May was the most violent month so far this year with 2,660 homicides recorded across the country, official data shows.

Security Minister Rosa Icela Rodríguez presented data at President López Obrador’s morning press conference on Tuesday that showed that homicides increased 9.2% in May compared to April.

The last time more homicides were recorded in a single month was last October, when 2,770 people were murdered.

Rodríguez acknowledged that homicides increased last month compared to April, but highlighted that the number of victims was the lowest of any May in the past six years. The year-over-year decline in murders was 5.9%.

The security minister noted that the number of homicides in May was 13.4% lower than the all-time single month high of 3,074, recorded in July 2018 during the government of former president Enrique Peña Nieto.

Data also showed that there were 12,582 homicides in the first five months of the year for an average of 83 per day. The daily homicide rate has trended downward during López Obrador’s presidency, falling around 18% between 2018 and 2023.

Almost half of the homicides this year – 47.6% – occurred in just six states. Guanajuato was the most violent state with 1,380 murders followed by México state with 1,119.

Ranking third to sixth were Baja California, Jalisco, Chihuahua and Michoacán. Yucatán has been the least violent state so far this year with just 16 homicides between January and May, while Baja California Sur recorded 18.

Guanajuato, where clashes between rival crime groups and targeted killings of presumed criminals are common, has been Mexico’s most violent state in recent years. Eleven of the state’s 46 municipalities are among the 50 most violent in the country based on their per-capita homicide rates over the past year, according to data compiled by crime statistics website elcri.men.

The municipalities encompassing state capital Guanajuato city, tourism and expat hotspot San Miguel de Allende and the historic town of Dolores Hidalgo are not among the 50 most violent.

The majority of homicides in Baja California occur in Tijuana, currently Mexico’s most violent city in terms of total murder numbers over the past year.

Data presented by Rodríguez showed there were over 1,800 homicides in the northern border city in the 12 months to the end of May, almost double the number recorded in Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, the second most violent Mexican city.

Mexico News Daily