In 2016, a total of 3 124 people died as a result of an assault in the European Union (EU). This was 312 less than the previous year and 901 fewer than in 2011. The majority of victims were men (65%).
The assault-related death rate stood at 0.7 per 100 000 inhabitants in 2016 and has been on a steady decline since 2011 (when it stood at 0.9 deaths per 100 000 inhabitants).
Assault-related death rate highest in the Baltic States, lowest in Luxembourg
In 2017, among EU Member States, Latvia registered the highest rate of death related to assault at 3.8 deaths per 100 000 inhabitants. Two other Baltic Member States, Lithuania and Estonia, followed with 2.8 and 2.3 assault-related deaths per 100 000 inhabitants respectively. Malta and Romania ranked fourth and fifth-highest, with 1.6 and 1.5 deaths per 100 000 inhabitants respectively.
At the opposite end of the scale, Luxembourg recorded the lowest rate of deaths due to assault (0.2), followed by Germany and Ireland (both 0.4), France (2016 data), Italy and Slovakia (the last three each registered a rate of 0.5).
Source datasets: hlth_cd_asdr2 (rate) and hlth_cd_aro (absolute number)
Regional patterns for assault-related death rate
When looking at regional data (NUTS2), Mayotte and French Guiana in France were the most affected regions with 5.3 and 4.3 assault-related deaths per 100 000 inhabitants, according to 2016 data (2017 data are not yet available). These were followed by Madeira in Portugal, which recorded 3.4 deaths due to assault per 100 000 inhabitants in 2017, Central and Western Region in Lithuania (3.3 deaths per 100 000 inhabitants in 2017) and North-East in Romania (2.6 deaths per 100 000 inhabitants in 2017).
Source dataset: hlth_cd_asdr2
For more information on Eurostat's health statistics, take a look at the overview page accessible here.
Notes:
- Death is due to assault if it results from homicide or injuries inflicted by another person with intent to injure or kill. Deaths related to legal interventions or to war are excluded. In order to compare the rates between countries, the number of deaths has been standardised to take into account their different sizes and age structures.
- Regional data for Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Iceland: single regions at this level of detail.
- Regional data available for 2016: all French regions.
- This list shows translations of the names of regions in the EU Member States into English.
- The European Union (EU) includes 27 EU Member States. The United Kingdom left the European Union on 31 January 2020. Further information is published here.
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