The semiannual homicide rate in Mexico decreased to 11.7 per 100,000 inhabitants in the first half of 2024, lower than that recorded in the same period of the previous year, according to the National Institute of Statistics and Geography (Inegi). During the first six months of 2024, 15,243 murders were preliminarily documented, representing a 4.7% decrease compared to those reported in the first half of 2023 (15,995), marking the fourth consecutive year-on-year decline in that period.
Of the recorded homicides, 13,418 were men, 1,728 women, and the gender of the rest was not specified. The homicide rate for men was 21.2 per 100,000 inhabitants, showing a decrease of 1.1 points compared to the same period in 2023. On the other hand, the female homicide rate decreased to 2.6 per 100,000 inhabitants, which represents a decrease of 0.4 points.
The Inegi report was published a week after the Executive Secretariat of the National Public Security System (SESNSP) of the Government announced a 1.2% annual increase in intentional homicides in 2024, reaching a total of 30,057. This information corresponds to the last year of Andrés Manuel López Obrador's presidency (2018-2024), who left office last October with a cumulative record of more than 196,000 murders.
While government data comes from investigative files of the prosecutors' offices, Inegi's statistics are based on administrative records of accidental and violent deaths from the states, including Civil Registry offices, forensic medical services, and Public Ministry agencies. The homicide index revealed by Inegi corresponds only to the first half of the year and is of a semiannual nature.
Considering the entire year, the annual homicide rate in Mexico decreased to 24 per 100,000 inhabitants in 2023, following rates of 26 in 2022, 28 in 2021, and 29 during the years 2018, 2019, and 2020, which marked a record level of homicides in the country, according to Inegi records that counted 31,062 murders in 2023. During the first half of 2024, 73% of homicides in Mexico were caused by firearm assaults (11,071), followed by assaults with sharp objects (1,389) and hangings (978), according to Inegi data.
