Homicides fall as organised crime grows more profitable – and networked

Homicide rates are falling across much of the world, but organised crime is on the rise in many regions as criminal networks diversify into trafficking, migrant smuggling, and the exploitation of natural resources, a new UN report launched on Wednesday revealed. The study, Crime and Justice in a Changing World, by the UN Interregional Crime and Justice Research Institute (UNICRI), was presented on Wednesday at the 15thUN Congress on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice in Abu Dhabi. Drawing on nine regional studies, it finds that homicides fell from 5.9 per 100,000 people in 2015 to 5.2 in 2023 and are projected to decrease by 25 per cent between 2015 and 2030 under current trends.Regional disparitiesHowever, rates remain high in Latin America and the Caribbean and sub-Saharan Africa – which together account for roughly two thirds of all homicide victims worldwide – and are frequently driven by organised crime, gangs and transnational criminal groups. The report says the two trends are not contradictory but reflect a shift in where criminal profit is generated: away from localised predation and towards transnational markets, digital victimisation and the exploitation of licit trad...