At the end of February 2025, Barbados had recorded at least three homicides between February 1st and February 28th. In comparison, the same period in 2024 saw at least two homicides, marking an increase of 50%. For the year so far, i.e., January to February, the island has had at least 10 homicides.
Disclaimer: My count and analysis are based solely on media reports; the figures and insights provided below should not be considered official or final.
Note: Homicide stats, as well as general crime stats, are published on barbadoscrimeblog.com. Homicide stats will still continue to be published here on caribbeansignal.com
The map in Image 1 illustrates the distribution of homicides across Barbados for the period January to February 2025, with a total of ten recorded cases. St. Michael had the highest count, followed by Christ Church with four and three homicides respectively, while St. Philip, St. Thomas, and St. Lucy each recorded one. The remaining parishes—St. James, St. Andrew, St. Peter, St. Joseph, St. George, and St. John—reported no homicides.
A new column, “Approach Method,” was added to Table 1. This captures, when available through news reports, how the attacker approached the victim. For example, was it a drive-by, or did the assailant(s) drive to the scene, exit the vehicle, and then attack? In both cases, I would categorize it as ‘Motorcar.’ Alternatively, was the attack carried out on foot, such as a fight that broke out in a bar or an attacker approaching the victim on the street? This variable is subjective, as it relies on the specific details available from media reports.
Chart 1 illustrates the number of homicides in Barbados for the first two months of 2025. In January, there were seven homicides, making it the deadliest month so far. In February, the number of homicides dropped to three, reflecting a decline of 57%. No data is shown for the remaining months of the year.
Chart 2 displays the distribution of homicides across the parishes of Barbados for the period January to February 2025. It shows that violent crime has been concentrated in a few key areas, while other parishes have recorded no homicides for the year so far.
St. Michael has the highest number of homicides, with four cases, making it the most affected parish. This is followed by Christ Church, which recorded three homicides. Meanwhile, St. Philip, St. Thomas, and St. Lucy each had one homicide during this period. The remaining six parishes—St. James, St. Andrew, St. Peter, St. Joseph, St. George, and St. John—recorded no homicides at all.
Chart 3 presents the per capita homicide rates across the parishes of Barbados for January to February 2025, measuring the number of homicides per 100,000 residents in each parish. Unlike absolute homicide counts, this metric provides a clearer picture of the relative impact of violent crime in each area by accounting for population size.
St. Lucy records the highest per capita homicide rate at 10.2 per 100,000 people, despite only having one homicide in absolute terms. This suggests that while St. Lucy had fewer total homicides than other parishes, its smaller population makes the impact of crime proportionally higher. St. Thomas follows with a rate of 7.0 per 100,000, also with just one homicide but in a similarly less populated area.
Christ Church and St. Michael, which had higher absolute homicide counts, show per capita rates of 5.5 and 4.5 per 100,000, respectively. While these numbers are lower than those of St. Lucy and St. Thomas, they are still concerning given the larger populations in these parishes. Meanwhile, St. Philip records a rate of 3.3 per 100,000, reflecting a lower but still notable impact.
Six parishes—St. Andrew, St. Joseph, St. James, St. Peter, St. John, and St. George—report a zero per capita homicide rate, as they did not record any homicides during this period.
Chart 4 categorizes the methods used in homicides across Barbados for the period January to February 2025. Shooting-related incidents dominate, accounting for 7 cases, making firearms the most prevalent weapon in violent crimes for the year. Blade/Edge-related weapons, such as knives or machetes, were the second most common, with 2 cases. Other methods (fighting/beating/et cetera) accounted for 1 case.
Chart 5 categorizes the age group of homicide victims in Barbados for January 2025. The age group of 25 to 34 stands out with the highest number of victims, with 4 homicides for the year so far. The youngest victim was 19 years old, while the eldest was 50 years old. No age data was available for one victim.
Chart 6 reveals a significant gender disparity in homicide victims in Barbados for the period January to February 2025. 9 males lost their lives to, compared to 1 female.
Chart 7 categorizes the timing of homicides in Barbados for the period January to February 2025. The majority of the homicides (7) occurred during the workweek, compared to 3 on the weekend. Note: I define the workweek as Monday to Thursday.
Chart 8 categorizes homicides in Barbados for the period January to February 2025 by day of the week. The majority of homicides took place on Thursday (5), followed by Wednesday (2). Tuesday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday each had 1 homicide.
Chart 9 categorizes the number of homicides in Barbados for the period January to February 2025, broken down by specific time slots. Most homicides occurred during the 8 AM to 12 PM and 8 PM to 12 AM time slots (3 and 3). One homicide each took place during the 12 AM to 4 AM, 12 PM to 4 PM and 4 PM to 8 PM time slot. Additionally, there was 1 homicide categorized as “Unknown” in terms of time.
Between January and February 2025, Barbados experienced a total of at least 10 homicides, with 4 occurring in St. Michael. Among these incidents, 7 were shooting-related, and the victims included 9 males and 1 female, with 4 individuals aged between 25 to 34 years. 7 of the homicides occurred during the workweek and 3 over the weekend. In terms of days of the week, Thursday was particularly notable with 4 homicides recorded, every other day, except Monday, recorded 1 homicide. The majority of these violent events took place during the time slots of 8 AM to 12 PM and 8 PM to 12 AM.
caribbeansignal.com is the personal blog of Amit Uttamchandani. Posts or comments made by Amit on this blog represent His personal views, opinions, thoughts, et cetera. Furthermore, the information presented do not represent official crime statistics. Finally, the raw data, i.e., the Excel file(s) used to create this post, as well as raw data dumps from the Barbados Homicide Database are available for purchase.
