Day-to-Day Murders in the nation Decline Over a Third Under President Sheinbaum, According to Government Figures

The mean count of daily killings per month in Mexico has decreased by more than a third since President Claudia Sheinbaum took office, as stated by new government figures. However, public safety analysts have cautioned that murder numbers might not indicate better countrywide stability.

Notable Reduction in Daily Averages

Officials reported an mean of almost 55 homicides a day in the month of November as opposed to roughly 87 when Claudia Sheinbaum took the presidential office in the previous September. This data was delivered by the head of the nation's national safety system, Marcela Figueroa Franco, during the leader's daily press briefing on a recent Tuesday.

“The outcome in murders that we have seen during these past months is very important,” Claudia Sheinbaum stated, noting that in November the lowest number of homicides were recorded for any single November in the past 10 years.

Recent Background and Government Strategy

Intense organized crime infighting, alongside the administration's heavily militarised campaigns to combat the drug gangs, have caused Mexico’s homicide numbers rise sharply in recent times. The figure hit a record high of 36,773 homicides in 2020, as reported by the nation's official data agency.

That resulted in Mexico a homicide rate more than four times greater than the United States. From that point, homicides have been on the decrease, dropping to 33,550 the previous year. Claudia Sheinbaum has credited her public safety plan for an ostensibly more pronounced drop in homicides this year.

At a news briefing in August, the Mexican leader said: “We have a strategy, we have oversight of the strategy, and there is detailed tracking locality by locality in certain cases. The approach works. And we have to persist at it daily.”

The key components of Sheinbaum’s security strategy include:

• Reinforcing Mexico’s national guard.
• Improving intelligence and investigative efforts.
• Greater collaboration between various departments.

Expert Caution and Statistical Concerns

But, public safety analysts urged caution that focusing solely on homicide statistics to paint a picture of pacification was problematic. This is particularly true considering the rise in different crimes such as forced disappearances.

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

As reported by the policy research organization Mexico Evalúa, murders in total fell by over 20% in the initial 10 months of the current year relative to the same timeframe the previous year. However, disappearances have increased by 15% and in some regions have surged by as much as 200%.

“Statistics on homicides is not valid for assessing the situation of insecurity,” stated Armando Vargas, a safety expert at Mexico Evalúa. “Firstly, we have law enforcement and prosecutors who do not have the ability or the desire to accurately recognize and classify remains. Second, organized [criminals] … have the ability to mask violent acts through abductions.”

Vargas noted that relying on monthly means of daily killings was similarly an issue because it could obscure periods when there were particularly high numbers of murders.

“Relying on the daily mean makes high peaks of violence less visible,” he stated.

Arrests and Seizures as Measures of Success

An area where the administration can highlight the effectiveness of its safety plan is on arrests and confiscations. Almost 40,000 people were detained between last October and November 2025 for major offenses, according to government data. Over 20,000 guns were taken and 311 tons of drugs intercepted.

“Trump can't accuse President Sheinbaum of not acting, because in reality she is doing a lot with these thousands of detentions, thousands of seizures, and all the operational degrading of criminal groups. It’s highly in political terms profitable,” commented Vargas.

Ongoing Unrest and Societal Frustration

However in spite of these actions, Mexico continues to be beset by extreme bloodshed, with multiple regions in the throes of cartel-driven conflict. Recently there was a notable killing of a well-liked local official in the region of Michoacan, one of 10 mayors killed in the last year.

Weeks after, many thousands of youth protested in Mexico City and throughout the nation to voice their anger at graft and drug violence.

“The administration frames [data] in a way to create a story of improvement. Politically it’s very potent, from a social perspective it’s very problematic,” Vargas remarked.