Number of homicides in London falls to lowest in over a decade, says Met Police
The 2025 number of 97 homicides is the lowest recorded since 2014 when there were 95, new figures suggest.
Monday 12 January 2026 00:18, UK
London has recorded the lowest number of homicides in more than a decade, according to new figures from the Metropolitan Police.
The force said there were 97 killings in the capital last year - a fall of 11% compared to 2024's figure of 109.
The 2025 number is the lowest recorded since 2014 when there were 95 homicides.
It comes weeks after Donald Trump claimed crime levels were "crazy" in the capital and police did not want to patrol some parts of London - allegations Met Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley called "complete nonsense".
There has also been a 6% fall in the number of homicides in the whole of England and Wales over a 12-month period, said the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
Its figures show homicides are at their lowest level since current methods of reporting began in 2003.
Some 518 homicides were recorded by police in the year to June 2025, compared to 552 in the previous 12 months and 27% below the pre-COVID pandemic total of 710 in 2019/20.
Last year, London had the lowest homicide rate per capita on record - 1.1 per 100,000, according to the Met.
This is lower than other major global cities including New York at 2.8, Berlin at 3.2 and Paris at 1.6 per 100,000, the force said.
Sir Mark said London's "record‑low homicide rate" was the result of "relentless work".
He pointed to 1,000 more offenders being arrested each month, using technology like live facial recognition, and taking "precise action" against gangs, organised criminals, and predatory men who target women and children.
Sir Mark said: "The results speak for themselves: fewer lives lost, fewer families shattered."
The Met said its work tackling homicide has been particularly strong in curbing violence among young people.
It said there has been the fewest number of victims aged under 25 this century, and a 73% decrease in the number of teenage victims since 2021, dropping from 30 to eight in 2025.
The mayor of London's violence reduction unit, set up in 2019, is believed to have been part of such efforts, by delivering 550,000 interventions to stop young people being drawn into gangs.
'London is one of the safest cities in the world now,' says mayor
Speaking to Mornings with Ridge and Frost, Mayor Sir Sadiq Khan said: "As far as I'm concerned, one homicide is, one death too many. One victim of violent crime is one too many.
"But even our harshest critics have to accept the progress we've made is quite remarkable."
He added that London is now "one of the safest of these safest cities in the world".
He explained: "When it comes to, homicide, we are safer than Paris, than Milan, than Rome, than Brussels, than Berlin. Two and a half times safer than New York. Five times safer than LA. 12 times safer than Chicago. Every other state has a higher homicide rate than London."
Sir Sadiq suggested that those who have a problem with London dislike it because it is "a city that is liberal that is progressive, that is diverse, that is successful".
"They hate that," he added.
Challenged that lower-level crime, such as phone thefts, is on the rise, the mayor responded that "all crime should be taken seriously" - but said there has been a 50% fall in personal robbery and a 25% reduction in thefts over the last period.
Last November, President Trump, who has a long-running feud with Sir Sadiq, claimed people were being stabbed "in the ass or worse" in London.
The US leader told GB News the mayor was "a disaster" who was "letting crime go", adding crime levels were "crazy" and police did not want to patrol some areas of London.
But Sir Mark hit back at the time on LBC, saying Mr Trump was talking "complete nonsense" and it was "completely false" to suggest there were parts of the capital deemed as no-go areas for officers.
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Public confidence in policing is rising, with 81% of Londoners rating the force as doing a good or fair job locally, the Met also said.
But it follows a vetting review published on Thursday that showed 131 officers and staff at the Met, including two serial rapists, committed crimes or misconduct after they were not properly vetted.
It found thousands of police officers and staff were not properly checked, amid pressure during a national recruitment drive from July 2019 to March 2023.
The Met said it has taken action to clean up the workforce and tighten vetting standards, and was being open and transparent about some historical practices that do not meet current standards.