🔗 Share this article Everyday Killings in Mexico Fall Thirty-Seven Percent During the Sheinbaum Administration, According to Government Figures The mean figure of per-day murders monthly in the country has dropped by thirty-seven percent since President Claudia Sheinbaum assumed power, as stated by recent official data. Nevertheless, security analysts have cautioned that murder data might not point to improved national safety. Marked Decline in Per-Day Averages Officials reported an average of nearly 55 homicides a day in November as opposed to almost 87 when Sheinbaum took the leadership in the previous September. This announcement was delivered by the chief of the country’s federal safety system, Marcela Figueroa Franco, during the president’s daily press briefing on Tuesday. “The result in murders that have been recorded during these past months is very important,” the President said, explaining that last month the least amount of murders were documented for any single November in the last decade. Historical Background and Government Strategy Violent organized crime infighting, coupled with the government’s highly militarised campaigns to take on the trafficking organizations, have caused Mexico’s murder numbers soar in the past few years. The figure reached a peak of 36,773 killings in 2020, per the country’s national statistics agency. That resulted in Mexico a murder rate over 4x greater than the United States. However, homicides have been on the decrease, falling to 33,550 in the last calendar year. Sheinbaum has attributed her national security approach for an seemingly sharper decline in killings this year. At a media briefing in the summer, the President declared: “There is a strategy, we have monitoring of the plan, and there is specific monitoring town by town in certain cases. The plan works. And we have to persist at it daily.” The main elements of Sheinbaum’s security strategy involve: Bolstering Mexico’s federal guard. Improving information gathering and investigative efforts. Enhanced cooperation between various agencies. Analyst Warnings and Statistical Concerns Nevertheless, security researchers urged caution that using homicide statistics to paint a picture of improved security was problematic. This is notably true given the rise in different crimes such as abductions. “This would be positive information if this was a drop, but I think we must not just focus on the homicide data and think: ‘Oh well, great,’” commented Cecilia Farfán-Méndez, an specialist on Mexican cartels. “I would be guardedly hopeful.” As reported by the policy research organization Mexico Evalúa, homicides in total fell by more than 20% in the first 10 months of this year relative to the identical timeframe the previous year. However, missing persons cases have increased by 15% and in certain states have increased by up to 200%. “Statistics on murders is not reliable for estimating the reality of insecurity,” stated Armando Vargas, a safety analyst at Mexico Evalúa. “First, we have law enforcement and prosecutors who lack the resources or the desire to properly recognize and classify remains. Secondly, organized [criminals] … have the ability to hide violence through abductions.” Vargas noted that using month-to-month averages of daily homicides was additionally problematic because it might hide days when there were particularly elevated numbers of killings. “Using the daily average makes surges of violent crime invisible,” he stated. Detentions and Seizures as Metrics of Progress Where the government can highlight the success of its safety plan is on arrests and seizures. Nearly 40,000 individuals were detained between last October and November 2025 for high-impact crimes, per official data. More than 20,000 firearms were taken and 311 tons of drugs intercepted. “Donald Trump cannot accuse President Sheinbaum of doing nothing, because in reality she is accomplishing a lot with these many thousands of detentions, thousands of confiscations, and all the operational degrading of organised crime. It’s very politically advantageous,” stated Vargas. Ongoing Unrest and Public Anger However notwithstanding these actions, Mexico continues to be beset by high violence, with a number of regions in the throes of cartel-related bloodshed. In the previous month there was a notable killing of a popular local official in the state of Michoacan, among 10 local leaders killed in the past 12 months. Weeks after, thousands of youth took to the streets in the capital and throughout the nation to voice their frustration at graft and cartel violence. “The government presents [data] in a manner to construct a narrative of safety. Politically it’s very successful, socially it’s very problematic,” the analyst concluded.
The mean figure of per-day murders monthly in the country has dropped by thirty-seven percent since President Claudia Sheinbaum assumed power, as stated by recent official data. Nevertheless, security analysts have cautioned that murder data might not point to improved national safety. Marked Decline in Per-Day Averages Officials reported an average of nearly 55 homicides a day in November as opposed to almost 87 when Sheinbaum took the leadership in the previous September. This announcement was delivered by the chief of the country’s federal safety system, Marcela Figueroa Franco, during the president’s daily press briefing on Tuesday. “The result in murders that have been recorded during these past months is very important,” the President said, explaining that last month the least amount of murders were documented for any single November in the last decade. Historical Background and Government Strategy Violent organized crime infighting, coupled with the government’s highly militarised campaigns to take on the trafficking organizations, have caused Mexico’s murder numbers soar in the past few years. The figure reached a peak of 36,773 killings in 2020, per the country’s national statistics agency. That resulted in Mexico a murder rate over 4x greater than the United States. However, homicides have been on the decrease, falling to 33,550 in the last calendar year. Sheinbaum has attributed her national security approach for an seemingly sharper decline in killings this year. At a media briefing in the summer, the President declared: “There is a strategy, we have monitoring of the plan, and there is specific monitoring town by town in certain cases. The plan works. And we have to persist at it daily.” The main elements of Sheinbaum’s security strategy involve: Bolstering Mexico’s federal guard. Improving information gathering and investigative efforts. Enhanced cooperation between various agencies. Analyst Warnings and Statistical Concerns Nevertheless, security researchers urged caution that using homicide statistics to paint a picture of improved security was problematic. This is notably true given the rise in different crimes such as abductions. “This would be positive information if this was a drop, but I think we must not just focus on the homicide data and think: ‘Oh well, great,’” commented Cecilia Farfán-Méndez, an specialist on Mexican cartels. “I would be guardedly hopeful.” As reported by the policy research organization Mexico Evalúa, homicides in total fell by more than 20% in the first 10 months of this year relative to the identical timeframe the previous year. However, missing persons cases have increased by 15% and in certain states have increased by up to 200%. “Statistics on murders is not reliable for estimating the reality of insecurity,” stated Armando Vargas, a safety analyst at Mexico Evalúa. “First, we have law enforcement and prosecutors who lack the resources or the desire to properly recognize and classify remains. Secondly, organized [criminals] … have the ability to hide violence through abductions.” Vargas noted that using month-to-month averages of daily homicides was additionally problematic because it might hide days when there were particularly elevated numbers of killings. “Using the daily average makes surges of violent crime invisible,” he stated. Detentions and Seizures as Metrics of Progress Where the government can highlight the success of its safety plan is on arrests and seizures. Nearly 40,000 individuals were detained between last October and November 2025 for high-impact crimes, per official data. More than 20,000 firearms were taken and 311 tons of drugs intercepted. “Donald Trump cannot accuse President Sheinbaum of doing nothing, because in reality she is accomplishing a lot with these many thousands of detentions, thousands of confiscations, and all the operational degrading of organised crime. It’s very politically advantageous,” stated Vargas. Ongoing Unrest and Public Anger However notwithstanding these actions, Mexico continues to be beset by high violence, with a number of regions in the throes of cartel-related bloodshed. In the previous month there was a notable killing of a popular local official in the state of Michoacan, among 10 local leaders killed in the past 12 months. Weeks after, thousands of youth took to the streets in the capital and throughout the nation to voice their frustration at graft and cartel violence. “The government presents [data] in a manner to construct a narrative of safety. Politically it’s very successful, socially it’s very problematic,” the analyst concluded.