125 people murdered in the Netherlands in 2023

Over the past decade (2014-2023), an average of 129 people were killed each year in the Netherlands as a result of murder or manslaughter.

Number of male victims has halved since 1996

Women often killed by partner or ex-partner

In 96 percent of murder cases involving a female victim in the period 2014-2023, the police had identified the perpetrator or a suspect. More than half of these women (54 percent) were murdered by their partner or ex-partner. The number was 70 percent among women aged between 20 and 60 years old. One in five women were killed by a relative. Female victims were often killed in their own homes using a stabbing weapon or by strangulation.

In the case of male victims, a perpetrator was identified in 87 percent of cases. In three in ten cases, the perpetrator or suspect was already known to the victim. Nearly one in eight male homicide victims were involved in organised crime. Three-quarters of male victims were murdered with a firearm or stabbing weapon.

Young victims mainly killed by a parent

Number of people prosecuted for murder or manslaughter remained almost the same

Since 2019, the number of people charged with murder or manslaughter who are summoned to appear in court to face criminal charges has remained virtually the same. Every year, around 100 people are prosecuted for murder or manslaughter in the Netherlands. In recent years, there have been fewer cases involving murder and more involving manslaughter, in relative terms. In 2019, more than 70 percent of suspects were charged with murder, but in 2023 that share fell below 50 percent for the first time in 20 years.

The proportion of women charged with murder or manslaughter has been on the rise in recent years. In 2023, 10 percent of cases involved a female perpetrator, up from 6 percent in 2019. Suspects had an average age of 37 years when the crime concerned was committed.

Most cases of murder and manslaughter happen in the Netherlands’ three largest cities

Half of all homicides occurred in municipalities with a population of over 100 thousand. In 2023, the three largest cities in the Netherlands had the most victims: in Rotterdam there were twelve victims, followed by Amsterdam with ten and The Hague with nine. Rotterdam was also the city with the highest murder rate in 2022.

Murder rate in the Netherlands is relatively low

Within Europe, the Netherlands is among the countries with the lowest murder rates. In 2022, the countries with the lowest murder rates (measured by the number of murder victims per 100 thousand people) were Switzerland, Italy and Norway. The highest murder rates in 2022 were in former Soviet states such as Russia, Ukraine, Latvia, Moldova and Lithuania. The figures for 2023 are not yet available.

Globally, the country with the highest murder rate is Jamaica with 53 murders per 100 thousand inhabitants in 2022. That is 66 times higher than in the Netherlands. The murder rates in South Africa, Honduras and Saint Lucia were also much higher than the murder rate in the Netherlands. The United States’ murder rate was 8 times higher than that of the Netherlands. Japan’s murder rate, on the other hand, was over 3 times lower.