Malta had the fourth highest number of intentional homicides per 100,000 inhabitants in the European Union in 2017, statistics released by Eurostat reveal.

The number for Malta stood at 2 intentional homicides per 100,000 people in 2017.

There were around 5,200 police-recorded intentional homicides in the EU in 2017, a reduction of 19% since 2008.

Among the Member States, the highest number of police-recorded intentional homicides per 100 000 inhabitants were recorded in Latvia (5.6), Lithuania (4.0), Estonia (2.2) and Malta (2.0), while the lowest were observed in Luxembourg (0.3), the Czech Republic and Italy (both 0.6).

This shows that Malta has a higher rate than France, Germany, the UK and Spain. 2017 also saw one of Malta’s most shocking murders, the assassination of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia.

Additional data shows that Malta saw a total of 9 intentional homicides in 2017, up from 5 in 2016 and 4 in 2015. Since 2008, the highest number of intentional homicides in Malta was recorded in 2012, with 10.

Other crime data was also released by Eurostat. In terms of robberies, between 2011 and 2017, police-recorded robberies in the EU fell by 24%, from 522 thousand to 396 thousand. By contrast, there was a 4% increase between 2008 and 2011.

In 2017, the highest number of offences per 100 000 inhabitants were observed in Belgium (167), France (150), Spain (144), England and Wales (UK) (132) and Portugal (115), while the lowest were found in Romania (16), Estonia and Czechia (both 15), Cyprus (14), Slovenia (12), Slovakia and Hungary (both 9).

Malta had 44.