London’s murder rate has dropped to its lowest level in more than a decade, with police and the city’s mayor hailing it as one of the safest cities in the Western world. The figures come as a rebuke to critics on the radical right who have sought to portray the capital as having a crime problem.
In 2025, the Metropolitan Police recorded 97 homicides in London, down from 153 in 2019 and 109 in 2024. This marks a significant decline from a decade ago, when there were 120 homicides, and a peak of 216 in 2003.
Police officials and London Mayor Sadiq Khan attribute the change to a twin approach of smarter and more focused work by officers, as well as greater diversion efforts by youth workers. Khan’s “public health” approach to tackling violent crime, such as knife crime, has been credited with contributing to the drop.
“The evidence shows that violent crime rates are proportionately lower in London than in any other UK city,” Khan said. “We are liberal and diverse and also successful.”
The fall in homicides has occurred despite a rise in London’s population, from 8.1 million in 2010 to 9.1 million in 2025. As a result, the chance of being a victim of homicide has fallen, with 1.1 killings per 100,000 residents in 2025, compared to 3.2 in Berlin, 2.9 in Brussels, and 1.6 in Paris.
The Metropolitan Police’s head of homicide, Commander Paul Brogden, attributed the success to better enforcement and diversion tactics. He said there has also been a cultural shift, with people less willing to resort to violence to settle disputes.
However, Brogden acknowledged that there is a racial divide in the murder rate, with young black men up to 12 times more likely to be victims. All eight teenagers murdered in London in 2025 were black.
“I think we have a generational opportunity to keep working with our young teenage black children to divert them away from a path of crime,” Brogden said. “There is a lot of social deprivation, [lack of] opportunities for employment, to stay in education, it’s a tough environment for these young kids.”
The drop in killings coincides with a fall in stop-and-search rates, a controversial tactic that has been criticized for disproportionately targeting innocent black people. Brogden said the days of broad sweeps of estates are over, and the focus is now on more targeted interventions.
Overall, the statistics suggest that London is becoming safer, with the capital now outperforming many major North American cities in terms of homicide rates. However, the challenge remains to ensure that all communities, particularly those facing social and economic disadvantages, are able to benefit from this progress.
