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There were 499 homicides recorded in England and Wales in 2025/26, the fewest number of homicides in a reporting year in the provided time period. Between 2002/03 and 2013/14, the number of homicides in England and Wales fell significantly before rising again in the late 2010s. This increase in homicides occurred alongside an increase in the overall number of crimes, with police officials linking this to long-term cuts to their manpower and resources.

Knives involved in almost half of all homicides

In the 2023/24 reporting year, homicides involving a sharp instrument were involved in 262 incidents, an increase on the previous reporting year, when there were 243 knife homicides. As a proportion of all homicides, sharp instruments were the main method of killing, and were used in 46 percent of all homicides in 2023/23. Firearm homicides are quite rare in England and Wales, with shooting homicides only accounting for 3.9 percent of all homicides in the same reporting year. Since 2011/12 there have been 369 firearm homicides in England and Wales, compared with 3,743 knife homicides in the same period. 

Homicide rate highest in Lincolnshire

With 104 homicides, London was the UK region with the highest number of homicides in 2024/25, although it was behind several police areas when it came to the homicide rate. At 17.9 homicides per one million people, Lincolnshire Police had the highest homicide rate in England and Wales in 2024/25. When compared with the rest of the UK, the overall homicide rate in England and Wales was above that of Northern Ireland, but below that of Scotland. In all jurisdictions of the UK, the homicide rate is however far lower in the 2020s than it was during the 2000s.