Last year was the least violent year since 2016, according to preliminary homicide data presented by Security Minister Rosa Icela Rodríguez on Tuesday.
There were 29,675 homicides in 2023 for an average of 81 per day, Rodríguez reported at President López Obrador’s morning press conference.
Homicides declined 10.8% compared to 2022 based on final data for that year, which showed that there were 33,287 homicides.
However, the preliminary 2023 total will likely be revised upward, as has occurred in previous years.
Compared to the initial 2022 figure announced by Rodríguez on Jan. 17, 2023 – 30,968 homicides – the total reported on Tuesday represents a more modest reduction of 4.2%.
Data presented by the security minister on Tuesday showed that the last time Mexico recorded fewer homicides than 2023 was in 2016, when a total of 24,559 were counted.
Rodríguez said that homicides have declined 20% since López Obrador took office in December 2018, although the data she presented indicated a slightly lower reduction of 19.1%.
The president’s six-year term will go down as the most violent on record, with over 170,000 homicides recorded since he was sworn in just over five years ago.
However, Rodríguez highlighted that López Obrador is the first president since Ernesto Zedillo (1994-2000) to oversee a reduction in homicides over the course of a presidential term.
The security minister also presented data for a range of other crimes including femicide, the killing of a woman or girl on account of her gender. There were 848 femicides last year, lifting the total number of murders above 30,000, based on preliminary data.
Which states were the most and least violent in 2023?
Rodríguez noted that 46.8% of the 29,675 homicides recorded last year occurred in just six states.
Guanajuato – which has now been Mexico’s most violent state for several years based on total murders – recorded 3,104 homicides in 2023, according to preliminary data.
Criminal groups including the Jalisco New Generation Cartel and the San Rosa de Lima Cartel are the main perpetrators of the violence in Guanajuato, which is concentrated in a relatively small number of municipalities including Irapuato, Celaya and Salamanca.
México state, the country’s most populous state, ranked second for total homicides with 2,597 in 2023. La Familia Michoacana, which was involved in a deadly clash with farmers last month, is among the crime groups that operate in the state.
Ranking third to sixth for total homicides in 2023 were Baja California (2417); Chihuahua (2,072); Jalisco (1,955); and Michoacán (1,756).
The five states with the lowest number of homicides last year were Baja California Sur (27; Yucatán (34); Durango (91); Aguascalientes (95); and Campeche (101).
Out of the 32 federal entities, Mexico City ranked as the 16th most violent with 871 homicides, according to the preliminary data presented by Rodríguez.
Mexico News Daily
