London has recorded its lowest number of homicides in more than a decade, with new figures revealing a dramatic fall in serious violence across the capital. Police officials and the Mayor have attributed the success to smarter policing and a pioneering 'public health' strategy aimed at tackling root causes.
A Decade of Decline in Violent Crime
The Metropolitan Police recorded 97 homicides in London during 2025, a significant drop from 153 in 2019 and down from 109 the previous year. This marks the lowest figure for over ten years, with 120 homicides recorded a decade ago. The peak this century was 216 in 2003.
Perhaps most strikingly, murders of young people under 25 have fallen precipitously. In 2025, there were 18 such homicides, compared to a peak of 69 in 2017. This progress comes despite London's population growing to 9.1 million, up from 8.1 million in 2010.
The 'Public Health' Approach and Smarter Policing
Mayor Sadiq Khan stated that the data rebuts claims from right-wing critics and proves the effectiveness of his strategy. "The evidence shows that violent crime rates are proportionately lower in London than in any other UK city," he said, directly challenging narratives from figures like Donald Trump and certain political parties.
Khan highlighted the work of the Violence Reduction Unit (VRU), established in 2019, which focuses on long-term solutions by addressing poverty and lack of opportunity. VRU staff based in police stations report a 90% success rate in diverting arrested youngsters away from crime.
Commander Paul Brogden, head of homicide for the Met, explained the twin strategy: "The days of the police doing broad stop and search sweeps of estates are over. We do much more targeted interventions." He noted a cultural shift where people are less willing to use knives to settle disputes and emphasised better data exploitation from suspects' phones and a focus on organised crime kingpins.
How London Compares to Global Cities
The statistical improvement places London favourably against other major Western cities. In 2025, London's homicide rate stood at 1.1 killings per 100,000 residents.
This compares to:
- 3.2 in Berlin
- 2.9 in Brussels
- 1.6 in Paris
- 2.8 in New York
- 5.6 in Los Angeles
For young Londoners, the risk has inverted. In 2017, the under-25 homicide rate was 2.51 per 100,000, higher than the adult rate of 1.65. By 2025, the rate for adults was 1.1, while for under-25s it had fallen to just 0.65.
Persistent Challenges and a 'Generational Opportunity'
Despite the overall success, Commander Brogden highlighted a stark racial disparity. Young black men remain up to 12 times more likely to be murder victims. Tragically, all eight teenagers murdered in London in 2025 were black.
"I think we have a generational opportunity to keep working with our young teenage black children to divert them away from a path of crime," Brogden said. He pointed to social deprivation, lack of employment opportunities, and tough environments as contributing factors, stressing the need to build trust: "The police aren't there to be feared, we are genuinely here to protect them."
The figures present a powerful counter-narrative to political claims of a crime-ridden capital, positioning London as one of the safest major cities in the Western world through a combination of focused enforcement and proactive social intervention.
