Violence moves from north to central and southern Mexico

The map of violence has changed in the past five years. Until 2012 , the highest murder rates in Mexico were focused on the states of Chihuahua, Guerrero, Durango, Sinaloa, and Tamaulipas .

The north used to be one of the most dangerous areas in Mexico, but in 2017 , this trend began to change. The inhabitants of Colima, Guanajuato, Baja California, Baja California Sur, and Quintana Roo had witnessed an increase of violence in their states, leading them to reach the highest murder rates they had ever seen.

From 2012 to 2017, the people of Colima went from 39 to 113 murders per every 100,000 inhabitants , which is currently the highest murder rate in the country, according to information from the National Institute of Statistics and Geography (INEGI) .

Baja California Sur

had its major incline in the last year, and while in 2012 it had a murder rate of barely 5 per every 100,000 inhabitants , data from 2017 placed it in second place with a rate of 91 murders per every 100,000 . One of the main examples is Los Cabos , one of the main tourist destinations in Mexico which has left behind its years of tranquility, growing from 12 to 406 murders during the same period.

The data unit from EL UNIVERSAL analyzed the murder rates published by INEGI in order to locate the areas, at both municipal and state levels, that showed the highest violence incline from 2012, the last year of former president Felipe Calderón ’s administration, to 2017. The data showed that crime geography had changed. The increase in murders is now focused in south and central Mexico.

Felipe Calderón’s six-year term ended with a toll of 25,967 murders

. Every day, an average of 71 Mexicans were killed in different parts of the country . The national murder rate was of 22 murders per every 100,000 inhabitants. Although these numbers decreased during the following years, since 2016, insecurity started to rebound throughout the country, closing 2017 with 31,174 murders and a rate of 25 per every 100,000 inhabitants: The highest in history.

This new wave of violence was focused on 56 of the 2,457 municipalities in the country . Half of the overall murders in the country happened in these territories. Tijuana, Baja California , which was the ninth most violent municipality in 2012, now shows the highest murder rate in the territory. Guanajuato also appeared on the list, particularly in the León municipality, which had a murder rate of 11 in 2012, and 26 in 2017 .

This trend is expected to continue in 2018 , since in 24 out of all 32 states , there was a considerable increase in violence from 2016 to 2017.

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