Data series, Crime
Murders reported to the police
26 232 cases2023/24. Down from 27 494 in 2022/23.
Series id murder-rate. This page and its downloads keep the same address when new figures are added.
Total murder cases reported nationally for the 2023/24 financial year (April 2023 – March 2024). This is the first decline in four years, equating to approximately 72 murders per day. The rate is 41.9 per 100,000 population.
Source: South African Police Service, Crime Statistics 2023/24. Source released . Checked on SA Data Hub .
Show the numbers as a table
| Period | Value |
|---|---|
| 2017/18 | 20 336 |
| 2018/19 | 21 022 |
| 2019/20 | 21 325 |
| 2020/21 | 23 961 |
| 2021/22 | 26 873 |
| 2022/23 | 27 494 |
| 2023/24 | 26 232 |
Every value
| Period | Value |
|---|---|
| 2023/24 | 26 232 |
| 2022/23 | 27 494 |
| 2021/22 | 26 873 |
| 2020/21 | 23 961 |
| 2019/20 | 21 325 |
| 2018/19 | 21 022 |
| 2017/18 | 20 336 |
Changes to this series
No revisions by the publisher have been recorded for this series. SA Data Hub started recording them on 7 November 2026; earlier revisions are not listed.
SA Data Hub's update log for this dataset
, data update
Published the January to March 2022 to 2026 series from the SAPS fourth-quarter 2025/26 statistics, released on 22 May 2026 (SAPS, POLICE magazine special edition, May 2026, pages 4 and 7). Murder, contact crime and robbery with aggravating circumstances are shown as a separate quarterly series. The annual 2023/24 figures are unchanged.
, data update
Checked the SAPS fourth-quarter 2025/26 workbook (January to March 2026, compared with January to March 2022 to 2025). It covers one quarter, not a full financial year, so the annual 2023/24 figures are unchanged (murder 26 232, contact crime 561 947, robbery with aggravating circumstances 162 618). The quarterly figures (January to March 2026: murder 5 181, down from 5 727; contact crime 154 267, down from 161 672; robbery with aggravating circumstances 26 796, down from 31 749) will be shown once the SAPS release date is confirmed; the workbook does not state one. It has no notes on definition or category changes.
, data update
Annual SAPS crime series refreshed with the latest published reporting cycle.
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You may reuse this series under CC BY 4.0. Credit South African Police Service as the original source and SA Data Hub as the place you got it.
Cite this series
South African Police Service (2024). Crime Statistics 2023/24. Series "Murders reported to the police" via SA Data Hub, https://sadatahub.tech/series/murder-rate (checked 2025-05-01).
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