Colima, located in western Mexico, was the most violent city in the world in 2022, with a rate of nearly 182 homicides per 100,000 inhabitants, the Citizen Council for Public Security and Criminal Justice (CCSPJP) reported on February 20.
“For the sixth consecutive year, a Mexican city is the most violent in the world. In 2022, that most violent Mexican city in the world was Colima,” stated José Antonio Ortega, president of the CCSPJP, during the presentation of the 2022 Ranking of the 50 most violent cities in the world.
According to the count prepared by the civil association since 2009, in 2022, nine of the 10 most violent cities in the world were Mexican.
They are Colima, Zamora, Ciudad Obregón, Zacatecas, Tijuana, Celaya, Uruapan, Juárez and Acapulco.
In addition, the Latin American country has the highest number of violent cities in the count, with 17 out of 50 cities with 300,000 inhabitants.
Brazil has 10, the United States 7, Colombia 6, South Africa 4, Honduras 2, Puerto Rico, Haiti, Ecuador, and Jamaica 1.
According to the figures offered in the report, in 2022, Mexico registered 30,968 homicides, which represents 7.1% less than in 2021, when 33,308 crimes of this type were recorded.
Culiacán and Guadalajara, also in Mexico, dropped out of the ranking, as well as the Brazilian city of Caruaru and the US city of St. Louis, all included in the 2021 ranking.
In their place came the Colombian cities of Cartagena and Santa Marta, as well as the US city of Cleveland and the Mexican city of San Luis Potosí.
The report, which has been criticized by the government of Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, analyzes violence in cities with more than 300,000 inhabitants that are not experiencing “open warlike conflict.”
The CCSPJP argues that it is an instrument that can serve as a decision-making tool for the authorities.
With information from Sputnik