Progress against homicide has definitely continued, with homicide rates for most countries and for the world as a whole better now than 15 years ago.

Judge as of 2026-10-11 using the latest homicide-rate data available then (e.g. UNODC global homicide rates; for the US, FBI/CDC or Council on Criminal Justice data; whichever scope the statement's context indicates, and the global rate if no scope is indicated). True: homicide rates in the relevant scope show a continued downward trend over the recent multi-year period (roughly the last 5–10 years up to the latest data), so the long-run decline has not stalled or reversed. Mostly true: the overall recent trend is downward but with a temporary increase (e.g. a 2020–21 spike) that has since been more than reversed, or the decline holds globally but not in every major region. Mixed: the recent trend is flat, or it declines in about as many major measures or regions as it rises in. Mostly false: recent rates are flat or higher than about a decade earlier, and only a short-term or narrow decline (one year, one country) supports the claim. False: recent homicide rates have clearly risen or stayed level over the recent period with no meaningful continued decline.

Set before the research began.

1. E1 www.ohchr.org › 2025sdg16report-peacePeaceful Societies - UN Human Rights Office UN Human Rights Office (OHCHR) · 21 July 2026

   “Since the adoption of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the global intentional homicide rate has declined from 5.9 per 100,000 people in 2015 to 5.2 in 2023.”

2. E2 — SDG Indicators UN Statistics Division (SDG Indicators) · 1 January 2026

   “The global homicide rate gradually decreased from 5.9 victims per 100,000 population in 2015 to 5.5 in 2020. This downward trend was disrupted in 2021, when the rate sharply rose to 5.8 before slightly retreating to 5.6 in 2022.”

3. E3 Trends in Homicide: What You Need to Know - Council on Criminal Justice Council on Criminal Justice · October 2026

   “From 2000 to 2024, the cross-national homicide rate fell 26%. Unlike the U.S. rate, the global rate did not experience a sharp increase from 2020 to 2022.”

4. E4 Trends in Homicide: What You Need to Know - Council on Criminal Justice Council on Criminal Justice · October 2026

   “By the second half of 2022, the rate began to decline, and in 2025, it fell to 4.1 per 100,000 people, the lowest level recorded in public health and law enforcement data since at least 1900.”

The claim gives no scope, so the global rate applies. UN data show the global homicide rate fell from 5.9 per 100,000 in 2015 to 5.5 in 2020. It then rose to 5.8 in 2021 before easing to 5.6 in 2022 (E2), and it had fallen to 5.2 by 2023 (E1). The Council on Criminal Justice reports that the cross-national rate fell 26% from 2000 to 2024 (E3), and that the US rate reached a record low of 4.1 in 2025 after the 2020–22 spike (E4). The decline continued over the recent period, but there was a temporary 2021 increase that was later more than reversed, which the criteria place under mostly true.