London's murder rate for 2018 so far is the highest in a calendar year this decade.
There have been 125 homicides in the capital so far this year.
It marks the largest number in a calendar year since 2009 when there were 131.
In the latest violent death in the capital, an 18-year-old man was stabbed to death in a fight in Alwold Crescent, Lee, south-east London, shortly before 10pm on Tuesday.
Police said they were called to "reports of armed youths in the street". A second man, also 18, went to hospital with stab injuries but has since been discharged.
Three men aged 22, 31 and 56 and two women aged 29 and 53 were arrested and taken to police stations in south London for questioning.
In 2018 there have been 72 deaths involving a knife, 13 involving a gun, one involving a knife and a gun and one a crossbow.
Just over a third of victims, 44, were aged 16 to 24, of whom 10 were shot, 32 were stabbed and one was killed in an attack involving a knife and gun.
Twenty-five of the victims were aged 19 and under, six of whom were shot and 16 of whom were stabbed.
Earlier this month Metropolitan Police Commissioner Cressida Dick insisted the tide was turning against knife and gun offences, although she admitted it would take time to tackle the 180 violent gangs in London who drag children into crime.
The force released figures that showed in September, October and November this year there were 176 fewer victims of knife crime with injury aged under 25 than in the same three months in 2017, a 31 per cent reduction.
According to Home Office figures, the number of police-recorded homicides in London, for both the Metropolitan and City of London forces, was:
2009 - 131
2010 - 124
2011 - 119
2012 - 105
2013 - 107
2014 - 94
2015 - 122
2016 - 111
2017 - 118 (excluding victims of terrorist attacks)
In mid-November the number of murder investigations in London so far this year surpassed that of the whole of 2017, when the total reached 118.
Levels of violent crime in the capital have remained a concern throughout the year.
In response to the bloodshed, the Metropolitan Police Violent Crime Task Force was set up, which made more than 1,300 arrests in its first six months.
Additional reporting by Press Association.