The number of murders in the US rose by more than 10 per cent in 2015 compared to the previous year – the largest percentage increase in more than 40 years – according to newly released crime figures from the FBI.

Overall, violent crime rose by 3.9 per cent from 2014 to 2015, although the total number of violent crimes remained lower than it was five years ago, and the numbers represent a small uptick in figures that have steadily declined over recent decades.

The FBI statistics, compiled from local law enforcement agencies across the US, showed an estimated 15,696 murders and non-negligent manslaughters in 2015: a 10.8 per cent increase on 2014, but approximately the same total number of killings as in 2009.

The surge in homicides disproportionately affected one demographic: at least 900 more black men were killed in 2015 than 2014. The rising violence was also centred on several large cities, such as Chicago, Baltimore and Houston.

New York and Los Angeles, the nation’s two largest cities, saw only small bumps in homicides in 2015 – slightly up from historic lows in recent years. New York also experienced a marked decrease in murders in the first half of 2016.

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The FBI figures show the largest single-year percentage leap in murders since 1971, and are likely to feature in tonight’s first US presidential debate between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton.

The Republican nominee has fuelled his campaign with claims of rising violence across the US, criticising President Barack Obama for what Mr Trump has described, without any specific evidence, as a “rollback of criminal enforcement”.

In fact, despite last year’s rise, overall violent crime has dropped dramatically in the eight years of the Obama administration. Polls have shown, however, that Americans tend to believe crime is going up even in those years when it markedly declines.

The figures, published on Monday, were compiled from results reported voluntarily by more than 18,000 local law enforcement agencies across the US, through the FBI’s Uniform Crime Reporting Program.

In May, FBI Director James Comey said the agency didn’t know precisely what was driving the rise in murders in major cities. “But holy cow, do we have a problem,” he said.

US Attorney General Loretta Lynch said the data showed there was still “so much work to do”. Speaking in Little Rock, Arkansas on Monday, Ms Lynch said: “Violence affects all of us — and so all of us have a responsibility to end it.”