Over 75% of expatriates in Mexico say they feel safe living in the country, according to a recent survey by online magazine Expats in Mexico.
“The objective of our survey this year was to find out how the over 1.2 million expats currently living in Mexico feel about their own personal safety,” said magazine co-founder Robert Nelson.
“We know through numerous studies and government statistics that Mexico’s personal security issues are top-of-mind with both expats living in Mexico and the millions of visitors who come to the country each year. This study reveals that the day-to-day experience of expats differs greatly from the media headlines.”
Almost two thirds of the 431 respondents said that they had never been a victim of any type of crime in Mexico. Robbery was the most prevalent crime reported among 37% of the respondents; another 6% said they had been victims of fraud.
The expat respondents said that they considered bank machines and city streets the most unsafe places to be. The governmental agencies they said they most depend on for safety are the municipal and federal police; the National Guard ranked fifth on the list.
The survey found that factors like the size of the community, the presence of a large expat population, tourist and non-tourist areas and the lack of drug cartel activity all played a role in whether or not expats believed their place of residence was safer than others.
“I believe my current Mexican city to be as safe as a city as [any] I have lived in in my adult life, including in the U.S.,” said one expat who responded.
“I have lived in roughly eight cities in Mexico for at least two months up to three years during the last 40 years, and taking into account changes in the country during that time and my age changing, I have adjusted to the current conditions in each of those places and have never felt in danger in any of them.”
The survey was conducted on the Expats in Mexico website in January and February. Respondents participated from a wide range of locations in the country. They were slightly more male than female and almost 80% were over 55 years old.
Around 13% of respondents said they did not feel safe living in Mexico.
Mexico News Daily
