Slight increase in murders last year despite decrease in number of women killed

Last year 126 people in the Netherlands died as a result of murder or manslaughter, five more than in 2020. The number of men killed increased from 77 in 2020 to 88 in 2021, and the number of women decreased from 44 to 38, Statistics Netherlands (CBS) reported on Wednesday.

The number of murder and manslaughter victims in the Netherlands has been relatively stable since 2018, at an average of 123 victims per year. Between 2002 and 2004, an average of 231 people were killed in the Netherlands each year. Twelve of last year’s victims did not live in the Netherlands.

Last year, 70 percent of murder and manslaughter victims were between 20 and 60 years old. Nearly 40 percent were in their twenties or thirties.

From 2017 to 2021, the police identified a perpetrator in 96 percent of women killed by violence. In almost 60 percent of those cases, the women were killed by their partner or ex. “The victims were often killed in their home with a stabbing weapon, or by strangulation or other physical violence.”

The police identified a perpetrator in 83 percent of murder or manslaughter cases involving a male victim. In 30 percent of the cases, the perpetrator was someone the victim knew. In 14 percent, the murder was a settlement in the criminal environment. Three-quarters of male victims were shot or stabbed to death.

Between 2017 and 2021, 31 children under the age of 10 were victims of murder or manslaughter in the Netherlands, 16 boys and 15 girls. Almost all of these kids (28) were killed by their parent. In the same period, 42 teens between 10 and 20 were murdered - 14 percent by a parent and 38 percent by a friend or acquaintance.

Last year, a third of all murders happened in the Netherlands’ three largest cities - 15 in Amsterdam, 15 in Rotterdam, and 11 in The Hague. Relatively speaking, the largest cities also have the most victims of murder and manslaughter. Between 2017 and 2021, 1.92 out of every 100,000 Rotterdam residents died by violence. That is 2.6 times more than the national average of 0.75 per 100,000 inhabitants. In The Hague and Amsterdam, this was 1.81 and 1.71 victims per 100,000 residents.

In Europe, the Netherlands is in the top five countries with the fewest murders. Italy, Slovenia, and Switzerland have the lowest murder rates per 100,000 residents. Countries in the former Soviet Union, like Russia, Ukraine, Moldova, and Lithuania, have the highest murder rates per 100,000 residents.