Day-to-Day Killings in the nation Drop Thirty-Seven Percent During the Sheinbaum Administration, Per Government Figures

The average number of daily homicides each month in the country has fallen by 37% since Head of State Claudia Sheinbaum began her term, as stated by new official data. However, public safety specialists have advised that murder data could fail to indicate enhanced countrywide stability.

Marked Reduction in Daily Averages

Officials reported an mean of nearly 55 homicides a day in last November versus almost 87 when Claudia Sheinbaum assumed the presidential office in the previous September. This announcement was delivered by the head of the nation's federal safety system, Marcela Figueroa Franco, during the president’s regular press briefing on Tuesday.

“The figures in killings that have been recorded during these months is remarkably important,” Claudia Sheinbaum stated, adding that the previous month the lowest number of homicides were documented for any single November in the past decade.

Recent Background and Official Strategy

Intense cartel infighting, coupled with the government’s highly militarised campaigns to take on the trafficking organizations, have caused Mexico’s murder numbers escalate in recent years. The figure reached a record high of 36,773 killings in 2020, per the nation's national statistics agency.

That resulted in Mexico a murder rate more than four times higher than the US. However, murders have been on the decrease, dropping to 33,550 in the last calendar year. The President has linked her public safety plan for an seemingly sharper drop in killings in the current year.

At a press conference in the summer, the Mexican leader said: “There is a strategy, there is tracking of the plan, and there is specific tracking town by town in some cases. The strategy functions. And we have to keep working at it each day.”

The central components of the President's safety plan encompass:

• Reinforcing Mexico’s domestic security force.
• Enhancing information gathering and investigation capabilities.
• Increased cooperation between various agencies.

Analyst Caution and Statistical Limitations

However, public safety researchers urged caution that focusing solely on homicide numbers to draw a conclusion of improved security was problematic. This is particularly true given the increase in other crimes such as forced disappearances.

“It would be very good news if this were a reduction, but I think we can’t just look at the homicide data and conclude: ‘Oh well, excellent,’” commented Cecilia Farfán-Méndez, an authority on Mexican cartels. “I would be tentatively hopeful.”

Per the public policy research organization Mexico Evalúa, killings overall fell by more than 20% in the initial 10 months of this year versus the same timeframe the previous year. Yet, missing persons cases have increased by 15% and in certain states have risen by as much as 200%.

“Statistics on homicides is not reliable for estimating the situation of violence,” stated Armando Vargas, a safety expert at Mexico Evalúa. “First, we have law enforcement and prosecutors who do not have the capacity or the will to correctly identify and classify corpses. Second, organized [criminals] … have the ability to conceal violent acts through disappearances.”

Vargas pointed out that relying on monthly means of everyday killings was similarly concerning because it may mask days when there were especially high numbers of murders.

“Relying on the daily average makes spikes of violence less visible,” he said.

Detentions and Seizures as Metrics of Progress

An area where the government can cite the success of its safety strategy is on arrests and confiscations. Nearly 40,000 people were detained between October 2024 and November 2025 for serious crimes, per government figures. Over 20,000 guns were seized and 311 tons of drugs seized.

“Donald Trump cannot accuse President Sheinbaum of inaction, because in reality she is accomplishing a lot with these thousands of arrests, thousands of seizures, and all the tactical weakening of organised crime. It’s extremely politically beneficial,” commented Vargas.

Persistent Violence and Public Frustration

However in spite of these actions, Mexico remains plagued by high bloodshed, with multiple states in the midst of cartel-fueled bloodshed. Recently there was a high-profile killing of a popular local official in the state of Michoacan, one of 10 mayors killed in the past 12 months.

Weeks later, thousands of young people took to the streets in the capital and across the country to express their outrage at corruption and narco-violence.

“The government presents [data] in a way to create a narrative of safety. Politically it’s very effective, socially it’s extremely questionable,” Vargas concluded.