The perception of insecurity of Mexicans fell to 61.4% in the third quarter of 2023reaching its lowest level in 10 years despite high-profile organized crime attacks, the National Institute of Statistics and Geography (Inegi) reported this Thursday.
This means that nearly 6 out of 10 inhabitants aged 18 and over considered it unsafe to live in their city.according to the National Urban Public Security Survey (ENSU) of Inegi.
The result from July to September compares with 62.3% from May to June 2023when there was a slight rebound, and “represents a statistically significant change” compared to the third quarter of 2022, when it was 64.4%, the autonomous institute noted in its report.
The statistic exhibited a persistent gender gap, with 67.4% of women reporting insecurity compared to 54.1% of men.
A year earlier, 70.5% of them perceived insecurity compared to 57.2% of them.
The reduction in the perception of insecurity occurs after it was revealed on Tuesday that intentional homicides in Mexico fell 3.1% year-on-year in the first three quarters of 2023 to 22,602 murdersaccording to the Secretariat of Security and Citizen Protection (SSPC).
The drop occurs despite the fact that the president, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, admitted in the last week of September a momentary increase in murders after the wave of organized crime violence that hit Chiapas, on the southern border, and Zacatecas and Zacatecas in those days. Nuevo León, in the north.
Homicides decreased by 7.1% annually in 2022 to 30,968 murders, the third consecutive year of decline after the most violent years in the history of Mexico, with 34,718 in 2019, 34,563 in 2020 and 33,350 in 2021.
The most unsafe cities in Mexico
The Mexican city with the highest perception of insecurity was again Fresnillo, in the central state of Zacatecas, where 95.4% of its inhabitants reported this feeling amid the massacres committed there by organized crime.
You might be interested in: The Federal Executive Branch has 557,712 million pesos in trusts
They are followed by Ciudad Obregón (92.3%), Zacatecas (92.1%), Uruapan (91.5%), Naucalpan (87.3%), and Toluca (86.2%).
In contrast, the least unsafe city was the Benito Juárez mayor’s office, an internal district of Mexico City, where only 15.8% of the population reported insecurity.
They were followed by Piedras Negras (19.7%), San Pedro Garza García (20.8%), Cuajimalpa (21.4%), Puerto Vallarta (22.5%), and Los Mochis (24.1%).
For public space and for crime
Regarding specific physical spaces, 70.8% of the population felt unsafe in ATMs, 64.2% in public transportation, 55.4% in the bank, and 54.1% in the streets they usually use.
33.9% of the population considered that, in the next 12 months, the crime and insecurity situation in their city “will continue to be just as bad” and another 24% said that “it will get worse.”
In contrast, 18.3% thought that the situation “will continue just as well” and 22.6% expect it to improve.
The population that reported having witnessed crimes around their home was related to alcohol consumption in the streets (60.4%), robberies or assaults (51.1%), vandalism (39.7%), sale or consumption of drugs (39.5%). , and shooting with weapons (36%).
They also reported violent gangs or gang activity (24.4%), irregular electricity outlets (15.2%) and theft or illegal sale of gasoline or diesel, which in Mexico is called “huachicol” (3.1%).
The last:
EFE International news agency based in Madrid and present in more than 110 countries.