More killings in 2022, most victims in Rotterdam

At 247, the number of victims was significantly higher in 2003. The number then declined steadily until 2016, especially among men. After a peak in 2017, the number of homicide victims stabilised over the period 2018 to 2021 inclusive, to 123 per year on average. It went up to 142 in 2022.
 
More young men and women over 60 among murder victims
The increase was seen particularly among young men aged 20 to 40 years: from 30 in 2021 to 40 in 2022. There were fewer victims among men aged 40 and over. Among the female victims, the share aged 60 and over increased: 7 in 2021 against 13 in 2022.

Women often killed by partner or ex-partner

In 99 percent of homicides involving a female victim in the period 2018-2022, the police identified an (alleged) offender. Six in ten cases were committed by the woman’s partner or ex-partner. This share was three quarters among women aged 20-59 years. One in five women were killed by a relative. Women were often killed in their own homes with a stabbing weapon or by strangulation.
In 85 percent of the homicide cases involving a male victim in the period 2016-2020, an (alleged) offender was identified. This offender was an acquaintance or friend of the victim in three out of ten cases. Over one in seven cases were payback killings in criminal circles. Three quarters of male victims were murdered with a firearm or stabbing weapon.

Young victims mostly killed by a parent

In the period 2018 to 2022 inclusive, 32 children under the age of 10 were murdered: 17 boys and 15 girls. The vast majority (88 percent) were killed by their own father or mother. In the same period, 41 children and young adults between ages 10 and 20 were killed.

Most victims in Rotterdam

Half of all murders were committted in municipalities with a population larger than 100 thousand. The city of Rotterdam had the highest number of murder and manslaughter victims in 2022: 16, followed by Amsterdam (10). For the first time since 2008, more murders were committed in Rotterdam than in Amsterdam. Rotterdam had one victim more than 2021, while Amsterdam had 5 victims less. In The Hague, the number of murder and manslaughter victims declined from 11 in 2021 to 3 in 2022.

Few cases in the Netherlands if compared internationally

In Europe, the Netherlands is among the countries with a relatively low number of homicides. The lowest incidence per 100 thousand inhabitants in 2021 was in Slovenia, Ireland, Iceland and Czechia. Relatively the highest homicide victim rates were seen in former Soviet countries such as Russia, Ukraine, Latvia, Moldova and Lithuania.
Worldwide, the country with the highest homicide rate is Jamaica with 53 homicides per 100 thousand inhabitants in 2021. That is 80 times more than in the Netherlands. Other countries with relatively high homicide rates include South Africa, Honduras, Saint Lucia and Mexico. The United States’ homicide rate was 10 times as high as in the Netherlands.