New Delhi  - India has recorded the highest number of murders in the world, a latest study by a government agency shows, news reports said Monday.

Data put together by the National Crime Records Bureau, a department of the Federal Home Ministry, showed that the number of murders in India, was three times that of Pakistan and double of the United States.

There were more than 32,000 incidents of murder recorded in India over 2007-2008, whereas there were nearly 16,700 murders in the US and about 9,700 in Pakistan, the NDTV network reported.

India is closely followed by South Africa which registered nearly 31,000 incidents of murders.

However, the survey clarified that the rate per population of murder and other crimes in India was much less compared to other countries.

India has the world's second largest population after China with an estimated 1.13 billion people.

The murder and rape rate in India was three and four per 100,000 population respectively, whereas South Africa had rates in the two categories as 65.27 and 115.8 respectively, the Times of India daily said in its report.

The NCRB said the data was compiled in 22 countries which included Australia, Argentina, Austria, Bulgaria, Japan, Canada, Britain, Germany, Malaysia, New Zealand, Thailand and Sri Lanka.

According to the NCRB, the US topped the crime list with 23 million cases including murder, rape, sex and drug offences, while India reported 5 million incidents of crime.

The top number of rape cases were reported in the US, which recorded 93,934 such assaults. More than 54,900 rape cases reported in South Africa and 18,359 rape cases were reported in India over 2007-2008.

Although the Indian government has taken measures to strengthen the police force in the country, the crime rate has been increasing every year.

The national capital New Delhi registered an increase of 1.08 per cent in murders in 2007 compared to 2006.

Police officials have cited various reasons for the high crime rate in the South Asian country. Unemployment, lack of livelihood opportunities and poverty drove people to criminal activities, they said. (dpa)