London’s murder rate fell in 2025 to its lowest level in decades, police said, and Mayor Sadiq Khan said the figures contradict claims by U.S. President Donald Trump and others that crime in the city is out of control.

Police recorded 97 homicides in London in 2025, down from 109 in 2024 and the fewest since 2014, the Metropolitan Police said. The force said the population-based rate was 1.1 homicides per 100,000 people, the lowest since comparable records began in 1997.

The comparison with other cities was part of the case made by officials, with the Metropolitan Police saying the rate was 1.6 per 100,000 in Paris, 2.8 in New York and 3.2 in Berlin.

Khan, in an interview with The Associated Press, said the data disprove what he described as distortions spread online and in political messaging. “There are some politicians and commentators who’ve been spamming our social media with an endless stream of distortions and untruths, painting an image of a dystopian London,” Khan told the AP. “And nothing could be further from the truth.”

The AP said Trump has repeatedly targeted Khan and the mayor’s record, including by criticizing him for what Trump called London’s crime problems. The report said Trump told The Associated Press that crime in the city was “through the roof” in September and has called Khan a “stone-cold loser,” a “nasty person” and a “terrible, terrible mayor.” The AP also said Trump claimed without foundation that Khan wants to bring Sharia, or Islamic law, to London.

City officials told the AP that the drop in violent crime reflects a mix of tactics, including targeted policing aimed at organized crime and a violence reduction unit that aims to stop young people from getting involved with gangs.

Declining rates for murder and other violent crime were described by the AP as only part of London’s crime picture, with some residents saying their day-to-day experience can feel different. Vijay Pankhania, walking his dog outside London’s city hall by the River Thames, told the AP it feels like minor crimes have gone up, including stealing mobile phones from people that he said he had seen “loads of times.”

The AP cited survey results suggesting a more complicated pattern beyond homicide statistics. It said the Crime Survey for England and Wales found overall crime rose by 7% in the year to March 2025 compared with the previous 12 months, though it remains significantly lower than in 2017.

Khan said he is concerned about misinformation spreading through social media, particularly among people who have not spent time in London. He warned the city can be misrepresented as dystopian when, he said, the “sole source of information” for some people is a social media feed.

Mark J. Hill, a lecturer in cultural computation at King’s College London who studies how social media posts about violence in London evolve, told the AP there was evidence that online discourse can shape offline behavior. “Posts where people are asking if it’s safe to visit London might be bots, but are just as likely to be real people who are concerned about coming to London,” Hill said. “These narratives are impacting their decisions about where they might go on holiday. … That’s, in my opinion, one of the really problematic things about it.”

Hill added that he sees no immediate fix for separating statistical reality from misinformation. “There is no magic bullet at the moment for making people aware of what is statistically the case and what is misinformation or a misunderstanding of the actual reality,” he said.

In response to the debate around London’s safety, Khan told the AP that he rejects the dystopian framing. “London is, in my view, the greatest city in the world,” he said, describing it as liberal, progressive and diverse.

Khan also argued that the city’s identity does not align with the political narrative pushed by Trump and others. He said London is “the antithesis” of what he associated with politicians like Trump and Vice President JD Vance, who has expressed the belief that Europe is being overwhelmed by immigrants.

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