Everyday Killings in Mexico Drop 37% During President Sheinbaum, According to Government Figures

The typical number of per-day murders each month in Mexico has dropped by more than a third since President Claudia Sheinbaum assumed power, as stated by fresh government figures. However, security specialists have advised that homicide data might not point to better countrywide stability.

Significant Decline in Daily Figures

Officials reported an average of almost 55 killings a day in November versus roughly 87 when Sheinbaum began the presidential office in September of last year. This data was shared by the director of the nation's federal public security system, Marcela Figueroa Franco, during the leader's daily news conference on Tuesday.

“The outcome in murders that we’ve had during these past months is extremely significant,” the President stated, explaining that the previous month the smallest number of murders were recorded for any single November in the past decade.

Recent Background and Government Strategy

Fierce cartel rivalries, alongside the administration's heavily military operations to take on the trafficking organizations, have led to Mexico’s homicide numbers soar in the past few years. The figure reached a maximum of 36,773 homicides in 2020, per the nation's official data office.

That meant Mexico a homicide figure more than four times higher than that of the United States. Since then, homicides have been on the decrease, declining to 33,550 the previous year. Sheinbaum has linked her national security plan for an ostensibly sharper drop in homicides this year.

At a news briefing in the summer, the President declared: “There is a plan, there is tracking of the strategy, and we have detailed tracking municipality by municipality in certain cases. The plan is effective. And we have to persist at it each day.”

The main elements of Sheinbaum’s safety strategy include:

• Strengthening Mexico’s federal guard.
• Enhancing information gathering and investigative work.
• Enhanced cooperation between government authorities.

Expert Skepticism and Data Concerns

But, security researchers cautioned that relying on murder data to paint a picture of peace was flawed. This is especially true given the increase in different criminal activities such as people going missing.

“This would be positive information if this were a drop, but I think we can’t just focus on the murder numbers and conclude: ‘Alright, great,’” said Cecilia Farfán-Méndez, an specialist on Mexican organised crime. “I would be guardedly optimistic.”

Per the public policy analysis organization Mexico Evalúa, homicides in total dropped by over 20% in the first 10 months of the current year compared with the identical period the previous year. But, disappearances have gone up by 15% and in certain states have increased by up to 200%.

“Numbers on homicides is not reliable for assessing the reality of public insecurity,” argued Armando Vargas, a safety analyst at Mexico Evalúa. “First, we have police and investigators who lack the resources or the desire to accurately recognize and categorize corpses. Second, organized [criminals] … have the capability to mask violence through abductions.”

Vargas pointed out that relying on month-to-month means of daily homicides was additionally concerning because it may obscure periods when there were especially elevated levels of murders.

“Using the per-day average renders surges of violence invisible,” he concluded.

Arrests and Seizures as Measures of Progress

An area where the administration can cite the effectiveness of its safety plan is on detentions and confiscations. Nearly 40,000 individuals were detained between October 2024 and November 2025 for major offenses, per government figures. More than 20,000 guns were seized and 311 tonnes of narcotics confiscated.

“The former US president can't claim President Sheinbaum of not acting, because in reality she is accomplishing a lot with these many thousands of detentions, many thousands of seizures, and all the operational degrading of organised crime. It’s highly in political terms profitable,” stated Vargas.

Persistent Unrest and Societal Anger

However in spite of these efforts, Mexico continues to be grappling with extreme bloodshed, with multiple states in the grip of cartel-related bloodshed. In the previous month there was a high-profile assassination of a well-liked mayor in the state of Michoacan, one of 10 mayors assassinated in the past 12 months.

Weeks later, many thousands of young people protested in Mexico City and throughout the country to voice their outrage at graft and drug violence.

“The administration presents [data] in a way to construct a story of security. From a political standpoint it’s extremely successful, from a social perspective it’s very problematic,” Vargas said.