and cancer pose a greater threat to life than violent crime.

Jamaica: Homicídios por cada 100.000 pessoas: Para este indicador, fornecemos dados para Jamaica de 1990 a 2017. O valor médio por Jamaica durante este período foi 40.7 homicides per 100,000 people com o mínimo de 22.4 homicides per 100,000 people em 1990 e o máximo de 61 homicides per 100,000 people em 2005. Os dados mais recentes de 2017 são 57 homicides per 100,000 people. Para efeito de comparação, a média mundial em 2017 com base em 97 países é 7.4 homicides per 100,000 people.

The National Advisory Commission on Civil Disorders, commonly known as “The Kerner Commission” after its chair Otto Kerner, was assigned by U.S. President Lyndon Johnson in 1967 to report on the causes of urban uprisings over the course of four consecutive summers. ‘Rioting’ took place in 150 American cities and resulted directly from police violence against African Americans. The report concluded that the nation was moving toward two societies, one black, one white—separate and unequal. Fifty years later, urban (and suburban) uprisings following police murders again illuminate the trajectory that the Kerner Commission cautioned against. Protests over several summers challenging excessive police use of force, police violence, and the role of police in enforcing structural racism in the U.S., culminated in 2020, during the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, and have since taken place around the world.Developing a qualitative study of policing in the Jamaica section of Queens County, New York seeks: 1) to better understand the ways in which policing and police violence in urban communities have been contested during the post-1968 era of massive demographic, political, economic, and cultural change and 2) to investigate how and why the American “War on Drugs” has emerged and police power has expanded and the ways this historic process has shaped Black American neighborhoods, politics, and subjectivity. The findings of this study deepen our understandings of the American police-community dialectic by centering Black agency, politics, and press. Guided by critical discourse analysis and “conceptual metaphor theory,” data is drawn from Black Press, White Press, the archives, and civic organization membership, to examine discourse on protests, civic, and political action, following the historic killings of 10-year-old Clifford Glover in 1973, and 23-year-old Sean Bell in 2006. This study’s recovery of the collective memory of Clifford Glover is the most extensive social science treatment of the first murder trial of an on-duty police officer in New York City history. Linking this largely forgotten past to the innovation of Tactical Narcotics Teams (TNT) in southeast Queens, following the 1988 assassination of 103rd Precinct officer Edward Byrne, reshapes the study of mass incarceration.

Up to October 2024, *** breaking and entering crimes were registered in Jamaican households. In addition, up to *** robberies were reported, slightly down compared to the same period of the previous year. More figures about crime in Jamaica and other Caribbean countries can be found in this report.

牙买加 JM: Intentional Homicides: Male: per 100,000 Male在2016达85.058 Ratio，相较于2015的76.415 Ratio有所增长。牙买加 JM: Intentional Homicides: Male: per 100,000 Male数据按每年更新，2005至2016期间平均值为86.007 Ratio，共12份观测结果。该数据的历史最高值出现于2009，达109.756 Ratio，而历史最低值则出现于2014，为63.558 Ratio。CEIC提供的牙买加 JM: Intentional Homicides: Male: per 100,000 Male数据处于定期更新的状态，数据来源于World Bank，数据归类于Global Database的牙买加 – Table JM.World Bank: Health Statistics。

In 2023, it was estimated that approximately 8.29 per 100,000 Jamaican women were killed on account of their gender, around the same femicide rate recorded a year earlier.