20 of the 50 Most Dangerous Cities in the World Are in Mexico: Study Reveals.

The annual index of the Civic Council for Public Security and Criminal Justice for 2024 was presented this Wednesday in Mexico City. The report revealed that 20 of the 50 most violent cities in the world are in Mexico, setting a record in the history of the ranking.

"The maximum number of Mexican cities in the ranking so far had been in 2019, with 19 cities."

Soldado de las fuerzas especiales en Guanajuato, México

The most violent cities in 2024

The president of the organization, José Antonio Ortega, highlighted that 7 of the 10 most violent cities in the world are in Mexico.

Leading the list is Port-au-Prince, Haiti, with an alarming rate of 139.31 homicides per 100,000 inhabitants. However, violence in Mexico remains critical, with Colima ranking second worldwide with 126.95 homicides per 100,000 inhabitants.

Guardia Nacional después de un enfrentamiento en Tabasco

Following on the Mexican list:

Acapulco – 102.28 homicides per 100,000 inhabitants.
Manzanillo – 92.17 homicides.
Tijuana – 91.35 homicides.
Ciudad Obregón – 89.2 homicides.

The top 10 also includes Machala (Ecuador), Celaya and Zamora (Mexico), and Port of Spain (Trinidad and Tobago).

Central America exits the list

In an unexpected turn, Central America has managed to reduce violence in its most affected cities. In 2024, the Honduran cities San Pedro Sula and Central District exited the ranking, which in previous years were among the most dangerous.

"Thus, no city in Central America is among the 50 most violent in the world."

10 ciudades más peligrosas en 2023, cuando Colima lideraba la lista.

The expert René Bolio Halloran, from the Mexican Human Rights Commission, criticized left-wing governments that have normalized violence in their countries, justifying it with recurring excuses.

"The maximum number of Mexican cities in the ranking so far had been in 2019, with 19 cities."

The most violent cities in 2024

The president of the organization, José Antonio Ortega, highlighted that 7 of the 10 most violent cities in the world are in Mexico.

Following on the Mexican list:

Acapulco – 102.28 homicides per 100,000 inhabitants.
Manzanillo – 92.17 homicides.
Tijuana – 91.35 homicides.
Ciudad Obregón – 89.2 homicides.

The top 10 also includes Machala (Ecuador), Celaya and Zamora (Mexico), and Port of Spain (Trinidad and Tobago).

Central America exits the list

"Thus, no city in Central America is among the 50 most violent in the world."

"To achieve these remarkable accomplishments, Central American governments didn't use excuses like poverty, high drug consumption in developed countries, or arms trafficking from the United States."

"They also didn't resort to negotiating with criminals or follow the 'hugs, not bullets' policy or similar ones."

A clear reference to the strategy of former president Andrés Manuel López Obrador, whose government left Mexico mired in an unprecedented security crisis.

Concentration of violence in Mexico

In 2024, several cities re-entered the ranking due to the increase in homicides, highlighting Culiacán, Chilpancingo, Villahermosa, and Tapachula. Meanwhile, Cuernavaca, Ciudad Juárez, Uruapan, Irapuato, Chihuahua, Zacatecas, León, Cancún, and Morelia have remained on the blacklist of violence.

Policia después de un enfrentamiento en Culiacan, Sinaloa

The report also indicates that Mexico is the country with the most cities on the list, followed by:

Brazil – 8 cities.
Colombia – 6 cities.
South Africa – 5 cities.
United States – 5 cities.
Ecuador – 3 cities.
Haiti, Jamaica, and Trinidad and Tobago – 1 city each.

Of the 50 most violent cities, 45 are in the Americas and the rest in Africa.

The homicide crisis in numbers

The analyst Horacio Rodríguez, from Mission Rescue Mexico, revealed that the 50 cities in the ranking accumulate a total of 40,198 homicides.

This figure represents 8.2% of the 490,000 murders that the World Health Organization estimates occur annually worldwide. However, the population of these cities represents only 0.91% of the world's population, highlighting the severe concentration of violence.

Rodríguez also highlighted that the average homicide rate in Mexico during 2024 is nine times higher than the global average of 6.2 homicides per 100,000 inhabitants.

"This gives a clear idea of the concentration of violence in the cities of this ranking."