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London's murder rate the lowest in a decade
The Guardian
|January 12, 2026
London's murder rate has dropped to its lowest in more than a decade.
Police in the capital and the mayor say it is now one of the safest cities in the western world.
People on the radical right criticise the city for having a crime problem, hoping to gain politically from such claims being believed. But in 2025 the Metropolitan police recorded 97 homicides in London, down from 153 in 2019 and 109 in 2024.
A decade ago there were 120 homicides, in 2005 181 homicides were recorded, and the peak this century was 216 in 2003. Homicides of those aged under 25 have fallen sharply: 18 were recorded in 2025, compared with a peak of 69 in 2017.
This story is from the January 12, 2026 edition of The Guardian.
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