US experiences record drop in homicides in 2023

The United States experienced a record drop in homicides in 2023, following a spike after the start of the COVID-19 pandemic and the 2020 riots.

According to data compiled by the FBI and independent criminologists, the U.S. is set to experience a massive drop in homicides compared to the previous year, the New York Times reported. In 2020, the country saw the largest increase in murders ever.

Among nine violent and property crime categories covered by the FBI, only vehicle theft went up, with the rest experiencing a notable decline.

Jeff Asher, a New Orleans-based crime analyst, said that the data show that crime rates are affected by "big national factors."

“Murder didn’t go up because of things that happened in individual neighborhoods or individual streets,” he said. “It went up because of these big national factors, and I think the big national factors are probably driving it down. The biggest of which is probably COVID going to the background.”