Homicide and acts of personal violence kill more people than wars and are the third-leading cause of death among men aged 15 to 44, according to a new report by the United Nations.

The Global Study on Homicide 2013 was released last week by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. Here are seven figures you should know from the report:

1. Intentional homicide caused the deaths of almost half a million people (437,000) across the world in 2012.

2. The global average homicide rate stands at 6.2 per 100,000 population.

3. More than a third of intentional homicides (36 per cent) occurred in the Americas, 31 per cent in Africa and 28 per cent in Asia, while Europe (5 per cent) and Oceania (0.3 per cent) accounted for the lowest shares of homicide at the regional level.

4. 79 per cent of all homicide victims globally are male, and some 95 per cent of homicide perpetrators at the global level are also male.

5. 43 per cent of all homicide victims are aged 15-29. More than one in seven of all homicide victims globally is a young male aged 15-29 living in the Americas.

6. Almost 750 million people live in countries with high homicide levels, meaning that almost half of all homicides occur in countries that make up just 11 per cent of the global population and that personal security is still a major concern for more than 1 in 10 people on the planet.

7. Almost three billion people live in an expanding group of countries with relatively low homicide rates, many of which, particularly in Europe and Oceania, have continued to experience a decrease in their homicide rates since 1990.

Other entries in this series:

Rape And Sexual Assault Among College-Age Females•Trafficking in Children on the Increase•Family Structure and Economic Success •Mortality in the United States•Prevalence of Violence Against Children•Hunger in America• As the Nation Ages, Seven States e Younger•Trafficking in Persons Report•American Time Use Survey•The Shifting Religious Identity of Latinos in the U.S.•Inmate Sexual Victimization by Correctional Authorities•Tax Day Edition•Wages and Employment in America