Jamaica nears year-end with lowest murder toll since 1994
Published:Tuesday | December 30, 2025 | 8:42 AMAndre Williams/Staff Reporter
Jamaica is closing out the year with a dramatic fall in murders, recording a 42 per cent fall in murders at the end of 52 weeks with 666 killings, the lowest number recorded since 1994.
That year some 690 people were killed.
While the country await the final numbers with two days remaining on the calendar, the last time murders dipped below 1,000 in Jamaica was in 2003.
The latest murder figure caps a steady, multi-year decline in homicides that has now accelerated into historic territory.
After years of high murder rates, the country first saw an eight per cent reduction heading into 2024, followed by a sharper 19 per cent fall going into 2025. That momentum has now culminated in a dramatic 42 per cent plunge as the country heads into 2026, decisively resetting Jamaica’s crime narrative.
At the start of the year, the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) publicly set its sights on keeping murders below 1,000, a target that was widely viewed as ambitious.
Police Commissioner Dr Kevin Blake, in the latest Force Orders, said 2025 will be remembered as a year in which hundreds of lives were saved, and described the outcome as the result of sustained, intelligence-led policing and deeper public cooperation.
“This is not a marginal improvement; this is a substantial reduction and it reflects the cumulative impact of intelligence-led policing, focused operations against gangs, enhanced firearms interdiction, and the commitment of our officers on the ground,” Blake said at the end of week 51, when murders were at 659 (September 20).
The murder decline was widespread, cutting across nearly the entire island.
Seventeen of Jamaica’s 19 police divisions recorded fewer murders than the previous year, pointing to a national rather than isolated shift.
Only St Ann, 18 per cent, and St Thomas, five per cent, registered increases, both of which police say are now under targeted operational focus.
Beyond murders, the numbers show a broader easing of criminal activity across monitored serious crimes.
Overall, reported crime fell by 17 per cent year-on-year, reinforcing the sense that the reduction in killings is part of a wider crime-control trend rather than a statistical anomaly.
Shootings, injured persons and rape have declined.
Still, the latest crime data caution that the picture is not evenly positive.
Robberies rose by eight per cent, while break-ins increased by 17 per cent, underscoring lingering concerns around property crime and everyday security, even as violent deaths decline sharply.
Murder comparison over the last 10 years
Year Murders % Change vs Prior Year
2015 1,209 —
2016 1,354 +12.0%
2017 1,647 +21.6%
2018 1,289 –21.7%
2019 1,340 +4.0%
2020 1,333 –0.5%
2021 1,474 +10.6%
2022 1,508 +2.3%
2023 1,393 –7.7%
2024 1,141 –18.1%
2025 666 –41.6%*
*As at December 27, 2025