Murders increased in 2020 by 29%, FBI annual report

The U.S. in 2020 had its biggest increase in annual murders since the national record-keeping started in 1960, according to an  FBI’s annual crime report.

The data is included in the agency’s Uniform Crime Report, considered the official record on such data.

Murders increased last year by 29% according to the report, reviewed by The New York Times. 

The newspaper reports the data is scheduled for official release Monday but published early on the FBI’s Crime Data Explorer website.

The agency told the newspaper some numbers could change but it's unlikely the main conclusions will differ.

Separately, an independent analysis of big cities the increase in murders this summer does not appear to be as large as the record spike last summer, which suggested the overall increase in 2021 could be lower than in the previous year.

The previous largest one-year change was a 12.7 percent increase in 1968. However, the national rate – murders per 100,000 – remains about one-third below the record-high rate in the early 1990s, The Times also reports.