Sadly, gun-related fatalities are a typical occurrence. Weapons killed more than 250,000 individuals throughout the globe in 2019. 71% of gun fatalities were murdered, 21% were suicides, and 8% were accidental firearms-related incidents.
Males accounted for almost nine out of every ten victims of gun violence in 2019. Those between the ages of 20 and 24 had the largest number of murder fatalities, while those between 55 and 59 had the highest number of gun-related suicides.
Six nations account for 65.9 percent of the predicted 250,227 gun-related fatalities in 2019: Brazil, the United States, Venezuela, Mexico, and Colombia.
Gun-related deaths in 2019 were highest in the following countries:
- Brazil (49436)
- United States (37038)
- Venezuela (28515)
- Mexico (22116)
- India (14710)
- Colombia (13169)
- Philippines (9267)
- Guatemala (5980)
Total gun fatalities are 49,436 in Brazil out of 250,227 globally. With 37,038 gun fatalities, the United States ranks second in the world.
However, the ranking is drastically altered if the number of murders per 100,000 people is subtracted from the total number of gun-related fatalities and the resulting rate is adjusted for population size.
Violent gun deaths (homicides) per capita in 2019 are among the countries with the highest rates.
- El Salvador (36.78)
- Venezuela (33.27)
- Guatemala (29.06)
- Colombia (26.36)
- Brazil (21.93)
- Bahamas (21.52)
- Honduras (20.15)
- U.S. Virgin Islands (19.40)
- Puerto Rico (18.14)
- Mexico (16.41)
In Latin America, gun violence is very high because of the widespread presence of criminal gangs and the thriving drug trafficking business.
According to research from the Inter-American Development Bank, Latin American cities are seeing a rise in gun violence due to economic distress, unstable housing, family breakdown, absence from school, and alcohol usage.
Although fewer gangs are in the United States, the country is second only to Brazil in the overall number of people killed by guns. Mass shootings, which garner a lot of attention from the media, are a common explanation for the high number of gun fatalities in the United States.
On the other hand, mass shootings account for just a tiny fraction of gun fatalities in the U.S. The majority of gun-related fatalities in the United States in 2019 were self-inflicted (63 percent).
Top 10 countries in 2019 for the number of people killed by firearms suicide (per 100,000)
- Greenland (16.36)
- United States (7.12)
- Uruguay (4.74)
- San Marino (4.08)
- Montenegro (3.40)
- Argentina (2.67)
- Finland (2.66)
- Monaco (2.64)
- France (2.64)
- Venezuela (2.50)
Gun fatalities are exceedingly uncommon in nations like Japan, the United Kingdom, Norway, and Australia. These nations have reduced the number of weapons in circulation by offering incentives or enacting laws.
Guns that have not been registered may be anonymously surrendered at Australian police stations under a permanent amnesty scheme in July 2021.
Throughout 2019, Japan’s gun-death rate dropped from 0.02 per 100,000 residents to a little under 0.02 per 100,000 in 2019. Japan has among of the tightest firearms prohibitions globally, which has contributed to the country’s prosperity.
Citizens of Japan who want to acquire a firearm must first undergo a one-day training course, an exam, and a shooting range test in which they must achieve an accuracy rate of at least 95%.
Candidates will also be subjected to a hospital-based examination of their mental health and a government-wide background check. Purchases may only be made for shotguns and rifles. Taking the coursework and test again every three years is required.
Country | Firearm-related death rate per 100K population per year | Homicide rate per year | Suicide rate per year | Total death number per year |
---|---|---|---|---|
Honduras | 60 | 66.6400 | 0.4100 | 5846 |
Venezuela | 49.2200 | 26.4800 | 0.1400 | 14036 |
El Salvador | 45.6000 | 26.4900 | 0.1300 | 2942 |
Eswatini | 37.1600 | 37.1600 | 426 | |
Guatemala | 34.1000 | 29.6200 | 0.3400 | 5993 |
Jamaica | 30.7200 | 30.3800 | 0.3400 | 905 |
Brazil | 21.9000 | 20.7000 | 0.5000 | 46215 |
Colombia | 18.6500 | 17.7400 | 0.5900 | 9387 |
Panama | 15.1100 | 14.3600 | 0.5700 | 641 |
United States | 12.2100 | 4.4600 | 7.3200 | 40175 |
Uruguay | 11.5200 | 4.7800 | 4.6800 | 399 |
Montenegro | 8.9100 | 2.4200 | 6.4900 | 56 |
Philippines | 8.9000 | 8.9000 | 9620 | |
South Africa | 8.3000 | 8.2000 | 0.1000 | 4859 |
Paraguay | 7.7600 | 5.7800 | 1.1600 | 546 |
Mexico | 7.6400 | 6.3400 | 0.4400 | 9745 |
Argentina | 6.9300 | 3.0700 | 1.2000 | 3102 |
Barbados | 6.6000 | 3.1200 | 19 | |
Costa Rica | 6.3000 | 5.6300 | 1.1000 | 318 |
Peru | 5.5300 | 4.2200 | 0.0700 | 1797 |
Nicaragua | 4.6800 | 3.7200 | 0.3400 | 306 |
Serbia | 3.4900 | 0.6100 | 2.4900 | 306 |
Finland | 3.2500 | 0.3200 | 2.9400 | 180 |
Switzerland | 3.0100 | 0.1500 | 2.7400 | 258 |
Austria | 2.9000 | 0.1200 | 2.6900 | 259 |
France | 2.8300 | 0.2100 | 2.1600 | 1843 |
Estonia | 2.6700 | 0.1500 | 2.1100 | 35 |
Slovenia | 2.6400 | 0.2000 | 2.3400 | 55 |
Chile | 2.4000 | 1.0200 | 0.7000 | 455 |
Croatia | 2.3500 | 0.2400 | 2.1700 | 97 |
Israel | 2.0900 | 1.0400 | 0.6700 | 178 |
Canada | 2.0500 | 0.6100 | 1.5200 | 767 |
Czech Republic | 2.0100 | 0.1500 | 1.6600 | 215 |
Georgia | 1.9800 | 0.4900 | 0.0900 | 79 |
Turkey | 1.9500 | 1.0300 | 0.8100 | 1626 |
Cyprus | 1.8700 | 1.0500 | 0.5800 | 22 |
Slovakia | 1.8300 | 0.2600 | 0.9400 | 99 |
Norway | 1.7500 | 0.1000 | 1.6300 | 94 |
Bulgaria | 1.7300 | 0.3400 | 1 | 121 |
Sweden | 1.6000 | 0.3200 | 1.2300 | 160 |
Portugal | 1.5800 | 0.4200 | 1.0100 | 161 |
Greece | 1.5200 | 0.5300 | 0.8600 | 159 |
Denmark | 1.4700 | 0.1100 | 1.3500 | 84 |
Latvia | 1.4300 | 0.1800 | 0.9400 | 27 |
Ukraine | 1.3600 | 1.3600 | 598 | |
Italy | 1.3100 | 0.3500 | 0.8700 | 793 |
Belgium | 1.2400 | 0.1400 | 1.0300 | 143 |
Luxembourg | 1.1900 | 0 | 1.1600 | 7 |
New Zealand | 1.0700 | 0.1100 | 0.8400 | 51 |
Australia | 1.0400 | 0.1800 | 0.8000 | 262 |
Moldova | 1.0300 | 0.4500 | 0.4200 | 41 |
Kyrgyzstan | 1.0100 | 0.5300 | 0.0700 | 64 |
Germany | 0.9900 | 1.0100 | 0.0200 | 826 |
Hungary | 0.9500 | 0.1100 | 0.8100 | 92 |
Taiwan | 0.8700 | 0.6000 | 0.1200 | 207 |
Ireland | 0.8000 | 0.2500 | 0.2800 | 39 |
Spain | 0.6200 | 0.1500 | 0.4200 | 290 |
Netherlands | 0.5800 | 0.2900 | 0.2800 | 99 |
Cuba | 0.5000 | 0.2000 | 0.3000 | 56 |
Zimbabwe | 0.3900 | 0.3000 | 0.0900 | 57 |
Kuwait | 0.3600 | 0.3600 | 0 | 15 |
India | 0.2850 | 0.3000 | 0.1400 | 3893 |
Poland | 0.2600 | 0.0400 | 0.0900 | 98 |
United Kingdom | 0.2300 | 0.0600 | 0.1500 | 155 |
Qatar | 0.1500 | 0.1500 | 4 | |
Romania | 0.1400 | 0.0400 | 0.0600 | 27 |
South Korea | 0.0800 | 0.0200 | 0.0400 | 41 |
Iceland | 0.0700 | 0 | 1.2500 | 0 |
Azerbaijan | 0.0700 | 0.2700 | 0.0100 | 7 |
Japan | 0.0600 | 0 | 0.0400 | 76 |
Hong Kong | 0.0300 | 0 | 0.0300 | 2 |
Singapore | 0.0250 | 0.0050 | 0.0165 | 1 |
Belarus | 0.1400 |
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