LONDON — Defying international perceptions of a crime-ridden metropolis, London has achieved its lowest homicide rate in decades according to official 2025 data released Monday. The British capital recorded just 97 murders throughout the year, marking a significant decline from 109 in 2024 and representing the most favorable statistics since 2014.
Mayor Sadiq Khan seized upon the figures to directly challenge what he characterized as “distortions and untruths” propagated by former U.S. President Donald Trump and conservative commentators. “There are some politicians and commentators who’ve been spamming social media with an endless stream of distortions, painting an image of a dystopian London,” Khan stated in an interview with The Associated Press. “Nothing could be further from the truth.”
The Metropolitan Police confirmed that when adjusted for population, London’s homicide rate stands at 1.1 per 100,000 residents—the lowest since comparable record-keeping began in 1997. This performance compares favorably with other major global cities: Paris records 1.6 homicides per 100,000, New York maintains 2.8, while Berlin reports 3.2.
The decade-long feud between Khan and Trump resurfaced prominently in the context of these crime statistics. Trump had asserted in September that London’s crime was “through the roof” while personally attacking Khan as a “stone-cold loser” and “terrible mayor” during a U.N. General Assembly address. The former president had also baselessly claimed that Khan sought to implement Sharia law in London.
City officials attributed the improved safety metrics to targeted policing strategies focusing on organized crime networks and a specialized violence reduction unit designed to prevent youth involvement in gang activities.
However, the declining murder rate represents only one dimension of London’s crime landscape. The Office for National Statistics indicates surging incidents of phone-snatching and shoplifting, while the Crime Survey for England and Wales—which measures public experiences rather than police reports—showed a 7% overall crime increase in the year ending March 2025 compared to the previous period, though remaining substantially below 2017 levels.
The political dimension of crime reporting has intensified on social media platforms, particularly Elon Musk’s X (formerly Twitter), where narratives of London as a crime-plagued dystopia under Labour leadership have gained traction, often intertwined with anti-immigrant sentiment.
Khan positioned London’s progress as a rebuke to nationalist politics, proclaiming: “We are liberal, we are progressive, we are diverse. And we are incredibly successful. We’re the antithesis to everything these nativists believe in.” The mayor highlighted London’s status as the world’s top tourist destination, sporting and cultural capital, and leading hub for international students and foreign investment.
“If you’re President Trump, Vice President JD Vance, or an imitator in Europe or indeed in the UK,” Khan concluded, “I can see why this is a problem to you.”