Core indicator
Homicides
16–24-year-old homicide victims (England and Wales)
Last updated March 2024
(March 2024)
Last reviewed: April 2025
How are we measuring homicides?
We’re using the Home Office’s Homicide Index published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) to measure how many 16–24-year-olds are victims of homicide each year. Homicides are generally seen as one of the more accurate measures of violence as nearly all homicides are reported and recorded accurately. However, these figures can be volatile due to the low numbers involved. Some events, such as acts of terrorism, can also have a disproportionate impact on the figures for the years in which they’re recorded.
What does our core indicator show?
Homicides of young people tend to be volatile, partly due to the low numbers involved. Following a decrease last year, 2023/24 saw the number of 16-24-year-old homicide victims rise. One hundred and five young people lost their lives to homicide in the latest year. This is up 6% on the year before (2022/23) and up 9% from where it was ten years ago (2013/14), but remains 26% down compared to pre-Covid levels.