Eurostat: 74 intentional homicides recorded in Bulgaria in 2023

There were 74 intentional homicides in Bulgaria in 2023, two fewer than in 2022 and fewer than the 109 recorded in 2013, European Union statistics agency Eurostat said.

In 2023, there were 3930 intentional homicides in the EU recorded by the police, Eurostat said.

This was an increase of 1.5 per cent compared with 2022.

However, there has been a slightly downward trend in the past decade and the number fell by 15.2 per cent compared with 2013 (4635), Eurostat said.

Among the EU countries, the highest absolute numbers of intentional homicides were recorded in France (887), followed by Germany (661) and Italy (338), while the lowest numbers were found in Malta (2), Luxembourg (4) and Cyprus (10). 

An increase from 2022 to 2023 was observed in 11 out of the 27 EU countries.

France reported the highest increase in absolute numbers with 66 more intentional homicides, ahead of Germany (47 more) and Poland (36 more).

The biggest fall occurred in Romania (38 fewer), Belgium (23 fewer) and Finland (19 fewer), Eurostat said.

(Main photo: Bart-Groenhuizen/ sxc.hu)