Albania and Montenegro Hold Balkan Record on Murders, Macedonia Stands In Between

Albania and Montenegro have the highest murder rate in the Balkans. In Albania there are 5 murders in every 100,000 residents, while in Montenegro the average stands at 3.5, daily Dnevnik newspaper reports.

These two countries are also the European record-holders in terms of killings executed with firearms and between the first 15 countries in the world, show the results of the analysis conducted by the United Nations and the World Health Organization (WHO).

Macedonia, according to the analysis, comes in the region's average in terms of the murder rate. The analysis published last week says that in 2012 around 475 thousand people were killed in the world, while the number of murders has decreased by 16% compared to the year 2000. According to the WHO, in 2012 896 people in total were murdered in the Balkans.

In accordance with the data of the WHO, in terms of the identified cause of death, in 2012 in Macedonia, 37 people were killed, and the murder rate on 100,000 citizens stood at 1.8. Around a third of the homicides were committed with a firearm, 3% with a sharp object, and the bulk or some two thirds of the people were killed in a different way. According to the data that the Interior Ministry has submitted to the UN, in that year, there were 29 criminal acts of murder registered in the country.

Slovenia has the lowest murder rate in the Balkans

A similar murder rate was identified in Serbia, Greece and Bulgaria. According to the analysis, the murder rate index in Serbia stood at 1.6, and according to the manner of execution, 42% of the killings were performed with firearms. Every third murder was done with a sharp object. The same murder rate was recorded in Greece, where one third of the murders were committed with firearms, one third with a cold weapon and the remaining third, on a different way. In 2012, the murder rate in Bulgaria was 1.9. Most often, around a half of the killings in Bulgaria were committed with a cold weapon and 17% with firearms.

The murder rate in Croatia was 1.3, and each third of the killings were committed on way of the three methods used in the qualification. Bosnia and Herzegovina has the same statistics on the manner of committing murders, but a much higher murder rate. With 132 victims of homicides, Bosnia has a high rate of murders, i.e. 3.4 people on every 100,000 citizens, which is the third highest murder rate in the region.

Slovenia in 2012 saw the lowest murder rate from the countries in the region, or 0.7 people were killed on every 100,000 citizens. Only 10% of the homicides in Slovenia were committed with a firearm.

The Baltic States are strongest in Europe

The European average of the murder rate, according to Eurostat, is 0.9 on every 100,000 citizens. But while Monaco and Lichtenstein see years without one single murder, the Baltic countries have drastically higher rates than the European average.

The record-holder of the murder rate in Europe is Latvia, with 7 killings on every 100,000 citizens. Every second homicide in Latvia was committed with a cold weapon, and only 4% with a firearm. Lithuania has a murder rate of 6.7 and almost an identical manner of committing murders. In Estonia, the manner of killing is the same and the murder rate stands at 5.4.

A lower-than-1 murder rate have almost all other European countries. In Sweden, every fourth homicide was committed with a firearm, and in Switzerland and the Netherlands, every third. In Italy, half of the killings were due to gunshots.

Venezuela, Guatemala, and the US hold the record in gunshots

Nine out of ten murders in Venezuela are committed with a firearm, the WHO data show. Second on the list comes Guatemala with 86% of homicides. The percentage of murders committed with a firearm in the US was 76, and the highest ranked European country on the list is Montenegro with 70%. Among the first 15 countries according to the percentage of the murders executed with a firearm is Albania where two thirds of the homicides were committed in that way.

Most killings in South America The highest murder rate on every 100,000 citizens was marked in Honduras (103), El Salvador (80) and Columbia (81), the UN and the WHO have determined.