Global Violent Deaths (GVD) database 2004-2021, 2023 update, version 1.0

The Global Violent Deaths (GVD) database integrates indicators on the major causes of lethal interpersonal and communal violence—intentional and unintentional homicides, killings in legal interventions, and direct conflict deaths—and combines them in a single violent deaths indicator. These indicators are also reported in a disaggregated format by the sex of the victim and perpetration mechanism, namely firearm killings. The GVD database tracks this information across 222 countries and territories worldwide yearly from 2004 and reports both crude counts and rates per 100,000 population. The input data is retrieved from reliable sources, such as governments, national and international organizations, trusted non-governmental organizations, and verified media outlets. Missing data points are estimated using the methods described in this document.

The GVD database is updated annually by the Small Arms Survey, an associated programme of the Geneva Graduate Institute, which strengthens the capacity of governments and practitioners to reduce illicit arms flows and armed violence. This is done through three mutually reinforcing activities: the generation of policy-relevant knowledge, the development of authoritative resources and tools, and the provision of training and other services. The GVD database benefits from financial support from governments and organizations, and notably its core donors, who are publicly disclosed online. The Small Arms Survey follows rigorous procedures to ensure that the input data, the applied methods, and the results are of reasonable quality. If the user encounters apparent errors, they should contact us via email at media@smallarmssurvey.org.

Regions, sub-regions, countries, and territories are defined based on the classification system used by the UN Statistical Division (2013 revision), except for Kosovo, England and Wales, Northern Ireland, and Scotland. The names and designations reported in the database do not imply any sort of endorsement by the Small Arms Survey.