The number of homicides recorded in London has dropped to its lowest level in more than a decade, new figures show.

There were 97 homicides in the capital in 2025, down 11% from 109 in 2024, according to data released by the Metropolitan Police.

This is also the lowest number recorded since 95 homicides 11 years ago, in 2014.

According to the Met, despite London’s growing population in the last decade, last year had the lowest homicide rate per capita on record – 1.1 per 100,000.

This is lower than other major cities worldwide such as New York at 2.8, Berlin at 3.2 and Paris at 1.6 per 100,000, the force said.

Met Police Commissioner, Sir Mark Rowley, said: “It’s extraordinary as London gets bigger and we’re making it safer.

“It’s taken a lot of effort, it’s taken policing getting sharper and better. So we use data more now because we know it’s a small number of men who are the most dangerous individuals.

“The better we are at spotting them, the [more] clever and more determined we are at chasing them down and getting them in prison, the safer the public are…all of that work has had a massive effect.”

The figures released by the Met come as the latest crime figures for England and Wales also show a fall in the number of homicides to their lowest level since current methods of reporting began in 2003.

Some 518 homicides were recorded by police in the year to June 2025, according to the Office for National Statistics, a drop of 6% from 552 in the previous year and 27% below the pre-pandemic total of 710 in 2019/20.

The Met said its work tackling homicide has been particularly strong in curbing violence among young people, with the fewest number of victims aged under 25 this century, and a 73% decrease in the number of teenage victims since 2021, dropping from 30 to eight in 2025.

The mayor of London’s violence reduction unit, set up in 2019, is believed to have been part of such efforts, by delivering 550,000 interventions to stop young people being drawn into gangs.

Mayor Sir Sadiq Khan said: “One homicide is one too many, one violent crime is one too many.

“But the evidence over the last year is quite remarkable. What it shows is because of our investment, our sustained focus, we have the lowest number of homicides since records began.

“Per capita, we have the fewest number of teenage homicides in almost three decades. The fewest numbers of those below the age of 25 killed this century.

“So it shows that us invested in the police being tough on crime, us investing in youth services, you know, being tough on the causes of crime is bringing forward good results.”

Lib Peck, Director of the VRU, adds: “I feel very, very pleased because what we hear about London is sometimes not the reality of London and what we know today is the number of homicides has dramatically fallen and we know that violence continues to go down.

“But there is still a big job of work to do. Too many people are affected by violence and we know not enough Londoners feel safe.

“So this is an achievement, but it’s very important that we, I think, keep seeing it as a spur to do even more collectively, together, to reduce violence.”

The Met also said public confidence in policing was rising, with 81% of Londoners rating the force as doing a good or fair job locally.

But it follows a vetting review published on Thursday that showed 131 officers and staff at the Met, including two serial rapists, committed crimes or misconduct after they were not properly vetted.

It found that thousands of police officers and staff were not properly checked, amid pressure during a national recruitment drive from July 2019 to March 2023.

The Met said it has taken action to clean up the workforce and tighten vetting standards, and was being open and transparent about some historical practices that do not meet current standards.

When asked about trust in the Metropolitan Police, the commissioner said: “The majority of Londoners trust the police, 74% of Londoners say they trust us, only 12% don’t. It’s a small proportion.”

“The trust of black communities, where policing doesn’t have a great history…and some of the things that have gone on in history, the trust of black communities has grown more quickly. That gap is closing.”