Black Americans are eight times more likely than white Americans and 12 times more likely than the average person in a developed country to be murdered, according to a new analysis.

Analysis of figures released by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNDOC) and the US Center for Disease Control by data blog FiveThirtyEight found an average of 19.4 African Americans per 100,000 people were murdered between 2010 and 2012.

The second highest rate was in Lithuania with 6.9 people per 100,000 were murdered.

The Hispanic population in the US had a murder rate of about 5.3 per 100,000 people – roughly same as the overall national average of 5.2 – but white people had a murder rate of just 2.5 per 100,000.

The average rate for the developed world is about 1.6 per 100,000.

The US has been gripped by widespread protests over the shootings of two black men within two days. Philandro Castile, 34, of Falcon Heights, Minnesota, and Alton Sterling, 37, of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, were both shot dead by police officers.

Another man, Derawn Small, also 37, was shot dead by an off-duty police officer after they were involved in a car crash.

Police officers killed by sniper at protests in Dallas Show all 20 1 /20 Police officers killed by sniper at protests in Dallas Police officers killed by sniper at protests in Dallas A Dallas Area Rapid Transit police officer receives comfort at the Baylor University Hospital emergency room entrance in Dallas Dallas Morning News/AP Police officers killed by sniper at protests in Dallas Emergency services help an unknown patient on a stretcher as law enforcement officials stand nearby at the emergency receiving area of Baylor University Medical Center AP Police officers killed by sniper at protests in Dallas Dallas Police shield bystanders after shots were fired, during a protest over two recent fatal police shootings of black men AP Police officers killed by sniper at protests in Dallas Bystanders run for cover after shots fired at a Black Live Matter rally in downtown Dallas AP Police officers killed by sniper at protests in Dallas Police check a car after snipers opened fire on police officers in Dallas AP Police officers killed by sniper at protests in Dallas A man raises his hands as he walks near a law enforcement officer, following the shootings of several police officers in downtown Dallas AP Police officers killed by sniper at protests in Dallas A Dallas police officer steps out of a vehicle as he arrives in front of Baylor University Medical Center AP Police officers killed by sniper at protests in Dallas Dallas police officers face protesters on the corner of Ross Ave. and Griffin street after police officers were shot during a peaceful protest in Dallas EPA Police officers killed by sniper at protests in Dallas A Dallas police officer covers his face as he stands with others outside the emergency room at Baylor University Medical Center AP Police officers killed by sniper at protests in Dallas Law enforcement officials escort a couple in through the emergency room entrance at Baylor University Medical Center AP Police officers killed by sniper at protests in Dallas Dallas Police respond after shots were fired at a Black Lives Matter rally in downtown Dallas AP Police officers killed by sniper at protests in Dallas Dallas Police respond after shots were fired at a Black Lives Matter rally in downtown Dallas AP Police officers killed by sniper at protests in Dallas Police cars sit on Main Street in Dallas following the sniper shooting during a protest AFP/Getty Images Police officers killed by sniper at protests in Dallas A Police officer stands guard at a barricade following the sniper shooting in Dallas AFP/Getty Images Police officers killed by sniper at protests in Dallas Police stand near a barricade following the sniper shooting in Dallas AFP/Getty Images Police officers killed by sniper at protests in Dallas Dallas police check a car after detaining a driver after a shooting in downtown Dallas AP Police officers killed by sniper at protests in Dallas Dallas police order people away from the area after several police were shot in downtown Dallas AP Police officers killed by sniper at protests in Dallas Dallas police move to detains a driver after several police officers were shot in downtown Dallas AP Police officers killed by sniper at protests in Dallas Dallas police detain a driver after several police officers were shot in downtown Dallas AP Police officers killed by sniper at protests in Dallas Dallas Police respond after shots were fired at a Black Lives Matter rally in downtown Dallas Dallas Morning News/AP

Five police officers have been shot dead by four men at a Black Lives Matter protest in Dallas, Texas, on Thursday.

Police chief David Brown said the shooter, who was killed when the police detonated a bomb in his garage hideout, “wanted to kill white people”.

Mark Hughes says police lied about him shooting officers

“The suspect said he was upset about Black Lives Matter, he was upset at the recent police shootings," Mr Brown said.

"He was upset at white people and wanted to kill white people, especially white officers.”

More than 100 black men have been killed across the US by police officers in 2016 alone.

The Black Lives Matter movement began in 2012 after George Zimmerman was acquitted for the murder of unarmed black teenager, Trayvon Martin, in Florida.

The campaign achieved national recognition after the killings of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, in 2014 and of Freddie Gray in Baltimore, Maryland, in 2015.

It draws attention to the alleged impunity of white police officers to carry out extrajudicial killings of black people.