Scotland recorded 56 victims of homicide in 2025-26, nine more than the 47 recorded in the previous year. The latest total was 19% higher year on year, but it remained the fourth lowest since comparable records began in 1976.
The annual rise follows the lowest total in the series in 2024-25. It is therefore important to read the new figure in both directions: there were more victims than in the preceding year, while the longer-term number remains far below the levels recorded two decades ago. Each figure represents people whose deaths carry a profound impact for relatives, friends and communities.
A yearly rise within a longer downward trend
Over the most recent decade, the number of homicide victims fell from 65 in 2016-17 to 56 in 2025-26. That is a reduction of 14%, or nine victims. Across 20 years, the total fell from 121 in 2006-07 to 56 in the latest year, a reduction of 54%.
Those comparisons do not lessen the significance of the year-on-year increase. They do, however, place it in a series that has declined substantially over time. A single annual change should not be treated as proof of a wider direction on its own, particularly where totals are relatively small and can be affected by a limited number of cases.
What the figures record
The data cover crimes of homicide recorded by police in Scotland during 2025-26. They count victims rather than simply counting incidents. Most recorded homicide incidents have one victim and one accused person, although some incidents can involve more than one victim or more than one accused person. In the latest year, there were no recorded incidents involving more than one victim.
That distinction matters when interpreting the total. The victim count is not a measure of all violence, an estimate of future risk, or a verdict on the circumstances of every individual case. It is a specific statistical measure that sits alongside, rather than replaces, the investigation and court processes attached to particular cases.
Victims, accused people and case status
Of the 56 victims recorded in 2025-26, 41 were male and 15 were female. The figures also record 81 people accused of homicide: 75 male and six female. An accusation is not a finding of guilt. Individual criminal cases remain subject to the relevant legal process and any decision by a court.
For every victim in the 2025-26 figures, the associated case was classified as solved. That statistical status should not be confused with a conviction, sentence or final outcome in every case. It indicates the recorded status of the investigation, while legal proceedings may follow their own course.
Relationships and methods
The data give a limited picture of the relationship between victims and the people accused. Among male victims, 27 of 41, or 66%, were killed by an acquaintance. Among female victims, 10 of 15, or 67%, were killed by a partner or ex-partner. These are descriptions of the recorded cases, not explanations for why individual deaths occurred.
A sharp instrument was the main method of killing in 29 cases, or 52% of the 56 victims. The category includes knives, broken bottles, swords, sharpened screwdrivers and other pointed or edged objects. It has been the most common recorded method in every year of the past two decades. The figure should not be read as a count of all offences involving such items, nor does it establish the circumstances or motives in individual cases.
A marked fall among younger people
The largest reduction over the past 20 years was among people aged 16 to 24. There were 113 victims in that age group across the five years from 2006-07 to 2010-11. In the most recent five-year period, from 2021-22 to 2025-26, the number was 28. That is a fall of 85 victims, or about 75%.
The latest statistics provide a sober annual account rather than a full explanation of changing patterns in serious violence. They show a rise from the previous year against a much lower long-term level, and they underline why every number should be handled with care. The figures do not identify victims or revisit individual cases, preserving the focus on the statistical picture while recognising the human loss behind it.
