TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras (AP) — Global murder rates have declined slightly, but remain very high in the Americas and parts of Africa, according to a new U.N. study released Thursday.

Homicide rates in southern Africa and Central America are more than four times higher than the global average of 6.2 victims per 100,000 people, the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime report said. The figures chronicle murder rates in 2012. The global average was 6.9 in 2010, the year of the last previous study.