Comparing mass shootings in the U.S. and developed countries 1998-2019

There were public mass shootings in the United States in every year between 1998 and 2019, resulting in a total of almost 1,900 casualties. When compared with the number of victims of mass shootings in all other developed nations (based on UN specifications), the United States' figure is often higher than all of these countries combined. There were notable exceptions, such as the attacks in Paris on the evening November 13. 2015, which resulted in 130 deaths and 416 injuries (the same year the Charlie Hebdo shooting killed 12 people and injured 11 more); and the 2011 attacks in Oslo and Utøya, Norway and Liège, Belgium which had a combined casualty count of 240 due to gunfire. In the United States, the deadliest mass shooting in this time was the Las Vegas Strip massacre in 2017.

Comparison of the annual number of mass shooting casualties in the United States and all other developed countries combined from 1998 to 2019

Characteristic	United States	All other developed countries
2019	159	124
2018	122	39
2017	561	25
2016	131	24
2015	79	611
2014	32	4
2013	46	14
2012	145	12
2011	39	262
2010	31	45
2009	103	29
2008	61	11
2007	87	9
2006	25	0
2005	30	0
2004	21	0
2003	29	6
2002	6	44
2001	22	46
2000	13	0
1999	104	31
1998	45	18

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Release date

April 2023

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Region

United States

Survey time period

1998 to 2019

Supplementary notes

According to the source: Mass shootings are defined as gun-violence incidents in a public locations within a 24-hour period that result in four or more deaths, excluding the perpetrator, with victims chosen at random or for their symbolic value. They exclude incidents involving profit-driven criminal activity, state-sponsored violence and familicide.

Figures may not match other statistics on the platform due to varying methodologies. Figures appear to include victims of gunfire only, and not casualties of non-gunfire attacks (such as bombings, stabbings, injuries, etc)

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