Figures for England and Wales show there were 429 male and 241 female victims in 2018-19

The number of women killed by a current or former partner has surged by nearly a third, fresh figures have revealed, as overall numbers of female victims of homicide hit a 14-year-high.

There were 80 women killed by a partner or ex in the year to March 2019, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said, an increase of 27% from the previous year.

And figures showed the total number of female victims of homicide – that is murder, manslaughter and infanticide – increased from 220 to 241, the second annual increase and the highest number since the year ending March 2006.

There were 662 separate homicide incidents in the period, up 3% from the 644 the previous year and the highest since 2008, when there were 712, the ONS said.

Sarah Green, the director of the End Violence Against Women Coalition, said: “This rise in domestic violence murders is extremely worrying. We need an urgent, detailed examination of every case and what failings they have in common.”

Alex Mayes, external affairs manager at the charity Victim Support, said: “It is deeply disturbing to see that more women are being killed, in part due to a rise in homicides as a result of domestic abuse.

“Working with the families bereaved by murder and manslaughter, we know that the impact of these crimes is devastating to both families and communities. These statistics highlight the fatal impact of domestic abuse, and show how much more needs to be done to tackle abuse and keep victims safe.”

The homeless charity Crisis is calling for the government to guarantee a safe home for anyone fleeing domestic violence in the forthcoming domestic abuse bill.

Hannah Gousy, head of policy and external affairs at Crisis, said: “These figures are a devastating reminder of why it’s so important for women experiencing domestic violence to have somewhere safe to escape to, and how our continued failure to act is having fatal consequences.

“We know that leaving an abuser can be one of the most dangerous times, but currently we’re leaving women with no option but to return to the very place and person they were trying to flee from, because they have nowhere else to go.

“This is truly shameful; we can and must do better than this.”

Overall, there were 671 victims of homicide, a figure that is 33, or 5%, lower than the previous year’s total.

It is the first fall since 2015, although this was partly due to those killed in the London and Manchester terror attacks and the Shoreham air crash being included in the 2018 figures.

The ONS said the drop in offences recorded as murder, manslaughter or infanticide in the 12-month period was driven by a fall in the number male victims, which went down by 11%, from 484 to 429.

The number of baby girls and toddlers killed in the period also reached a decade high, with homicide victims including 14 females under the age of one and 13 toddlers aged between one and four.

These are the highest numbers since the earliest available figures, when six baby girls and eight children aged between one and four were killed in the year to March 2009.

The most common method of killing continued to be stabbing, with 259 homicides committed with a sharp instrument, down 8%, with a fall of 23 offences, on the previous year.

• In the UK, Samaritans can be contacted on 116 123 and the domestic violence helpline is 0808 2000 247. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is on 13 11 14 and the national family violence counselling service is on 1800 737 732. In the US, the suicide prevention lifeline is 1-800-273-8255 and the domestic violence hotline is 1-800-799-SAFE (7233). Other international helplines can be found at www.befrienders.org