More than 500 people have been murdered in New Zealand since 2007. Photo / File
More than 500 people have been murdered in New Zealand since 2007. Photo / File
More than 500 people have been murdered in New Zealand in the past 11 years.
New figures released by the New Zealand police show 518 people were murdered between 2007 and 2017.
Another 216 people were killed in manslaughters in the same period.
But the rate is dropping.
Provisional statisticsshow 35 people were murdered last year. That equates to 7 murders per million people - the lowest murder rate the country has seen since 1975 and less than half that of the late 1980s and early 1990s.
The total number of homicides, which includes both murder and manslaughter, has dropped for the past two years with 58 in 2016 and 48 last year according to provisional data.
Detective Superintendent Tim Anderson, national manager of criminal investigations said although the number of homicides was declining, it didn't change the fact that every one of those numbers represented a grieving family.
"Victims are at the heart of everything Police does and we are committed to bringing a sense of closure to their families by holding those responsible to account.
