Mexico, insecurity: what the victimisation surveys measure
In Mexico, most crimes are never reported: police and prosecutors’ records see only a small part of them. INEGI’s national victimisation survey asks households every year about the crimes they suffered and their sense of insecurity; homicides, for their part, can be compared with the rest of the world.
Scope: Mexico. National survey of victimisation and perception of public security (ENVIPE, INEGI), adults aged 18 and over, national results of the latest edition; intentional homicides from the World Bank (UNODC data).
Key points
- Fewer victims than in 2017, but still nearly one adult in four. The ENVIPE survey counts 23,473 per 100,000 crime victims per 100,000 adults in 2025, 21% below the 2017 peak (29,746 per 100,000). Victims suffer 1.5 crimes each on average: 34,442 per 100,000 crimes per 100,000 adults.
- Almost no crime reaches the justice system. In 2025, 93.4% of crimes were not reported or did not lead to an investigation by the public prosecutor; this share has never fallen below 92.1% since the series began.
- Perceived insecurity remains high. In 2026, 74.0% of adults feel their state is unsafe (against 79.4% at the peak, in 2018), 60.9% their municipality and 35.9% their neighbourhood.
- A homicide rate several times the world average. According to the World Bank, Mexico records 24.9 per 100,000 in 2023, after a peak of 29.4 per 100,000 in 2018; in 2023, that is about 5 times the world average (5.2 per 100,000) and above the Latin America and Caribbean average (19.7 per 100,000).
- Homicide victims are mostly men: 44.9 per 100,000 against 5.6 per 100,000 for women in 2023, about 8 times more.
How to read these figures
The ENVIPE is an INEGI survey of a sample of households: adults are asked whether they suffered a crime in the previous year and how they perceive security at the time of the survey. It therefore also measures crimes never reported, which police records miss. Prevalence counts victims, incidence crimes (a victim can suffer several); the dark figure is the share of crimes not reported or reported without an investigation being opened. Crimes refer to the year before the survey, perception to the survey year. Homicides are not covered by the survey.
The World Bank homicide rate takes up the data of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, built from each country’s national statistics. The series of the executive secretariat of the national public security system (crimes recorded by prosecutors) and the INEGI indicators available through an API key could not be downloaded for this dossier.
1. Homicides
Mexico’s homicide rate was multiplied by 3.6 between the 2007 low (8.2 per 100,000) and its 2018 peak (29.4 per 100,000), then fell back. It remains several times the world average.
Intentional homicides per 100,000 people
World Bank, from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. Latin America and Caribbean: World Bank aggregate, available from 2010.
- World
- Latin America and Caribbean
- Mexico
Source:World Bank (UNODC)
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| Period | Mexico | Latin America and Caribbean | World |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | 10.9 per 100,000 | – | 6.9 per 100,000 |
| 2001 | 10.3 per 100,000 | – | 6.9 per 100,000 |
| 2002 | 9.9 per 100,000 | – | 6.9 per 100,000 |
| 2003 | 9.8 per 100,000 | – | 6.7 per 100,000 |
| 2004 | 8.9 per 100,000 | – | 6.5 per 100,000 |
| 2005 | 9.4 per 100,000 | – | 6.3 per 100,000 |
| 2006 | 9.7 per 100,000 | – | 6.2 per 100,000 |
| 2007 | 8.2 per 100,000 | – | 6.0 per 100,000 |
| 2008 | 12.7 per 100,000 | – | 6.0 per 100,000 |
| 2009 | 17.7 per 100,000 | – | 6.1 per 100,000 |
| 2010 | 22.7 per 100,000 | 23.9 per 100,000 | 6.1 per 100,000 |
| 2011 | 23.6 per 100,000 | 24.3 per 100,000 | 6.2 per 100,000 |
| 2012 | 22.2 per 100,000 | 24.5 per 100,000 | 6.2 per 100,000 |
| 2013 | 19.5 per 100,000 | 23.8 per 100,000 | 6.1 per 100,000 |
| 2014 | 16.7 per 100,000 | 23.4 per 100,000 | 6.1 per 100,000 |
| 2015 | 17.1 per 100,000 | 22.7 per 100,000 | 5.9 per 100,000 |
| 2016 | 20.1 per 100,000 | 23.6 per 100,000 | 6.0 per 100,000 |
| 2017 | 26.0 per 100,000 | 24.1 per 100,000 | 5.9 per 100,000 |
| 2018 | 29.4 per 100,000 | 23.1 per 100,000 | 5.7 per 100,000 |
| 2019 | 29.2 per 100,000 | 21.1 per 100,000 | 5.4 per 100,000 |
| 2020 | 29.0 per 100,000 | 20.4 per 100,000 | 5.3 per 100,000 |
| 2021 | 28.0 per 100,000 | 20.3 per 100,000 | 5.5 per 100,000 |
| 2022 | 25.9 per 100,000 | 20.0 per 100,000 | 5.3 per 100,000 |
| 2023 | 24.9 per 100,000 | 19.7 per 100,000 | 5.2 per 100,000 |
Intentional homicides in Mexico, by sex of the victim
Victims per 100,000 men and per 100,000 women.
- Women
- Men
Source:World Bank (UNODC)
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| Period | Men | Women |
|---|---|---|
| 2000 | 19.6 per 100,000 | 2.5 per 100,000 |
| 2001 | 18.4 per 100,000 | 2.5 per 100,000 |
| 2002 | 17.8 per 100,000 | 2.5 per 100,000 |
| 2003 | 17.4 per 100,000 | 2.5 per 100,000 |
| 2004 | 15.9 per 100,000 | 2.3 per 100,000 |
| 2005 | 16.7 per 100,000 | 2.4 per 100,000 |
| 2006 | 17.5 per 100,000 | 2.4 per 100,000 |
| 2007 | 14.7 per 100,000 | 1.9 per 100,000 |
| 2008 | 23.3 per 100,000 | 2.5 per 100,000 |
| 2009 | 32.7 per 100,000 | 3.4 per 100,000 |
| 2010 | 41.9 per 100,000 | 4.2 per 100,000 |
| 2011 | 43.1 per 100,000 | 4.6 per 100,000 |
| 2012 | 40.3 per 100,000 | 4.6 per 100,000 |
| 2013 | 35.1 per 100,000 | 4.4 per 100,000 |
| 2014 | 29.9 per 100,000 | 3.9 per 100,000 |
| 2015 | 31.0 per 100,000 | 3.8 per 100,000 |
| 2016 | 36.4 per 100,000 | 4.5 per 100,000 |
| 2017 | 47.5 per 100,000 | 5.4 per 100,000 |
| 2018 | 54.0 per 100,000 | 5.9 per 100,000 |
| 2019 | 53.2 per 100,000 | 6.0 per 100,000 |
| 2020 | 52.5 per 100,000 | 6.1 per 100,000 |
| 2021 | 50.4 per 100,000 | 6.1 per 100,000 |
| 2022 | 46.1 per 100,000 | 5.9 per 100,000 |
| 2023 | 44.9 per 100,000 | 5.6 per 100,000 |
2. Crime victims
Thefts, fraud, extortion, threats: the share of adults who suffered at least one crime peaked in 2017, fell markedly in the following years, then levelled off.
Victims and crimes per 100,000 adults
ENVIPE survey: victims (prevalence) and crimes suffered (incidence), year before the survey.
- Crimes
- Victims
Source:INEGI
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| Period | Victims | Crimes |
|---|---|---|
| 2012 | 27,337 per 100,000 | 35,139 per 100,000 |
| 2013 | 28,224 per 100,000 | 41,563 per 100,000 |
| 2014 | 28,200 per 100,000 | 41,655 per 100,000 |
| 2015 | 28,202 per 100,000 | 35,497 per 100,000 |
| 2016 | 28,788 per 100,000 | 37,017 per 100,000 |
| 2017 | 29,746 per 100,000 | 39,369 per 100,000 |
| 2018 | 28,269 per 100,000 | 37,807 per 100,000 |
| 2019 | 24,849 per 100,000 | 33,659 per 100,000 |
| 2020 | 23,520 per 100,000 | 30,601 per 100,000 |
| 2021 | 24,207 per 100,000 | 30,786 per 100,000 |
| 2022 | 22,587 per 100,000 | 28,701 per 100,000 |
| 2023 | 23,323 per 100,000 | 33,267 per 100,000 |
| 2024 | 24,135 per 100,000 | 34,918 per 100,000 |
| 2025 | 23,473 per 100,000 | 34,442 per 100,000 |
The « dark figure »: crimes unreported or not investigated
Share of crimes not reported, reported without an investigation being opened, or for which reporting is unknown.
Source:INEGI
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| Period | Dark figure |
|---|---|
| 2012 | 92.1% |
| 2013 | 93.8% |
| 2014 | 92.8% |
| 2015 | 93.7% |
| 2016 | 93.6% |
| 2017 | 93.2% |
| 2018 | 93.2% |
| 2019 | 92.4% |
| 2020 | 93.3% |
| 2021 | 93.2% |
| 2022 | 92.4% |
| 2023 | 92.9% |
| 2024 | 93.2% |
| 2025 | 93.4% |
3. Perceived insecurity
The wider the scale, the stronger the perceived insecurity: adults judge their state much less safe than their own neighbourhood. Perception peaked in 2018 and remains high.
Adults who feel their state, municipality, neighbourhood is unsafe
Share of people aged 18 and over. In 2020 the reference period is March; in 2026, February to April; other years, March and April.
- Neighbourhood
- Municipality
- State
Source:INEGI
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| Period | State | Municipality | Neighbourhood |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | 66.6% | 58.1% | 38.7% |
| 2013 | 72.3% | 63.0% | 44.0% |
| 2014 | 73.3% | 64.2% | 45.3% |
| 2015 | 73.2% | 64.1% | 44.1% |
| 2016 | 72.4% | 65.1% | 45.4% |
| 2017 | 74.3% | 66.3% | 46.0% |
| 2018 | 79.4% | 70.0% | 50.1% |
| 2019 | 78.9% | 70.5% | 50.6% |
| 2020 | 78.6% | 70.3% | 48.7% |
| 2021 | 75.6% | 65.5% | 41.9% |
| 2022 | 75.9% | 64.9% | 42.1% |
| 2023 | 74.6% | 63.7% | 39.9% |
| 2024 | 73.6% | 62.5% | 40.2% |
| 2025 | 75.6% | 64.7% | 40.5% |
| 2026 | 74.0% | 60.9% | 35.9% |
4. The cost of crime
INEGI estimates the cost of crime to households (losses, health costs, protective measures) from the survey: about one point of GDP every year.
Cost of crime to households, % of GDP
Losses due to crime and prevention spending, divided by GDP at current prices. Latest year: 1.06% of GDP.
Source:INEGI
Show the chart data
| Period | Cost of crime |
|---|---|
| 2012 | 1.30% of GDP |
| 2013 | 1.26% of GDP |
| 2014 | 1.25% of GDP |
| 2015 | 1.23% of GDP |
| 2016 | 1.10% of GDP |
| 2017 | 1.33% of GDP |
| 2018 | 1.18% of GDP |
| 2019 | 1.12% of GDP |
| 2020 | 1.15% of GDP |
| 2021 | 1.05% of GDP |
| 2022 | 1.08% of GDP |
| 2023 | 1.15% of GDP |
| 2024 | 1.07% of GDP |
| 2025 | 1.06% of GDP |
What we know, what we don’t
What the figures establish
- The share of adults who are crime victims has fallen markedly since the 2017 peak, then levelled off.
- More than nine crimes in ten are not reported or lead to no investigation.
- The homicide rate has fallen since its peak, but remains several times the world average.
What they don’t tell
- Crimes recorded by prosecutors and the breakdown of homicides by state: these sources could not be downloaded for this dossier.
- The causes of the changes: these series do not measure the effect of security policies.
- Violence linked to organised crime (disappearances, forced displacement), which a household survey measures poorly.
Sources
Series downloaded from their producers on Nov 12, 2026, the snapshot date. Only published periods are used: no projection.