Homicides increase as serious offences fall nationwide in 2025

While Guyana recorded one of its sharpest year-on-year declines in serious criminal activity in recent years, homicides moved in the opposite direction in 2025, increasing across the country despite broad reductions in most other offence categories.
Police statistics that were released to the media on Friday show that 130 murders were recorded in 2025, up from 117 in 2024, marking an 11.1 per cent increase. The rise in killings occurred even as overall serious crime across Regions One to Ten fell significantly, pointing to a persistent challenge in addressing lethal violence.
According to data compiled by the Guyana Police Force, 920 serious offences were recorded in 2025, compared with 1,235 the previous year, representing an overall 25.5 per cent reduction. The decline was reflected across a wide range of violent and property-related crimes, suggesting that criminal activity in general continued to trend downward.
Robbery offences accounted for some of the most substantial decreases. Reports of simple robbery dropped from 13 cases in 2024 to five in 2025, while incidents involving firearms fell from 289 to 209. Robberies committed with other instruments declined from 82 to 58, and cases involving violence dropped from 44 to 29. Robbery with aggravation also decreased, moving from 17 cases to 12 over the same period.
Police also recorded fewer sexual and personal crimes. Rape cases declined from 239 in 2024 to 209 in 2025, while larcenies from the person fell from 38 to 23. Property crimes showed marked improvement, with burglaries dropping by more than two-thirds, from 77 cases to 25, and break-and-enter and larceny offences decreasing from 318 to 227.
Kidnapping, which had recorded one incident in 2024, was not reported at all in 2025, further contributing to the overall reduction in serious crime.
Despite these improvements, the increase in murders has renewed public concern, particularly following several high-profile fatal incidents reported toward the end of the year. Crime analysts have noted that many killings continue to arise from disputes between individuals known to each other, often escalating rapidly and leaving little opportunity for intervention.
The statistics also align with concerns raised during recent national discussions on public safety, where attention has increasingly shifted toward preventing interpersonal and domestic violence, even as traditional crimes such as robbery and burglary decline.
Following the release of data, the Guyana Police Force has advised that annual crime statistics undergo a rigorous process of compilation and verification before being formally released. While preliminary crime trends were shared during the Christmas Policing Brief in November 2025, police explained that the reporting year had not yet closed at that time and the data were still being finalised.
The Force said the verification process is necessary to ensure figures are accurate, complete, and reconciled across all divisions, reaffirming its commitment to providing reliable and verifiable crime data to the media and the public.