Daily Murders in the nation Drop Over a Third During President Sheinbaum, According to Official Data

The typical count of daily killings monthly in Mexico has decreased by 37% since Head of State Claudia Sheinbaum took office, as stated by new administrative data. But, public safety analysts have warned that homicide numbers could fail to indicate enhanced national safety.

Marked Reduction in Daily Figures

Officials reported an average of nearly 55 killings a day in the month of November versus roughly 87 when Sheinbaum assumed the presidential office in September. This data was shared by the chief of the nation's federal public security agency, Marcela Figueroa Franco, during the president’s daily news conference on a recent Tuesday.

“The outcome in homicides that we have seen over these months is very notable,” Claudia Sheinbaum stated, explaining that the previous month the lowest amount of homicides were recorded for any single November in the past 10 years.

Historical Context and Official Plan

Intense drug cartel internal conflicts, alongside the government’s highly military efforts to combat the drug gangs, have led to Mexico’s murder rate rise sharply in recent times. The rate peaked at a peak of 36,773 killings in 2020, as reported by the country’s national statistics agency.

That gave Mexico a homicide figure more than four times greater than that of the United States. However, murders have been on the decrease, falling to 33,550 in the last calendar year. Sheinbaum has attributed her national security strategy for an ostensibly sharper drop in homicides this year.

At a media briefing in the summer, the President declared: “There is a plan, we have monitoring of the strategy, and we have specific tracking locality by locality in certain cases. The plan works. And we have to continue working at it every day.”

The key components of the President's safety strategy encompass:

• Strengthening Mexico’s domestic security force.
• Improving intelligence and investigative efforts.
• Enhanced coordination between government authorities.

Analyst Caution and Statistical Concerns

But, security analysts cautioned that focusing solely on murder data to assess the situation of improved security was misleading. This is especially true considering the uptick in other criminal activities such as people going missing.

“This would be excellent news if this was a reduction, but I think we can’t just concentrate on the murder data and conclude: ‘Alright, great,’” stated Cecilia Farfán-Méndez, an specialist on Mexico's criminal organizations. “I would be tentatively hopeful.”

According to the policy research thinktank Mexico Evalúa, killings in total dropped by over 20% in the first 10 months of the current year compared with the identical timeframe the previous year. But, missing persons cases have gone up by 15% and in certain regions have surged by as much as 200%.

“Data on murders is no longer valid for estimating the situation of public insecurity,” stated Armando Vargas, a safety expert at Mexico Evalúa. “First, we have law enforcement and investigators who lack the capacity or the will to correctly identify and categorize remains. Secondly, organised [criminals] … have the means to conceal violent acts through disappearances.”

Vargas added that relying on month-to-month means of everyday homicides was additionally problematic because it may obscure periods when there were notably high numbers of murders.

“Employing the per-day mean makes surges of violent crime less visible,” he said.

Detentions and Seizures as Metrics of Progress

Where the government can highlight the success of its security plan is on arrests and seizures. Nearly 40,000 suspects were arrested between October 2024 and November 2025 for major offenses, according to official figures. More than 20,000 firearms were confiscated and 311 tonnes of drugs seized.

“Trump cannot accuse President Sheinbaum of not acting, because actually she is doing a lot with these thousands of detentions, thousands of confiscations, and all the tactical weakening of organised crime. It’s extremely politically advantageous,” commented Vargas.

Ongoing Violence and Societal Frustration

But notwithstanding these actions, Mexico continues to be plagued by extreme violence, with multiple states in the grip of cartel-driven violence. Recently there was a prominent killing of a popular mayor in the region of Michoacan, among 10 local leaders killed in the last 12 months.

A short time later, many thousands of protesters demonstrated in the capital and throughout the country to voice their frustration at graft and drug violence.

“The administration presents [data] in a manner to create a picture of improvement. Politically it’s highly potent, socially it’s extremely debatable,” Vargas said.