UN report: 464,000 people killed in homicides in 2017

By: 5 years ago

LITTLETON, CO - APRIL 20: Miniature crosses are displayed to commemorate the ten-year anniversary of the Columbine High School shootings at Clement Park April 20, 2009 in Littleton, Colorado. Columbine was the site of the then deadliest school shooting in modern United States history when, on April 20, 1999, 2 students killed 12 of their schoolmates and one teacher, and wounded 23 others, before taking their own lives. Marc Piscotty/Getty Images/AFP

AFP

UNITED NATIONS — A U.N. report says some 464,000 homicides were recorded around the world in 2017, far more than the number killed in armed conflicts and terrorist attacks.

The Global Study on Homicide 2919 published Monday by the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime also had some good news.

While the total number of people who suffered violent deaths has increased over 25 years, the global population has grown faster, so the risk of being killed in a homicide has declined.

The report says there were 7.2 homicides per 100,000 people in 1972, but by 2017 that had declined to 6.1 victims per 100,000 people.