Number of homicides halved over two decades

Nearly half as many victims since the turn of the century

In 2000, there were 153 male victims of murder and manslaughter. This number went down to 76 in 2018 and stood at 81 last year. The number of female victims was 70 in 2000, against 43 in 2018. Last year, 44 women were killed in a homicide.

Half of male homicide victims between 20 and 40 years

In 2019, 76 percent of homicide victims were between the ages of 20 and 60. Among men, half of the victims were between 20 and 40 years old, while among women homicide mortality was seen most frequently in the age category 50 to 59 years. Of the 125 victims, 16 were not living in the Netherlands.

Largest drop among people in their thirties

Since the turn of the century, the number of homicide deaths has decreased in all age categories. The largest decline is seen in the age bracket 30 to 39 years, among both men and women. Over the past five years, the number of murder and manslaughter victims in this age group was two and a half times lower than in the period from 2000 to 2005.

Many female victims killed by (ex-)partner

In over 8 out of 10 homicide cases over the period 2015 through 2019, the police had identified an offender. Differences can be observed in the murder circumstances between male and female victims.

In the period from 2015 to 2019, the alleged offender was the partner or ex-partner in nearly six out of ten cases where the victim was female. Domestic conditions (such as a marital strife) and jealousy were the most prevalent motives for taking a woman’s life. Women were often killed in their own homes with a stabbing weapon or by strangulation.

In 76 percent of the 420 male homicide cases over the past five years, an offender was identified. This (alleged) offender was an acquaintance or friend of the victim in one-third of the cases. Nearly one in six killings were linked with organised crime. Three-quarters of male victims were murdered with a firearm or stabbing weapon.

Over 90 percent of offenders are men

In 2019, almost 600 persons were found guilty of (attempted) homicide. This includes (attempted) murder and manslaughter. Nearly one-quarter of these homicide cases occurred in 2019, while half took place in 2018 and the remaining cases in previous years. It is possible that more than one person is found guilty of a crime against life with the same victim. More than 9 in 10 convicted persons are men. Over 4 in 10 are 25 to 44 years old, while over one-quarter are between the ages of 18 and 25.

Most killings in Amsterdam and The Hague

In 2019, one-third of all murders were committed in one of the three largest cities of the Netherlands: 17 in Amsterdam, 14 in The Hague and 11 in Rotterdam. For the first time last year, there were more victims in The Hague than in Rotterdam.

In relative terms, 2.0 out of every 100 thousand residents of Amsterdam were victims of murder or manslaughter in the past five years. This is three times higher than the national average of 0.7 per 100 thousand inhabitants. In Rotterdam, this rate stood at 1.8 and in The Hague there were 1.6 victims per 100 thousand inhabitants.