In August 2026, Mexico averaged 40.8 homicides a day, compared with 86.9 in September 2024.
The preliminary homicide rate for 2026 is 12.9 per 100,000 people, compared with 25.4 in 2024.
High-impact crimes overall, such as kidnapping, extortion and violent robbery, have fallen from 636.6 to 391 per day.
The number of homicides in Mexico has been cut in half in two years. In August 2026, the country averaged 40.8 homicides a day. In September 2024, the month before Claudia Sheinbaum became president, the figure was 86.9. That is a decrease of 53 percent, or 46 fewer homicides every day.
The figures were presented by Marcela Figueroa, who heads the Executive Secretariat of the National Public Security System (SESNSP), at the president's morning press conference. They are based on data from the prosecutors' offices in the country's 32 states, according to Mexico News Daily and Crónica.
Lowest level since 2015
August 2026 had the lowest daily average since Sheinbaum took office. It was also the lowest level for any August since the data series began in 2015. The previous lowest August average was 54 homicides a day, in 2015, according to Expansión. Compared with August 2025, homicides fell by 32.1 percent. On August 13, a total of 20 homicides were recorded nationwide, according to the Security Cabinet's preliminary daily report. That is the lowest figure for a single day since Sheinbaum took office.
The decline has been going on for several months. In June 2026, the average was 45.4 homicides a day, and in July it was 42.7, according to Publimetro.
Homicide rate per capita cut in half
Per capita, the change is almost as large. The preliminary homicide rate for 2026 is 12.9 per 100,000 people. In 2024, it was 25.4. That is a decrease of 49 percent.
Figueroa also showed how the homicide rate has changed under recent presidents. Under Felipe Calderón, it rose by 127 percent, to 22 per 100,000 people in 2012. Under Enrique Peña Nieto, it rose to 29.1 in 2018. Under Andrés Manuel López Obrador, it fell by 13 percent, to 25.4 in 2024.
The national statistics agency INEGI shows a similar decline. Sheinbaum referred to INEGI figures showing that the daily average has fallen by 48 percent during her time in office, from 91.7 to 47.7 homicides a day, according to Uno TV.
The global trend points the same way. We have previously written that the world's homicide rate fell from 5.9 to 5.1 per 100,000 people between 2015 and 2024.
Fewer homicides in 30 of 32 states
Between January and August 2026, homicides fell in 30 of Mexico's 32 states, compared with the same period in 2025. The largest decline was in San Luis Potosí, at 79.8 percent. It was followed by Nayarit at 65.3 percent, Quintana Roo at 59.9 percent, Baja California Sur at 53.8 percent and Zacatecas at 51.3 percent.
Seven states had fewer than 50 homicides in the first eight months of the year. Yucatán had 17, San Luis Potosí 34 and Durango 36.
In the capital, Mexico City, 43 homicide investigations were recorded in August. That is the lowest figure for a single month in 20 years.
Other high-impact crimes are also falling
High-impact crimes include homicide, femicide, kidnapping, extortion, rape and violent robbery. Taken together, they have fallen from 636.6 to 391 per day since Sheinbaum took office in the fall of 2024. That is a decline of 39 percent.
Violent vehicle theft fell by 54 percent, from 149.1 to 69.4 per day. Kidnappings fell by 26.3 percent in the first eight months of the year, compared with the same period in 2025.
Coordination and arrests
The government attributes the decline to closer cooperation between the federal security leadership and state governments, and to more intelligence and investigative work. Security Minister Omar García Harfuch said that 67,253 people were arrested for high-impact crimes between October 2024 and August 2026. Over the same period, 34,353 firearms were seized. According to Harfuch, 80 percent of them came from the United States.
A special operation targets collusion between criminal groups and local politicians. So far, 111 public officials have been arrested, including mayors.
Sheinbaum also highlighted efforts to address the causes of crime, including new schools meant to keep young people away from criminal groups.
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