In 2024, Brazil’s homicide rate reached its lowest level since the Atlas of Violence began tracking the data in 2014. The study, conducted annually by the Institute of Applied Economic Research (IPEA) and the Brazilian Forum on Public Safety (FBSP), was released on Tuesday (May 26).

The country recorded 20.1 homicides per 100,000 inhabitants, a rate 7.4 percent lower than in 2023. In absolute terms, there were 42,590 homicides in 2024, a decrease of 6.9 percent.

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The study was based on data from the Ministry of Health’s Mortality Information System (SIM) and Notifiable Diseases Information System (SINAN).

An analysis of the 2014–2024 period shows that the national homicide rate fell by 33.4 percent and the number of homicides decreased by 29.6 percent.

Daniel Cerqueira, coordinator of the Atlas of Violence and a planning and research specialist at IPEA, noted that Brazil is undergoing a major transition. While homicides are declining, the country is experiencing rising insecurity and persistent or even widening inequalities affecting minority populations.

Black people

In 2024 alone, 32,820 homicides of black people were recorded, accounting for 77 percent of all reported homicides. The rate was 27.3 deaths per 100,000 inhabitants, equivalent to 89.9 black people murdered each day across the country.

From 2014 to 2024, 435,551 black people were killed in Brazil, compared to 132,156 non-black victims. Although homicide rates declined for both groups, the reductions were uneven, IPEA and FBSP reported. The rate fell by 38.9 percent among non-black people, compared with 21.7 percent among black people.

According to the Atlas of Violence, in terms of relative risk, a black person is 2.7 times more likely to be killed in a homicide than a non-black person.