A United Nations report has said some 464,000 homicides were recorded around the world in 2017, far more than the number of people killed in armed conflicts and terrorist attacks.

The Global Study on Homicide 2019 published by the UN on Monday said the Americas is the region with highest number of homicide victims.

While report said the total number of people who suffered violent deaths has increased over 25 years, the global population has grown faster, meaning that the proportion of people in the risk of being killed in a homicide has declined.

According to the report, there were 7.2 homicides per 100,000 people in 1972 but by 2017, the figure had reduced to 6.1 victims per 100,000 people.

The Executive Director of the  United Nations Office On Drugs and Crime, Yury Fedotov said the study seeks to ‘shed light on gender-related killings, lethal gang violence and other challenges, to support prevention and interventions to bring down homicide rates’.

He added that the study highlights such drivers of homicide  as inequality, unemployment, political instability, gender stereotypes and organized crime.

It also points to the importance of countries following the rule of law, tackling corruption, promoting economic development and education in order to bring down violent crimes across the world.

The report said between 2015 and 2017, the total number of homicide victims worldwide increased by 4 percent, warning that if the trend continues, the UN goal of reducing all forms of violence and death rates by 2030 will not be met.

The study said organized crime was responsible for 19 percent of global homicides as an average of roughly 65,000 killings every year were related to organized crime and gangs during the 2000-2017 period.

“Countries in the Americas reported 173,000 victims of intentional homicide, 37 percent of the global total (in 2017) in a region that accounts for only 13 per cent of the world’s population.

The homicide rate of 17.2 victims per 100,000 population in the Americas was the highest recorded in the region since reliable records began in 1990,” the report said. 

The report added that the only other region with a homicide rate in 2017 exceeding the global average was Africa, with 13.0 victims per 100,000 people or a total of 163,000 victims.

By contrast, Europe’s rate was 3.0 per 100,000, with 22,000 homicide victims while Asia, with 60 percent of the world’s people had the lowest regional rate of 2.3 per 100,000 people or 104,000 victims.

According to the study, shooting has long been the most common cause of death in homicide cases worldwide.

Globally, the report revealed that 81 percent of homicide victims in 2017 were men and boys while more than 90 percent of suspects in homicide cases were also male.