Homicide in Scotland 2024-25
Statistical bulletin on crimes of homicide recorded by the police in Scotland in 2024-25.
Part of
Main findings
Victims of Homicide
In 2024-25, there were 45 victims of homicide, 12 fewer than in 2023-24. The number of homicide victims in 2024-25 was the lowest since comparable records began in 1976. The number of homicide victims has shown a downward trend since 2005-06.
Figure 1. Homicide victims have fallen long term.
Total number of victims and victims by sex, Scotland, 2005-06 to 2024-25.
As can be seen from Figure 1, the reduction in victim numbers since 2005-06 has primarily been driven by a reduction in male victims. For the five years from 2020-21 to 2024-25, there were 200 male victims of homicide – a 50% decrease compared to 402 for the five year period from 2005-06 to 2009-10. Over those same periods, the number of female victims decreased by 40% from 112 to 67.
Age and sex of victims
In 2024-25, there were 30 male victims, representing 67% of all homicide victims. Since 2023-24, the number of male victims decreased by 14 from 44 to 30, whilst the number of female victims increased by two from 13 to 15.
Males are more likely to be victims of homicide than females, with an overall rate of 11 victims per million population in 2024-25. The equivalent rate for females was five victims per million population.
The median age of a victim of homicide in 2024-25 was 38 years old, two years higher than in 2023-24 when the median age of a victim was 36 years old (Table 1).
Figure 2 shows the victimisation rate by age group and sex for homicides since 2020-21 (i.e. for the past 5 years – representing 267 victims). For most age groups, the rate is higher for males than for females, though rates were very similar for those aged between 5 and 15 years old and 75 and over. The rate for males peaks in the 35 to 44 years old age group. For females, the highest rate was for those aged under 1 year as a result of two victims in this age group from 2020-21 to 2024-25.
Figure 2. The majority of homicide victims are male.
Age profile of homicide victimisation rate by sex, Scotland, 2020-21 to 2024-25.
There has been a reduction in homicides over the last 20 years across all age groups under 65. The greatest reduction has been amongst victims aged 16-24. In the five year period from 2005-06 to 2009-10, there were 110 victims in this age range. This fell to 31 across the latest five years period from 2020-21 to 2024-25.
Figure 3. In the last 20 years homicide rates have decreased substantially for younger age groups.
Age profile of homicide victimisation rate by 5 year period, Scotland, 2005-06 to 2024-25.
Locations of homicides
In 2024-25, Glasgow City had the highest number of homicide victims (13) (Table 2). In Glasgow City, the share of national homicide victims was higher than it’s share of Scotland’s population, 29% versus 12%. Population estimates are as at mid-year 2024 from the National Records of Scotland Mid-2024 Population Estimates Scotland.
It is important to note however that victims may not necessarily reside in the local authority where the homicide took place.
Glasgow City has witnessed a relatively larger fall in homicides than Scotland as a whole in the last 20 years. Over the latest five year period from 2020-21 to 2024-25, there have been 48 homicides in Glasgow, a 66% decrease compared to 142 for the five year period from 2005-06 to 2009-10. This compares to a 48% decrease in Scotland as a whole between these periods.
In 2024-25, 58% of homicides occurred within a residential location (dwelling and other residential), 31% in outdoor public places (street, footpath and open outdoor area) and 7% in indoor public places (Figure 4).
Figure 4. Most homicides are located in residential dwellings.
Location of homicides (where known), Scotland, 2015-16 to 2024-25.
Persons accused of homicide
In 2024-25, there were 55 persons accused of homicide, 30 less than in 2023-24. The number of homicide accused in 2024-25 was the lowest since comparable records began in 1976. The number of people accused of homicide has shown an overall downward trend since 2005-06.
The clear majority of persons accused of homicide are male, making up 91% of all accused in 2024-25.
For all of the 45 homicide victims recorded in 2024-25, the associated case was solved.
In 2024-25, the total number of individuals accused of homicide equated to 10 per million population. The rates for those accused of homicide were highest for those aged 35-44 (24 per million population), 25-34 (21 per million population) and 16-24 (20 per million population).
Figure 5 shows the rate for accused by age group and sex for homicides since 2020-21 (i.e. for the past 5 years – representing 344 accused). The rates for males accused of homicide per million population were considerably higher across all age groups than for females.
Figure 5. The highest rates for persons accused of homicide are for men aged 16 to 44.
Age and sex profile of persons accused of homicide per million population, Scotland, 2020-21 to 2024-25.
In 2024-25, the median age of a person accused of homicide was 33 years old, one year higher than in 2023-24. Over the past 10 years, the median age of a person accused of homicide ranged between 29 and 35 years old. This is generally older than the preceding ten years, which ranged between 24 and 31 years old.
The median age of a person accused of homicide has been lower than the median age of victims of homicide in each of the last twenty years.
Over the last twenty years, there has been a large decrease in the number of people accused of homicide, with the rate per million population falling from 27 for the five year period from 2005-06 to 2009-10 to 13 for the five year period from 2020-21 to 2024-25. Figure 6 shows that the largest decrease has been amongst persons aged 16-24, which has fallen from 101 per million population to 25 per million population across the same period.
Figure 6. Over the last 20 years the largest reduction in those accused of homicide has been amongst persons aged 16-24.
Age profile of persons accused of homicide per million population, by 5 year period, Scotland, 2005-06 to 2024-25.
Method of killing
The most common main method of killing in each of the last 10 years was with a sharp instrument. This includes 62% (28) of homicide victims in 2024-25, 26 of which involved a knife. The next most common main method was hitting and kicking, accounting for 18% (eight) of homicide victims in 2024-25.
Figure 7. Sharp instruments are the most common main method of killing.
Victims of homicide by selected main method of killing, Scotland, 2015-16 to 2024-25.
Homicide by shooting is relatively rare in Scotland. In 2024-25, there were no victims recorded. Since 2015-16, there have been 17 recorded victims of shooting, accounting for 3% of all homicide victims over this period.
Relationship of main accused to victim
The victim and main accused were known to each other in a majority of cases, representing 37 (82%) of homicides solved in 2024-25. The accused and victim were not known to each other in seven homicides (16%). The relationship to the main accused was unknown in the one remaining homicide (2%).
For those 37 homicides where the victim and accused were known to each other, 24 (65%) were acquaintances, seven (19%) were partners or ex-partners and four (11%) were relatives.
Figure 8 shows the number of homicides for male and female victims by their relationship to the main accused for all victims since 2015-16. Over the past 10 years, most male victims were killed by an acquaintance (57%). In comparison, over the same period, female victims were most likely to be killed by a partner or ex-partner (41%).
Figure 8. In the past 10 years, most male victims were killed by an acquaintance, while female victims were most likely to be killed by a partner or ex-partner.
Relationship of main accused to victim, by victim sex, Scotland, ten year period, 2015-16 to 2024-25.
For the latest year of 2024-25, 63% (19 victims) of the 30 male victims were killed by an acquaintance. Of the 15 female victims, 47% (seven victims) were killed by a partner or ex-partner.
Table 9 shows that for the last five years, between 2020-21 and 2024-25, a total of nine children under the age of 16 years were victims of homicide (where there was an accused person). Five were killed by one of their parents, two were killed by acquaintances and two were killed by a stranger.
Figure 9 shows that over two-thirds of victims in solved homicide cases (68%) recorded between 2015-16 and 2024-25 were males with a male main accused. A further 23% of victims in solved cases were females with a male main accused, 6% were males with a female main accused and 3% of victims were female with a female main accused.
Figure 9. Between 2015-16 and 2024-25, over two thirds of victims in solved homicide cases were males with a male main accused.
Proportion of victims in solved homicide cases by sex of main accused and victim, Scotland, 2015-16 to 2024-25.
Main motive
For the five-year period between 2020-21 and 2024-25, the main motive for committing homicide was known for 69% (185) of the 267 homicide victims where the homicide was solved. Of these 185 victims, the most common reasons for committing homicide were ‘fight or quarrel’ and ‘rage or fury’, with 58% (108) of all victims where the motive was known killed in such circumstances. For a further 18% (33) of homicides where the motive was known, ‘feud or faction rivalry’ was the main motive (Table 11).
In 2024-25, 64% (29) of victims were reported to have been killed in drug-related homicide cases, of which 21 were male (Table 13). This is a decrease of four victims on the 33 reported in 2023-24. The number of drug-related homicide cases is higher over the past nine years than in preceding years, though Police Scotland advise that this may be due at least in part to an improvement in recording practice (i.e., better identification of where motives can include a drug-related element). Given this, users are advised to exercise some caution when comparing this variable with years prior to 2016-17.
None of the 45 homicides recorded in 2024-25 were reported to have a homophobic or racial motivation. For all solved homicides in the 10 years leading up to 2024-25, 1% had a homophobic or racist motivation (Table 14).
Use of alcohol and drugs
Over the last 10 years, from 2015-16 to 2024-25 the alcohol and drug status of persons accused of homicide has been unknown for 58% of accused persons. Of the remaining 308 persons where the drug and alcohol status was known.
- 48% (149) were under the influence of alcohol.
- 10% (32) were under the influence of drugs.
- 30% (93) were under the influence of alcohol and drugs.
- 11% (34) were not under the influence of alcohol or drugs.
Homicide incidents
A single incident of homicide is counted for each crime involving Murder or Culpable homicide (common law), irrespective of the number of victims or accused. Whilst most recorded incidents of homicide in these statistics have one victim and one accused, some incidents can have multiple victims and/or accused.
The number of homicide incidents recorded by the police in Scotland decreased by 21% (or 12 incidents) between 2023-24 and 2024-25 from 57 to 45.
Homicide incidents involving more than one victim are relatively rare. In 2024-25, there were no incidents with more than one victim.
Contact
Email: Justice_Analysts@gov.scot