London homicides at 11-year low, Met Police saysGetty ImagesThe Met Police said it had taken targeted action against criminal gangsHomicide in London has fallen to its lowest level in more than a decade, new figures released by the Metropolitan Police show. The force said 97 homicides were recorded in 2025, the lowest figure since 2014, at a rate of 1.1 per 100,000 people, lower than New York (2.8), Berlin (3.2) and Milan (1.6). It is the lowest homicide figure in London on record, once population is taken into account, the Met said. Teenage homicide, which hit record levels in 2021 when 30 young people lost their lives, has also dropped to the lowest level since 2012, with eight teenagers killed last year. The figures released by the Met come as the latest crime figures for England and Wales also show a fall in the number of homicides to their lowest level since current methods of reporting began in 2003. Some 518 homicides were recorded by police in the year to June 2025, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), a drop of 6% from 552 in the previous year and 27% below the pre-pandemic total of 710 in 2019-20. Met Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley said that while "every murder is a tragedy," fewer families had been "shattered" by violence. The leader of the London Conservatives Susan Hall praised the force but said more needed to be done to tackle other crimes including violence against women and girls. Sir Mark said the fall in homicide was a result of targeted police action against organised criminal gangs and greater use of technology including live facial recognition. "It's the product of amazing police work as we attack with ever more precision the most dangerous men who carry weapons, who groom children into gangs, who prey on women," he said. The commissioner also praised prevention work, including by London's Violence Reduction Unit (VRU) which was created by Mayor Sir Sadiq Khan in 2019.
