Liverpool has recorded fewer murders in the past five years than other major cities including Birmingham, Manchester and Leeds, according to Home Office data. The city reported three murders in the year ending March 2026, and 27 across the previous five years.
In the same half-decade timeframe, Birmingham recorded 86 murders, with 19 in the last year alone. Manchester had the second highest number, recording 49, while Leeds and Sheffield, both in Yorkshire, recorded 45 and 34 cases respectively. Some individual boroughs of London, such as Lambeth, recorded higher murder rates than the city of Liverpool altogether.
Merseyside borough breakdown
The information comes from police force data breaking down crime figures around England and Wales. Liverpool has a murder rate of 5.3 per 100,000 people in the last five years.
Wirral recorded no murders last year but 11 in the last five years, including the gun murders of Elle Edwards on Christmas Eve 2022 and Jackie Rutter just months before. Wirral had a murder rate of 3.3 per 100,000 people.
Sefton recorded two murders in the 2025-2026 year. The borough experienced 10 murders between 2021 and April this year, figures tragically dominated by the triple murder of three schoolgirls in the Southport stabbings in July 2024. Sefton's rate was 3.5 per 100,000 people.
Knowsley recorded one murder last year, and 11 more in the four previous years. Knowsley's murder rate was 7.4 per 100,000 people, the highest across Merseyside. High profile cases include the fatal shooting of Rikki Berry in Kirkby and the domestic murder of Rebekah Campbell.
St Helens recorded three murders in the last financial year. Across the last five years, there were nine, resulting in a rate of 4.8 murders per 100,000.
National trends and notable incidents
The new data shows murders in England and Wales fell to their lowest level in more than a decade. There were still 431 murders in the year ending March 2026, down 4% on the previous year and at its lowest level since at least 2012.
Despite recent successes in reducing crime rates, Liverpool has experienced devastating incidents within the last five years. In the same six-day period that Olivia Pratt-Korbel was murdered in August 2022, Sam Rimmer and Ashley Dale were both killed with a firearm.
A number of high-profile cases remain outstanding. Several people have been arrested in connection with the murder of Ellis Cox, shot dead on the Liver Industrial Estate in Aintree in June 2024, but no-one has yet been charged. More recently, Rose Johnson was fatally assaulted inside her Dovecot home in October of last year, and efforts remain ongoing to catch those responsible.
Police response and per-capita rates
Detective Chief Superintendent Mark Drew, head of investigations at Merseyside Police, told the ECHO: "We have seen first-hand the devastation that murder causes, both to the loved ones of victims, and in our wider communities. Gun crime, knife crime and domestic murders have led to tragic events in recent years, which is why reducing risk and harm will always be an absolute priority for all of us at Merseyside Police."
The senior officer added: "We have teams of detectives and police staff dedicated to compassionately and comprehensively investigating all murders, including our homicide support unit, and our specialist family liaison officers, who sensitively support the families of victims through every stage of the investigation."
Det Ch Supt Drew told the ECHO the force also has initiatives such as the Merseyside violence reduction partnership and the EVOLVE clear, hold, build strategy to address underlying causes of violence. He added: "We are committed to all of these areas of work so that Merseyside continues to see reductions in murder and serious violence."
The figures don't include high profile incidents such as the murder probe launched after a woman's body was found inside a bin bag in Stanley Park because the statistics only go up to the end of March this year.
While Birmingham recorded the highest number of murders, when adjusting for population size, towns and smaller cities topped the list for the highest murder rates per 100,000 people. There were 31 murders in Wolverhampton in the last five years, translating to the highest per-capita murder rate in the country at 11.02 offences per 100,000 residents, excluding Westminster in London (11.43 per 100,000) where results are skewed by high tourist numbers and a small resident population.
Home Office statistics also monitor trends for homicide, which includes murder, manslaughter and infanticide. Three-quarters of all victims of homicide are male. In the year ending March 2025, two in five female victims were suspected to have been killed by their partner or ex (40%). Only 4% of male victims were suspected killed by a partner or ex. Men were most likely killed by a friend or acquaintance (20%) or a stranger (18%). The most likely motivation for any homicide was a quarrel, revenge, or a sudden loss of temper.
