Homicides in Mexico declined almost 40% in December compared to the final month of Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s presidency, according to preliminary data presented by the federal government on Thursday.
The annual decline in homicides across 2025 was a more modest but still significant 30.2%.
At President Claudia Sheinbaum’s morning press conference, held on Thursday in Cuernavaca, National Public Security System chief Marcela Figueroa presented preliminary data that showed there was an average of 52.4 homicides per day in December.
The daily average last month was 39.7% lower than the 86.9 homicides per day recorded in September 2024, the final month of López Obrador’s six-year presidency.
Figueroa highlighted that there were 34 fewer homicides per day in December than in September 2024. She also reported that last month was the least violent December in terms of homicides in 10 years.
Sheinbaum attributed the decline in homicides to her government’s security strategy, based on four core tenets, including enhanced coordination between security authorities at the different levels of government.
The preliminary data presented by Figueroa was compiled from homicide statistics submitted to the federal government by authorities in Mexico’s 32 federal entities.
Preliminary data is usually revised upward to show that there were in fact more homicides than initially indicated.
30% annual decline in murders
Figueroa also reported that the daily homicide rate in 2025 was the lowest in 10 years.
The data she presented showed there was an average of 64 homicides per day last year, a decline of 30.2% compared to 2024.
Compared to 2018 and 2020, years in which there was an average of 100.5 homicides per day, the reduction was 36.3%.
Across 2025, Mexico recorded 23,374 homicides, according to the data presented by Figueroa.
Per capita homicide rate falls to lowest level since 2015
Figueroa reported that Mexico recorded 17.5 homicides per 100,000 people in 2025, the lowest per capita rate since 2015.
The data she presented showed that Mexico recorded 17 homicides per 100,000 people in 2015, before the per capita rate increased increased in subsequent years to reach 29.1 in 2018, a year in which former president Enrique Peña Nieto was in office for the first 11 months.
The per capita rate remained well above 20 throughout López Obrador’s presidency before falling to 17.5 in 2025, the first full year of Sheinbaum’s six-year term.
Colima, Mexico’s least populous state, is the most violent federal entity in terms of per capita homicides, with 81.4 per 100,000 people between December 2024 and November 2025, according to crime date website elcri.men.
Over 50% of murders in 2025 occurred in 7 states
Of the 23,374 homicides recorded across Mexico last year, 11,805 — 50.5% of the total — occurred in seven of the country’s 32 entities, according to the data presented by Figueroa.
Guanajuato was once again Mexico’s most violent state in terms of total murders, with 2,539 between January and December. That figure represents 10.9% of the national total.
Most of the violence in Guanajuato is related to organized crime. Among the criminal groups that operate in the state are the Jalisco New Generation Cartel and the Santa Rosa de Lima Cartel. Those two organizations are engaged in a long-running turf war in Guanajuato.
After Guanajuato, the next six most violent states in terms of total homicides last year were:
- Chihuahua: 1,791 homicides (7.7% of the national total)
- Baja California: 1,714 homicides (7.3%)
- Sinaloa: 1,663 homicides (7.1%)
- México state: 1,519 homicides (6.5%)
- Guerrero: 1,312 homicides (5.6%)
- Michoacán: 1,267 homicides (5.4%)
Three other states — Jalisco, Sonora and Morelos — recorded more than 1,000 homicides last year.
Mexico City ranked as the 14th most violent entity in terms of homicides in 2025 with 849.
Three states recorded fewer than 100 murders last year: Yucatán (33), Durango (59) and Coahuila (76).
Homicides declined in 26 entities last year
Figueroa reported that homicides declined in 26 federal entities last year, with Zacatecas recording the largest year-over-year reduction.
She said that homicides declined 71.1% in Zacatecas, which recorded 144 murders in 2025.
Four other states recorded annual reductions in homicides above 50%. They were:
- Chiapas, where homicides declined 58.6% to 369.
- Quintana Roo (home to tourism destinations such as Cancún and Tulum), where homicides fell 56.8% to 291.
- San Luis Potosí, where homicides declined 53.3% to 207.
- Nuevo León, where homicides fell 52.7% to 726.
Among the other states that recorded a decline in homicides last year were the three most violent ones. Murders fell 19.2% in Guanajuato, 12% in Chihuahua and 27.5% in Baja California.
Among Mexico’s 32 federal entities, only six recorded annual increases in homicides in 2025. They were Sinaloa, Campeche, Veracruz, Baja California Sur, Hidalgo and Nayarit.
High-impact crimes also down
Figueroa reported that the incidence of high-impact crimes declined 47% between 2018 and 2025. Among such crimes are homicides, femicides, kidnappings, violent robberies and extortion.
An average of 514.3 high-impact crimes were recorded across Mexico per day in 2025, a reduction of 14.4% compared to 2024.
Figueroa presented data that showed that the incidence of 10 of 11 high-impact crimes (excluding homicides) declined last year compared to 2024. She reported that:
- Femicides declined 15.2%.
- Firearm-related injuries fell 11.3%.
- Extortion-related kidnappings decreased 11.3%.
- Violent robberies (all categories) declined 14.7%.
- Violent home burglaries fell 12.6%.
- Violent vehicle theft decreased 19.5%.
- Violent robberies of transport trucks declined 23.3%.
- Muggings fell 15.9%.
- Violent robberies of businesses decreased 14%.
- “Other” violent robberies declined 6%.
The only high-impact crime whose incidence increased in annual terms last year was extortion. Reported cases of that crime rose 2.3% compared to 2024.
The federal government launched an anti-extortion strategy last July, and a new federal law aimed at combating the crime was approved by Congress in November.
By Mexico News Daily chief staff writer Peter Davies (peter.davies@mexiconewsdaily.com)
