The March for Our Lives reinforced the narratvie that the US has returned to the days of Al Capone and Dutch Schultz. As the story is told, compared to a country like Great Britain, where guns are strictly controlled, America is a cesspool of blood and death. The numbers don’t lie…or do they? The United States annual death rate was 817.3 per hundred thousand in 2015, wherein the UK, the rate was closer to 1010.0 per hundred thousand in 2015.
So statistically you’re less likely to die in America than the UK, though this doesn’t take into account demographic differences in age distribution.
But what about the murders?
The intentional homicide rate in America is 3.9 per hundred thousand, which is notably higher than the UK rate of 0.9 per hundred thousand. Like the raw death rate, this statistic has nuance to it. America’s homicide rate is driven by the black market trade in controlled substances, and the homicide rate outside of the drug trade is a lot closer to the UK rate. Even the raw rate is a mere 0.477% of the US death rate, compared to the UK’S 0.089%, which isn’t really a large chunk.
How does the US rank worldwide? WikiPedia provides this handy table based on United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime data.
Country (or dependent territory, subnational area, etc.) |
Rate | Count | Region | Subregion | Year listed |
Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
![]() |
4.03 | 436 | Africa | Eastern Africa | 2014 | |
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7.60 | 60 | Africa | Eastern Africa | 2015 | |
![]() |
6.77 | 60 | Africa | Eastern Africa | 2015 | |
![]() |
7.46 | 390 | Africa | Eastern Africa | 2015 | |
![]() |
7.60 | 7,552 | Africa | Eastern Africa | 2015 | |
![]() |
5.75 | 2,648 | Africa | Eastern Africa | 2015 | |
![]() |
0.62 | 130 | Africa | Eastern Africa | 2010 | |
![]() |
1.78 | 279 | Africa | Eastern Africa | 2012 | |
![]() |
2.71 | 34 | Africa | Eastern Africa | 2011 | |
![]() |
5.93 | 12 | Africa | Eastern Africa | 2009 | |
![]() |
3.39 | 849 | Africa | Eastern Africa | 2011 | |
![]() |
1.82 | 15 | Africa | Eastern Africa | 2009 | |
![]() |
4.51 | 500 | Africa | Eastern Africa | 2013 | |
![]() |
2.15 | 2 | Africa | Eastern Africa | 2010 | |
![]() |
5.56 | 599 | Africa | Eastern Africa | 2015 | notes |
![]() |
13.70 | 1,504 | Africa | Eastern Africa | 2012 | notes |
![]() |
11.84 | 4,473 | Africa | Eastern Africa | 2014 | |
![]() |
7.01 | 3,746 | Africa | Eastern Africa | 2015 | |
![]() |
5.85 | 814 | Africa | Eastern Africa | 2010 | |
![]() |
6.74 | 981 | Africa | Eastern Africa | 2012 | |
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9.65 | 2,414 | Africa | Middle Africa | 2015 | |
![]() |
5.93 | 1,385 | Africa | Middle Africa | 2015 | |
![]() |
13.09 | 642 | Africa | Middle Africa | 2015 | notes |
![]() |
9.02 | 1,266 | Africa | Middle Africa | 2015 | |
![]() |
10.88 | 466 | Africa | Middle Africa | 2015 | |
![]() |
13.36 | 10,322 | Africa | Middle Africa | 2015 | |
![]() |
3.21 | 27 | Africa | Middle Africa | 2015 | |
![]() |
9.00 | 155 | Africa | Middle Africa | 2015 | |
![]() |
3.44 | 6 | Africa | Middle Africa | 2011 | |
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1.37 | 542 | Africa | Northern Africa | 2015 | |
![]() |
3.23 | 2,703 | Africa | Northern Africa | 2011 | |
![]() |
2.49 | 156 | Africa | Northern Africa | 2015 | notes |
![]() |
1.05 | 355 | Africa | Northern Africa | 2014 | |
![]() |
6.45 | 2,596 | Africa | Northern Africa | 2015 | notes |
![]() |
3.05 | 332 | Africa | Northern Africa | 2012 | |
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10.53 | 220 | Africa | Southern Africa | 2011 | |
![]() |
38.00 | 764 | Africa | Southern Africa | 2010 | |
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16.93 | 388 | Africa | Southern Africa | 2012 | |
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34.27 | 18,673 | Africa | Southern Africa | 2015 | |
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8.16 | 102 | Africa | Southern Africa | 2013 | |
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6.01 | 654 | Africa | Western Africa | 2015 | |
![]() |
0.71 | 117 | Africa | Western Africa | 2012 | |
![]() |
8.84 | 46 | Africa | Western Africa | 2015 | |
![]() |
11.84 | 2,688 | Africa | Western Africa | 2015 | |
![]() |
9.07 | 181 | Africa | Western Africa | 2015 | |
![]() |
1.70 | 423 | Africa | Western Africa | 2011 | |
![]() |
8.46 | 1,067 | Africa | Western Africa | 2015 | |
![]() |
9.17 | 169 | Africa | Western Africa | 2015 | |
![]() |
3.22 | 135 | Africa | Western Africa | 2012 | |
![]() |
10.82 | 1,905 | Africa | Western Africa | 2015 | |
![]() |
10.22 | 416 | Africa | Western Africa | 2015 | |
![]() |
4.47 | 788 | Africa | Western Africa | 2012 | |
![]() |
9.79 | 17,843 | Africa | Western Africa | 2015 | |
![]() |
7.30 | 1,105 | Africa | Western Africa | 2015 | |
![]() |
1.92 | 124 | Africa | Western Africa | 2015 | |
![]() |
9.14 | 668 | Africa | Western Africa | 2015 | |
![]() |
27.66 | 4 | Americas | Caribbean | 2014 | |
![]() |
11.23 | 10 | Americas | Caribbean | 2012 | |
![]() |
3.94 | 4 | Americas | Caribbean | 2010 | |
![]() |
29.81 | 111 | Americas | Caribbean | 2012 | |
![]() |
10.91 | 31 | Americas | Caribbean | 2015 | |
![]() |
8.37 | 2 | Americas | Caribbean | 2006 | |
![]() |
14.74 | 8 | Americas | Caribbean | 2009 | |
![]() |
4.19 | 477 | Americas | Caribbean | 2012 | |
![]() |
8.40 | 6 | Americas | Caribbean | 2011 | |
![]() |
17.39 | 1,810 | Americas | Caribbean | 2014 | |
![]() |
7.52 | 8 | Americas | Caribbean | 2014 | |
![]() |
7.90 | 36 | Americas | Caribbean | 2009 | |
![]() |
10.04 | 1,033 | Americas | Caribbean | 2012 | |
![]() |
43.21 | 1,207 | Americas | Caribbean | 2012 | |
![]() |
2.78 | 11 | Americas | Caribbean | 2009 | |
![]() |
20.39 | 1 | Americas | Caribbean | 2008 | |
![]() |
15.86 | 584 | Americas | Caribbean | 2015 | |
![]() |
33.55 | 18 | Americas | Caribbean | 2012 | |
![]() |
21.56 | 39 | Americas | Caribbean | 2012 | |
![]() |
25.61 | 28 | Americas | Caribbean | 2012 | |
![]() |
30.88 | 420 | Americas | Caribbean | 2015 | |
![]() |
6.61 | 2 | Americas | Caribbean | 2009 | |
![]() |
52.64 | 56 | Americas | Caribbean | 2010 | |
![]() |
34.40 | 121 | Americas | Central America | 2014 | |
![]() |
11.77 | 566 | Americas | Central America | 2015 | |
![]() |
108.64 | 6,656 | Americas | Central America | 2015 | |
![]() |
31.21 | 4,998 | Americas | Central America | 2014 | |
![]() |
63.75 | 5,148 | Americas | Central America | 2015 | |
![]() |
16.35 | 20,762 | Americas | Central America | 2015 | notes |
![]() |
11.49 | 675 | Americas | Central America | 2012 | |
![]() |
11.38 | 447 | Americas | Central America | 2015 | |
![]() |
6.45 | 4 | Americas | Northern America | 2015 | |
![]() |
1.68 | 604 | Americas | Northern America | 2015 | |
![]() |
12.46 | 7 | Americas | Northern America | 2015 | |
![]() |
15.94 | 1 | Americas | Northern America | 2009 | |
![]() |
4.88 | 15,696 | Americas | Northern America | 2015 | |
![]() |
6.53 | 2,837 | Americas | South America | 2015 | |
![]() |
12.40 | 1,270 | Americas | South America | 2012 | |
![]() |
26.74 | 55,574 | Americas | South America | 2015 | |
![]() |
3.59 | 638 | Americas | South America | 2014 | |
![]() |
26.50 | 12,782 | Americas | South America | 2015 | notes |
![]() |
8.23 | 1,309 | Americas | South America | 2014 | |
![]() |
13.17 | 30 | Americas | South America | 2009 | |
![]() |
19.42 | 149 | Americas | South America | 2015 | |
![]() |
9.29 | 617 | Americas | South America | 2015 | |
![]() |
7.16 | 2,247 | Americas | South America | 2015 | |
![]() |
10.68 | 58 | Americas | South America | 2015 | |
![]() |
8.42 | 289 | Americas | South America | 2015 | |
![]() |
57.15 | 17,778 | Americas | South America | 2015 | |
![]() |
4.84 | 853 | Asia | Central Asia | 2015 | |
![]() |
5.12 | 304 | Asia | Central Asia | 2015 | |
![]() |
1.44 | 117 | Asia | Central Asia | 2013 | |
![]() |
4.20 | 225 | Asia | Central Asia | 2015 | |
![]() |
2.99 | 893 | Asia | Central Asia | 2015 | |
![]() |
0.74 | 10,083 | Asia | Eastern Asia | 2014 | notes |
![]() |
0.30 | 22 | Asia | Eastern Asia | 2015 | |
![]() |
0.17 | 1 | Asia | Eastern Asia | 2015 | |
![]() |
4.41 | 1,110 | Asia | Eastern Asia | 2015 | |
![]() |
0.31 | 395 | Asia | Eastern Asia | 2014 | |
![]() |
7.23 | 214 | Asia | Eastern Asia | 2015 | |
![]() |
0.74 | 372 | Asia | Eastern Asia | 2014 | |
![]() |
0.82 | 192 | Asia | Eastern Asia | 2015 | |
![]() |
0.49 | 2 | Asia | South-Eastern Asia | 2013 | |
![]() |
1.84 | 268 | Asia | South-Eastern Asia | 2011 | |
![]() |
3.69 | 39 | Asia | South-Eastern Asia | 2010 | |
![]() |
0.50 | 1,277 | Asia | South-Eastern Asia | 2014 | |
![]() |
6.87 | 467 | Asia | South-Eastern Asia | 2015 | |
![]() |
1.92 | 540 | Asia | South-Eastern Asia | 2010 | |
![]() |
2.42 | 1,304 | Asia | South-Eastern Asia | 2015 | |
![]() |
9.84 | 9,756 | Asia | South-Eastern Asia | 2014 | |
![]() |
0.25 | 14 | Asia | South-Eastern Asia | 2015 | |
![]() |
3.51 | 2,387 | Asia | South-Eastern Asia | 2015 | |
![]() |
1.52 | 1,358 | Asia | South-Eastern Asia | 2011 | |
![]() |
6.55 | 1,948 | Asia | Southern Asia | 2012 | notes |
![]() |
2.51 | 4,035 | Asia | Southern Asia | 2015 | |
![]() |
2.75 | 21 | Asia | Southern Asia | 2014 | |
![]() |
3.21 | 41,623 | Asia | Southern Asia | 2014 | |
![]() |
4.12 | 3,259 | Asia | Southern Asia | 2015 | |
![]() |
0.85 | 3 | Asia | Southern Asia | 2013 | |
![]() |
2.27 | 639 | Asia | Southern Asia | 2014 | |
![]() |
7.81 | 13,846 | Asia | Southern Asia | 2012 | notes |
![]() |
2.91 | 598 | Asia | Southern Asia | 2013 | |
![]() |
2.45 | 74 | Asia | Western Asia | 2015 | |
![]() |
2.45 | 236 | Asia | Western Asia | 2014 | |
![]() |
0.54 | 7 | Asia | Western Asia | 2011 | |
![]() |
1.29 | 15 | Asia | Western Asia | 2015 | |
![]() |
2.68 | 108 | Asia | Western Asia | 2014 | |
![]() |
8.0 | 2,628 | Asia | Western Asia | 2012 | notes |
![]() |
1.36 | 110 | Asia | Western Asia | 2015 | notes |
![]() |
2.00 | 144 | Asia | Western Asia | 2013 | |
![]() |
1.78 | 61 | Asia | Western Asia | 2012 | |
![]() |
3.95 | 231 | Asia | Western Asia | 2015 | |
![]() |
0.60 | 26 | Asia | Western Asia | 2012 | notes |
![]() |
1.06 | 34 | Asia | Western Asia | 2011 | |
![]() |
8.10 | 181 | Asia | Western Asia | 2015 | |
![]() |
1.50 | 472 | Asia | Western Asia | 2015 | |
![]() |
2.23 | 463 | Asia | Western Asia | 2010 | notes |
![]() |
4.30 | 3,216 | Asia | Western Asia | 2012 | |
![]() |
0.66 | 60 | Asia | Western Asia | 2015 | |
![]() |
6.67 | 1,703 | Asia | Western Asia | 2013 | |
![]() |
3.58 | 340 | Europe | Eastern Europe | 2014 | |
![]() |
1.80 | 129 | Europe | Eastern Europe | 2015 | |
![]() |
0.75 | 79 | Europe | Eastern Europe | 2015 | |
![]() |
1.48 | 146 | Europe | Eastern Europe | 2014 | |
![]() |
0.74 | 286 | Europe | Eastern Europe | 2015 | |
![]() |
3.19 | 130 | Europe | Eastern Europe | 2014 | |
![]() |
1.49 | 291 | Europe | Eastern Europe | 2015 | |
![]() |
11.31 | 16,232 | Europe | Eastern Europe | 2015 | |
![]() |
0.88 | 48 | Europe | Eastern Europe | 2015 | |
![]() |
4.36 | 1,988 | Europe | Eastern Europe | 2010 | |
![]() |
0.99 | 56 | Europe | Northern Europe | 2015 | |
![]() |
3.20 | 42 | Europe | Northern Europe | 2015 | |
![]() |
1.60 | 88 | Europe | Northern Europe | 2015 | |
![]() |
0.91 | 3 | Europe | Northern Europe | 2015 | |
![]() |
0.64 | 30 | Europe | Northern Europe | 2015 | |
![]() |
4.11 | 81 | Europe | Northern Europe | 2015 | |
![]() |
5.98 | 172 | Europe | Northern Europe | 2015 | |
![]() |
0.56 | 29 | Europe | Northern Europe | 2014 | |
![]() |
1.15 | 112 | Europe | Northern Europe | 2015 | |
![]() |
0.92 | 594 | Europe | Northern Europe | 2014 | |
![]() |
2.28 | 117 | Europe | Southern Europe | 2015 | |
![]() |
0.00 | 0 | Europe | Southern Europe | 2015 | |
![]() |
1.50 | 57 | Europe | Southern Europe | 2015 | |
![]() |
0.87 | 37 | Europe | Southern Europe | 2015 | |
![]() |
0.85 | 93 | Europe | Southern Europe | 2015 | |
![]() |
0.78 | 469 | Europe | Southern Europe | 2015 | |
![]() |
1.60 | 30 | Europe | Southern Europe | 2015 | |
![]() |
0.96 | 4 | Europe | Southern Europe | 2015 | |
![]() |
2.72 | 17 | Europe | Southern Europe | 2015 | |
![]() |
0.97 | 100 | Europe | Southern Europe | 2015 | |
![]() |
0.00 | 0 | Europe | Southern Europe | 2011 | |
![]() |
1.13 | 100 | Europe | Southern Europe | 2015 | |
![]() |
1.21 | 25 | Europe | Southern Europe | 2015 | |
![]() |
0.66 | 303 | Europe | Southern Europe | 2015 | |
![]() |
1.59 | 33 | Europe | Southern Europe | 2014 | |
![]() |
0.51 | 44 | Europe | Western Europe | 2015 | |
![]() |
1.95 | 220 | Europe | Western Europe | 2015 | |
![]() |
1.58 | 1,017 | Europe | Western Europe | 2015 | |
![]() |
0.85 | 682 | Europe | Western Europe | 2015 | |
![]() |
0.00 | 0 | Europe | Western Europe | 2015 | |
![]() |
0.72 | 4 | Europe | Western Europe | 2014 | |
![]() |
0.00 | 0 | Europe | Western Europe | 2008 | |
![]() |
0.61 | 104 | Europe | Western Europe | 2015 | |
![]() |
0.69 | 57 | Europe | Western Europe | 2015 | |
![]() |
0.98 | 236 | Oceania | Australasia | 2015 | |
![]() |
0.91 | 41 | Oceania | Australasia | 2014 | |
![]() |
2.97 | 26 | Oceania | Melanesia | 2012 | |
![]() |
3.29 | 8 | Oceania | Melanesia | 2009 | |
![]() |
10.42 | 713 | Oceania | Melanesia | 2010 | |
![]() |
3.77 | 19 | Oceania | Melanesia | 2008 | |
![]() |
2.13 | 6 | Oceania | Melanesia | 2015 | |
![]() |
2.49 | 4 | Oceania | Micronesia | 2011 | |
![]() |
7.50 | 8 | Oceania | Micronesia | 2012 | |
![]() |
4.68 | 2 | Oceania | Micronesia | 2013 | |
![]() |
4.67 | 5 | Oceania | Micronesia | 2015 | |
![]() |
1.31 | x | Oceania | Micronesia | 2012 | |
![]() |
3.11 | 1 | Oceania | Micronesia | 2012 | |
![]() |
3.06 | 1 | Oceania | Polynesia | 2012 | |
![]() |
0.38 | 1 | Oceania | Polynesia | 2009 | |
![]() |
3.07 | x | Oceania | Polynesia | 2012 | |
![]() |
3.15 | 6 | Oceania | Polynesia | 2013 | |
![]() |
0.95 | 1 | Oceania | Polynesia | 2012 | |
![]() |
20.28 | 2 | Oceania | Polynesia | 2012 |
Thank you for this well informed information. A true blast of sanity in todays 24 hour “news” cycle.