Daily Homicides in the nation Fall Over a Third During the Sheinbaum Administration, According to Government Data

The typical number of daily murders monthly in the country has decreased by 37% since President Claudia Sheinbaum assumed power, according to fresh government data. Nevertheless, security specialists have advised that homicide figures may not indicate enhanced national stability.

Marked Reduction in Per-Day Numbers

Officials reported an mean of nearly 55 killings a day in November versus roughly 87 when the President began the presidential office in the previous September. This announcement was provided by the chief of the nation's national public security agency, Marcela Figueroa Franco, during the president’s daily news conference on Tuesday.

“The result in killings that we have seen over these past months is very significant,” Sheinbaum stated, noting that the previous month the lowest number of murders were recorded for any single November in the last 10 years.

Recent Context and Government Strategy

Fierce cartel infighting, combined with the government’s heavily militarised operations to combat the cartels, have caused Mexico’s murder rate rise sharply in recent years. The figure peaked at a maximum of 36,773 killings in 2020, as reported by the nation's national statistics office.

That resulted in Mexico a murder figure more than 4x higher than the US. Since then, killings have been on the downward trend, falling to 33,550 last year. The President has attributed her public safety approach for an ostensibly steeper reduction in killings this year.

At a press conference in the summer, the President declared: “We have a strategy, there is monitoring of the plan, and there is specific tracking municipality by municipality in certain cases. The approach is effective. And we have to continue working at it every day.”

The main elements of the President's safety plan involve:

• Strengthening Mexico’s domestic security force.
• Advancing information gathering and investigative work.
• Greater coordination between government departments.

Analyst Caution and Data Limitations

But, public safety researchers cautioned that relying on homicide data to assess the situation of pacification was problematic. This is especially true considering the increase in different criminal activities such as abductions.

“That would be positive news if this were a reduction, but I think we can’t just focus on the homicide numbers and conclude: ‘Well then, good,’” stated Cecilia Farfán-Méndez, an specialist on Mexican cartels. “I would be cautiously hopeful.”

Per the policy analysis thinktank Mexico Evalúa, homicides overall declined by over 20% in the first 10 months of the current year compared with the identical timeframe last year. Yet, missing persons cases have gone up by 15% and in certain states have risen by as much as 200%.

“Numbers on murders is no longer valid for assessing the reality of insecurity,” stated Armando Vargas, a safety expert at Mexico Evalúa. “First, we have law enforcement and investigators who lack the ability or the desire to properly identify and categorize corpses. Secondly, organized [criminals] … have the means to conceal violence through abductions.”

Vargas added that relying on monthly averages of daily homicides was similarly an issue because it may mask days when there were especially elevated levels of killings.

“Using the daily average renders spikes of violence unseen,” he concluded.

Arrests and Seizures as Metrics of Progress

An area where the administration can point to the success of its safety plan is on detentions and seizures. Nearly 40,000 people were detained between October 2024 and November 2025 for serious crimes, per government figures. More than 20,000 firearms were seized and 311 tonnes of narcotics seized.

“The former US president cannot claim President Sheinbaum of not acting, because the reality is she is accomplishing a lot with these thousands of detentions, thousands of confiscations, and all the operational degrading of organised crime. It’s highly in political terms advantageous,” said Vargas.

Persistent Violence and Public Anger

Yet in spite of these measures, Mexico is still plagued by severe bloodshed, with several regions in the throes of cartel-related conflict. Last month there was a notable murder of a popular local official in the state of Michoacan, one of 10 mayors killed in the past year.

A short time later, thousands of youth took to the streets in Mexico City and throughout the nation to voice their outrage at corruption and drug violence.

“The government frames [data] in a manner to construct a picture of security. Politically it’s extremely successful, from a social perspective it’s extremely debatable,” the analyst remarked.