Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union
E2: Environmental statistics and accounts; sustainable development
European Commission
Eurostat – Statistical Office of the European Union
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The indicator is part of the EU Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) indicator set. It is used to monitor progress towards SDG 16 on peace, justice and strong institutions, which is embedded in the European Commission’s Priorities under ‘A new era for European Defence and Security’ and ‘Protecting our democracy, upholding our values’.
SDG 16 calls for peaceful and inclusive societies based on respect for human rights, protection of the most vulnerable, the rule of law and good governance at all levels. It also envisions transparent, effective and accountable institutions, which promote non-discriminatory laws and policies, combat corruption, bribery and organised crime and prevent violence, terrorism and crime.
The indicator can be considered as part of the global SDG indicator 16.1.2 "Conflict-related deaths per 100,000 population, by sex, age and cause".
On 24 July 2020, the European Commission set out an EU Security Union Strategy for the period from 2020 to 2025. As a core component of the strategy, the Commission defined a new way forward on internal security with actions in key areas: organised crime; terrorism and the prevention of violent radicalisation; resilience of our critical infrastructures and public spaces; cybercrime, including fighting child sexual abuse; law enforcement cooperation and information exchange; and research and innovation
Safety is a crucial aspect in people’s lives. Insecurity of any kind is a source of fear and worry, which negatively affect quality of life. Physical insecurity includes all the external factors that could potentially put the individual’s physical integrity in danger. Criminal actions are one of the most obvious abuses of insecurity. Analyses of physical insecurity usually combine both subjective and objective aspects – the subjective perception of insecurity and the objective lack of safety as measured by crime statistics. As such, the indicator contributes to the understanding of the security of society.
The indicator measures the standardised death rate of homicide and injuries inflicted by another person with the intent to injure or kill by any means, including ‘late effects’ from assault (International Classification of Diseases (ICD) codes X85 to Y09 and Y87.1). It does not include deaths due to legal interventions or war (ICD codes Y35 and Y36).
Data on causes of death (COD) refer to the underlying cause which - according to the World Health Organisation (WHO) - is "the disease or injury which initiated the train of morbid events leading directly to death, or the circumstances of the accident or violence which produced the fatal injury". COD data are derived from death certificates. The medical certification of death is an obligation in all Member States.
The data are presented as standardised death rates, meaning they are adjusted to a standard age distribution in order to measure death rates independently of different age structures of populations. This approach improves comparability over time and between countries. The standardised death rates used here are calculated on the basis of the standard European population referring to the residents of the countries.
Number per 100 000 persons
Calendar year
The indicator is produced according to the high-level quality standards of European Statistics. Details on accuracy can be found in the metadata of the source datasets (see link to related metadata).
Analysis of indicator is presented in Eurostat's annual monitoring report on Sustainable development in the EU (progress towards the SDGs in an EU context).
See table sdg_16_10
Eurostat dedicated section on SDGs: Eurostat overview.
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