A 2023 survey from IPSOS of people in 30 countries found that 70 percent of respondents thought the world was becoming more violent and dangerous. Here in the US, majorities have told pollsters almost every year since the early 1990s that violent crime is going up. And other surveys indicate that many people around the world insist that life was better and often safer 50 years ago than it is today.
So, that’s the narrative. Here’s the actuality: When you actually look at data on murder, it shows that the world has largely been getting safer, both as compared to the more distant past and in this century.
Now, recently updated data from the World Bank looks at the picture from a global perspective and finds something astonishing. Between 2000 and 2023, the international homicide rate fell from roughly 6.9 deaths per 100,000 people to around 5.2 per 100,000 people in 2023. That translates into around a one-quarter decline in the chances that any random person will be murdered.
Vox
A 2023 survey from IPSOS of people in 30 countries found that 70 percent of respondents thought the world was becoming more violent and dangerous. Here in the US, majorities have told pollsters almost every year since the early 1990s that violent crime is going up. And other surveys indicate that many people around the world insist that life was better and often safer 50 years ago than it is today.
So, that’s the narrative. Here’s the actuality: When you actually look at data on murder, it shows that the world has largely been getting safer, both as compared to the more distant past and in this century.
Now, recently updated data from the World Bank looks at the picture from a global perspective and finds something astonishing. Between 2000 and 2023, the international homicide rate fell from roughly 6.9 deaths per 100,000 people to around 5.2 per 100,000 people in 2023. That translates into around a one-quarter decline in the chances that any random person will be murdered.
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