Everyday Killings in Mexico Fall Thirty-Seven Percent In the Sheinbaum Administration, As per Official Figures

The typical figure of daily killings per month in the country has fallen by thirty-seven percent since President Claudia Sheinbaum began her term, according to fresh official figures. However, security experts have cautioned that homicide numbers might not indicate enhanced countrywide safety.

Significant Decline in Per-Day Numbers

Officials reported an mean of close to 55 murders a day in November as opposed to nearly 87 when the President assumed the presidential office in September. This announcement was provided by the chief of the nation's federal safety system, Marcela Figueroa Franco, during the president’s regular news conference on a recent Tuesday.

“The result in murders that we have seen in these past months is extremely important,” Claudia Sheinbaum said, explaining that in November the lowest number of murders were registered for any single November in the past 10 years.

Historical Context and Government Plan

Violent drug cartel infighting, alongside the administration's heavily military efforts to confront the cartels, have caused Mexico’s murder rate soar in the past few years. The figure peaked at a peak of 36,773 homicides in 2020, according to the country’s official data office.

That meant Mexico a murder figure more than 4x greater than that of the United States. Since then, murders have been on the downward trend, dropping to 33,550 in the last calendar year. The President has attributed her public safety approach for an apparently steeper reduction in homicides in the current year.

At a news briefing in August, the President said: “There is a strategy, there is monitoring of the plan, and there is specific tracking locality by locality in certain cases. The strategy is effective. And we have to keep working at it daily.”

The central components of Sheinbaum’s security strategy include:

• Bolstering Mexico’s domestic security force.
• Advancing information gathering and investigative efforts.
• Enhanced collaboration between various agencies.

Analyst Skepticism and Data Concerns

But, public safety analysts cautioned that relying on homicide statistics to draw a conclusion of pacification was flawed. This is especially true given the rise in different crimes such as abductions.

“This would be positive news if this were a reduction, but I think we can’t just concentrate on the homicide numbers and conclude: ‘Well then, excellent,’” said Cecilia Farfán-Méndez, an specialist on Mexican criminal organizations. “I would be tentatively optimistic.”

Per the policy analysis thinktank Mexico Evalúa, killings overall dropped by more than 20% in the first 10 months of the current year relative to the same period the previous year. But, missing persons cases have increased by 15% and in some regions have increased by as much as 200%.

“Data on homicides is no longer reliable for assessing the context of insecurity,” said Armando Vargas, a safety expert at Mexico Evalúa. “First, we have law enforcement and investigators who lack the capacity or the desire to correctly identify and categorize bodies. Second, organised [criminals] … have the means to hide violent acts through abductions.”

Vargas added that relying on month-to-month averages of daily killings was similarly an issue because it could obscure days when there were particularly spiking numbers of murders.

“Employing the daily average renders surges of violent crime invisible,” he said.

Arrests and Seizures as Measures of Progress

Where the administration can cite the effectiveness of its safety plan is on detentions and confiscations. Almost 40,000 individuals were detained between last October and November 2025 for serious offenses, according to government data. Over 20,000 weapons were confiscated and 311 tons of drugs seized.

“Donald Trump can't claim President Sheinbaum of not acting, because in reality she is doing a lot with these many thousands of arrests, thousands of seizures, and all the tactical degrading of organised crime. It’s highly politically beneficial,” stated Vargas.

Persistent Unrest and Societal Anger

But notwithstanding these measures, Mexico is still beset by high violence, with multiple regions in the midst of cartel-driven violence. Last month there was a prominent murder of a popular mayor in the state of Michoacan, among 10 local leaders assassinated in the past 12 months.

Weeks after, many thousands of young people demonstrated in the capital and across the country to voice their frustration at corruption and drug violence.

“The federal government presents [data] in a manner to construct a narrative of improvement. Politically it’s extremely successful, socially it’s highly problematic,” Vargas remarked.