Region

2023

17.3
homicides per 100,000 inhabitants in the subregion comprising Central America and the Dominican Republic
20
people lost their lives every day
814
Violent deaths of women and girls

Key Data

  • The homicide rate per one hundred thousand population in Central America and the Dominican Republic (17.3) is slightly higher than the rate in Latin America (16.8).
  • The downward trend in homicides since 2015 resumed in 2023 with a rate of 17.3 per one hundred thousand population, a 1.5 decrease compared to 2022. Homicides of men decreased 9.2% but homicides of women increased 3.2%.
  • The month of June registered (688) the highest number of homicides in 2023.
  • Each year, institutions typify fewer incidents as femicides. Between 2017 and 2022, typification of this type of crime fell 16%.
  • There was a rise in "other forms" of violence against women and girls. In 2022, 49 complaints were filed daily. Eight in ten reports involve women and girls.
  • In 2022, Guatemala registered a total 500 cases of human trafficking, 54.2% involved women and girls.
  • Young people continue to be the primary victims of homicidal violence in the region in 2022. 7 in 10 homicide victims were people between 18 and 40 years of age.
  • Firearms were involved in 4 in 5 homicides in 2022.
  • In two out of every three (66%) territories (department, province or district), records show a decrease in homicides in 2023 compared to 2022.

 

Source: Prepared by UNDP InfoSegura with information from Belize Police Department (provided by the BCO); Costa Rica, OIJ; El Salvador, PNC; Guatemala, PNC (Statistics Section, INE validation pending); Honduras, Working Group on Violent Deaths: National Police, Public Ministry/Directorate of Forensic Medicine. National Registry of Persons. Citizen Coexistence and Security Observatories. National Statistics Institute. IUDPAS/UNAH. Technical Inter-Institutional Coordination Unit (UTECI)/Sub-Secretary for Inter-Institutional Affairs and the Dominican Republic, Centre for Analysis of Citizen Security Data (CADSECI) and the National Police.

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Preliminary Analysis of the State of the Violence and Citizen Security

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Analysis of the State of homicidal violence in Central America. January to June 2023

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