🔗 Share this article Daily Killings in the nation Decline Over a Third Under Claudia Sheinbaum, As per Official Statistics The average figure of everyday killings each month in Mexico has dropped by more than a third since President Claudia Sheinbaum assumed power, per new administrative statistics. Nevertheless, security analysts have cautioned that homicide numbers might not signal better countrywide stability. Significant Reduction in Daily Numbers There was an mean of close to 55 killings a day in the month of November compared with almost 87 when Claudia Sheinbaum assumed the presidential office in the previous September. This information was shared by the director of the nation's federal public security system, Marcela Figueroa Franco, during the president’s daily press briefing on Tuesday. “The figures in killings that we have seen over these months is remarkably important,” the President stated, explaining that last month the smallest amount of homicides were recorded for any November in the past 10 years. Historical Context and Official Plan Intense drug cartel infighting, alongside the administration's heavily military campaigns to combat the trafficking organizations, have led to Mexico’s murder rate soar in the past few years. The figure peaked at a record high of 36,773 killings in 2020, as reported by the nation's official data agency. That resulted in Mexico a homicide figure more than four times higher than the United States. From that point, killings have been on the decrease, falling to 33,550 in the last calendar year. Sheinbaum has credited her public safety approach for an seemingly sharper reduction in killings in the current year. At a media briefing in the summer, the President stated: “We have a strategy, there is tracking of the strategy, and there is detailed monitoring locality by locality in certain cases. The strategy is effective. And we have to persist at it daily.” The main components of the President's safety plan encompass: Reinforcing Mexico’s domestic security force. Advancing intelligence and investigation work. Enhanced collaboration between various authorities. Expert Caution and Data Concerns But, public safety experts cautioned that relying on murder numbers to assess the situation of pacification was misleading. This is particularly true given the uptick in other crimes such as abductions. “This would be excellent news if this was a drop, but I think we shouldn't just concentrate on the murder data and think: ‘Alright, excellent,’” stated Cecilia Farfán-Méndez, an specialist on Mexico's criminal organizations. “I would be cautiously hopeful.” According to the public policy analysis thinktank Mexico Evalúa, killings overall declined by over 20% in the initial 10 months of the current year relative to the identical timeframe the previous year. But, disappearances have increased by 15% and in certain states have increased by as much as 200%. “Statistics on murders is no longer useful for estimating the situation of insecurity,” stated Armando Vargas, a security expert at Mexico Evalúa. “Firstly, we have law enforcement and prosecutors who do not have the capacity or the desire to accurately recognize and categorize bodies. Secondly, organised [criminals] … have the ability to hide violent acts through abductions.” Vargas noted that using month-to-month means of everyday homicides was additionally an issue because it may hide days when there were especially spiking levels of murders. “Employing the daily mean makes spikes of violent crime less visible,” he said. Arrests and Confiscations as Measures of Progress Where the government can point to the effectiveness of its security strategy is on detentions and confiscations. Close to 40,000 individuals were apprehended between last October and November 2025 for major crimes, according to official data. More than 20,000 weapons were seized and 311 tons of drugs confiscated. “Trump cannot accuse President Sheinbaum of doing nothing, because the reality is she is doing a lot with these many thousands of detentions, many thousands of seizures, and all the operational degrading of organised crime. It’s very in political terms advantageous,” commented Vargas. Ongoing Violence and Public Anger Yet notwithstanding these efforts, Mexico continues to be beset by extreme violence, with several regions in the throes of cartel-fueled bloodshed. In the previous month there was a notable murder of a well-liked mayor in the state of Michoacan, among 10 mayors killed in the past 12 months. Weeks after, many thousands of young people demonstrated in Mexico City and throughout the nation to express their anger at graft and drug violence. “The administration frames [data] in a manner to construct a picture of safety. From a political standpoint it’s very successful, socially it’s very problematic,” the analyst remarked.
The average figure of everyday killings each month in Mexico has dropped by more than a third since President Claudia Sheinbaum assumed power, per new administrative statistics. Nevertheless, security analysts have cautioned that homicide numbers might not signal better countrywide stability. Significant Reduction in Daily Numbers There was an mean of close to 55 killings a day in the month of November compared with almost 87 when Claudia Sheinbaum assumed the presidential office in the previous September. This information was shared by the director of the nation's federal public security system, Marcela Figueroa Franco, during the president’s daily press briefing on Tuesday. “The figures in killings that we have seen over these months is remarkably important,” the President stated, explaining that last month the smallest amount of homicides were recorded for any November in the past 10 years. Historical Context and Official Plan Intense drug cartel infighting, alongside the administration's heavily military campaigns to combat the trafficking organizations, have led to Mexico’s murder rate soar in the past few years. The figure peaked at a record high of 36,773 killings in 2020, as reported by the nation's official data agency. That resulted in Mexico a homicide figure more than four times higher than the United States. From that point, killings have been on the decrease, falling to 33,550 in the last calendar year. Sheinbaum has credited her public safety approach for an seemingly sharper reduction in killings in the current year. At a media briefing in the summer, the President stated: “We have a strategy, there is tracking of the strategy, and there is detailed monitoring locality by locality in certain cases. The strategy is effective. And we have to persist at it daily.” The main components of the President's safety plan encompass: Reinforcing Mexico’s domestic security force. Advancing intelligence and investigation work. Enhanced collaboration between various authorities. Expert Caution and Data Concerns But, public safety experts cautioned that relying on murder numbers to assess the situation of pacification was misleading. This is particularly true given the uptick in other crimes such as abductions. “This would be excellent news if this was a drop, but I think we shouldn't just concentrate on the murder data and think: ‘Alright, excellent,’” stated Cecilia Farfán-Méndez, an specialist on Mexico's criminal organizations. “I would be cautiously hopeful.” According to the public policy analysis thinktank Mexico Evalúa, killings overall declined by over 20% in the initial 10 months of the current year relative to the identical timeframe the previous year. But, disappearances have increased by 15% and in certain states have increased by as much as 200%. “Statistics on murders is no longer useful for estimating the situation of insecurity,” stated Armando Vargas, a security expert at Mexico Evalúa. “Firstly, we have law enforcement and prosecutors who do not have the capacity or the desire to accurately recognize and categorize bodies. Secondly, organised [criminals] … have the ability to hide violent acts through abductions.” Vargas noted that using month-to-month means of everyday homicides was additionally an issue because it may hide days when there were especially spiking levels of murders. “Employing the daily mean makes spikes of violent crime less visible,” he said. Arrests and Confiscations as Measures of Progress Where the government can point to the effectiveness of its security strategy is on detentions and confiscations. Close to 40,000 individuals were apprehended between last October and November 2025 for major crimes, according to official data. More than 20,000 weapons were seized and 311 tons of drugs confiscated. “Trump cannot accuse President Sheinbaum of doing nothing, because the reality is she is doing a lot with these many thousands of detentions, many thousands of seizures, and all the operational degrading of organised crime. It’s very in political terms advantageous,” commented Vargas. Ongoing Violence and Public Anger Yet notwithstanding these efforts, Mexico continues to be beset by extreme violence, with several regions in the throes of cartel-fueled bloodshed. In the previous month there was a notable murder of a well-liked mayor in the state of Michoacan, among 10 mayors killed in the past 12 months. Weeks after, many thousands of young people demonstrated in Mexico City and throughout the nation to express their anger at graft and drug violence. “The administration frames [data] in a manner to construct a picture of safety. From a political standpoint it’s very successful, socially it’s very problematic,” the analyst remarked.