Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union

E2: Environmental statistics and accounts; sustainable development

e-mail contact : ESTAT-SDG-MONITORING@ec.europa.eu

The indicator is part of the EU Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) indicator set. It is used to monitor progress towards SDG 16 on peace, justice and strong institutions, which is embedded in the European Commission’s Priorities under 'Promoting our European way of life' and 'A new push for European democracy'.

SDG 16 calls for peaceful and inclusive societies based on respect for human rights, protection of the most vulnerable, the rule of law and good governance at all levels. It also envisions transparent, effective and accountable institutions, which promote non-discriminatory laws and policies, combat corruption, bribery and organised crime and prevent violence, terrorism and crime.

The indicator can be considered as part of the global SDG indicator 16.1.2 "Conflict-related deaths per 100,000 population".

On 24 July 2020, the European Commission set out a new EU Security Union Strategy for the period from 2020 to 2025, which replaces the previous security strategy set out in the European Agenda on Security (2015-2020). As a core component of the strategy, the Commission defines a new way forward on internal security with actions in key areas: organised crime; terrorism and the prevention of violent radicalisation; resilience of our critical infrastructures and public spaces; cybercrime, including fighting child sexual abuse; law enforcement cooperation and information exchange; and research and innovation

Safety is a crucial aspect in people’s lives. Insecurity of any kind is a source of fear and worry, which negatively affect quality of life. Physical insecurity includes all the external factors that could potentially put the individual’s physical integrity in danger. Criminal actions are one of the most obvious  abuses of insecurity. Analyses of physical insecurity usually combine both subjective and objective aspects – the subjective perception of insecurity and the objective lack of safety as measured by crime statistics. Homicides are one of the most serious crimes. As such, the indicator contributes to the understanding of the security of society.

The indicator measures the standardised death rate of homicide and injuries inflicted by another person with the intent to injure or kill by any means, including ‘late effects’ from assault (International Classification of Diseases (ICD) codes X85 to Y09 and Y87.1). It does not include deaths due to legal interventions or war (ICD codes Y35 and Y36). The rate is calculated by dividing the number of people dying due to homicide or assault by the total population.

Data on causes of death (COD) refer to the underlying cause which - according to the World Health Organisation (WHO) - is "the disease or injury which initiated the train of morbid events leading directly to death, or the circumstances of the accident or violence which produced the fatal injury". COD data are derived from death certificates. The medical certification of death is an obligation in all Member States.

The data are presented as standardised death rates, meaning they are adjusted to a standard age distribution in order to measure death rates independently of different age structures of populations. This approach improves comparability over time and between countries. The standardised death rates used here are calculated on the basis of the standard European population referring to the residents of the countries.

Number per 100 000 persons

Calendar year

The indicator is produced according to the high-level quality standards of European Statistics. Details on accuracy can be found in the metadata of the source datasets (see link to related metadata).

ESS

Data source: European Statistical System (ESS)

Data provider: Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union, based on data reported by the countries.

Every year

Indicator is updated annually. Complete and updated ESS data release information can be accessed via Eurostat release calendar.

> T+2 years

New data points are disseminated within three years after the reference year at latest.

Eurostat asks for the submission of final data for the year N at N+24 months. Some countries are able to transmit data to Eurostat already at N+18 and Eurostat publishes the data as soon as it is validated. In exceptional cases, countries are able to submit data with a delay of only 1 year (N+12), however this is not to be expected from a large number of countries.

All EU MS

Data are presented for all EU Member States plus Iceland, Norway, Switzerland, the United Kingdom (until 2018), Serbia and Türkiye.

All EU MS

Data comparable between all EU Member States respectively other presented countries.

> 10 years

Presented time series (including EU aggregates) starts in 2002.

> 4 data points

Length of comparable time series without methodological break is longer than 4 data points.

Due to the fact that 2011 data is the first data collection with a legal basis (and few changes in the requested variables and breakdowns), the data between 1994-2010 and starting from 2011 are not always comparable (In part due to the different groupings of causes of deaths).

Analysis of indicator is presented in Eurostat's annual monitoring report on Sustainable development in the EU (progress towards SDGs in the EU context).

See table sdg_16_10

Eurostat dedicated section on SDGs: http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/sdi/overview

Copyrights: Eurostat Copyright/Licence Policy is applicable.