Mexico

Crime

Mexico, like most Latin American countries, has deep income and wealth inequalities. In 1999, the lowest income group (40 percent of the population) received barely 11 percent of total income, while the upper stratum (20 percent) received 58 percent. In 1998, the World Bank estimated that 40 percent of Mexico's population survived on less than $2 a day, while 15 percent received less than $1 per day. Barely two years later, the World Bank estimated that the former group had increased to 42.5 percent and the latter to 18 percent. The polarization of society and the growing distance between the sectors with the highest and lowest income and opportunities is one of the factors that has contributed to the increase in crime. Over the 1990s, Mexico experienced explosive growth in crime, which coincided with one of the most severe economic crises the nation had experienced. The period of the greatest increase in crime was from 1994 to 1997, when the national crime rate grew at about 64 percent on average each year.

According to data from the National Public Safety System, 1,373,000 crimes were reported in Mexico during 1998. The most frequently reported crimes were theft (43 percent), personal injuries (18 percent), damage to property (10 percent), crimes against health (drug trafficking) (5 percent), threats (4 percent), fraud (4 percent), and homicide (3 percent). There was an average of 583 thefts per 100,000 inhabitants. In Mexico City, the total number of crimes reported increased tenfold from 1993 to 1999, although the crime rate dropped in the year 2000.

Robbery accompanied by violent assault is the crime that increased the most. While in 1990, one robbery in three in Mexico City involved violence, by 1997, 55 percent of robberies were accompanied by violence. Accidents and violence together were the second cause of death in the country, accounting for 12.4 percent of deaths and following heart disease, which accounted for 14.5 percent. In 1997, in the fifteen-to-nineteen age group, injuries and accidents were the main cause of death.

The places with highest crime rates in 1998 were Tijuana, with 3,429 crimes per 100,000 inhabitants; the metropolitan area of Mexico City, with 2,851; Ciudad Juárez, with 2,803; and Guadalajara, with 2,779. In these cities, robbery accounted for from 45 to 61 percent of all crimes committed. Two of these cities (Tijuana and Ciudad Juárez) are located on the border with the United States and the other two are urban zones holding almost 25 percent of the Mexican population as well as a significant percentage of its economic activities.

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