The perception of insecurity of Mexicans fell to 64.2% at the end of 2022, a slight decrease compared to 65.8% a year earlier, the National Institute of Statistics and Geography (Inegi) reported this Thursday.
This means that almost two-thirds of the population aged 18 and over considered living in their city unsafe, according to the National Survey of Urban Public Safety (ENSU) that Inegi carried out in the fourth quarter of last year.
“It represents a statistically significant change compared to December 2021,” the autonomous institute noted in its report.
It also implied a slight reduction compared to the third quarter of 2022, when the index was 64.4 percent.
The statistics exhibited a gender gap, with 69.9% of women reporting insecurity compared to 57.4% of men.
A year earlier, 70.3% of them perceived insecurity compared to 60.2% of them.
The ENSU is published after revealing on Tuesday that intentional homicides decreased by 7.1% annually in 2022 to 30,968 murders, the third consecutive year of decline after the most violent years in the history of Mexico, with 34,718 in 2019, 34,563 in 2020, and 33,350 in 2021.
Even so, in 2021 there were violent events, such as the acts of terror of drug trafficking in Ciudad Juárez, on the northern border, where there were 11 deaths in August, and the attack on a funeral in Michoacán that left 17 dead last February.
The city with the highest perception of insecurity was Fresnillo, Zacatecas, where 97.7% of its inhabitants reported this feeling in the midst of the massacres that organized crime committed there.
They are followed by Zacatecas (93.3%), Irapuato (92.6%), Naucalpan (89.7%), Ecatepec (89.6%), and Ciudad Obregón (89.2%).
In contrast, the least insecure city was San Pedro Garza García, a municipality of Nuevo León, considered the richest in the country, where only 8.1% of the population reported insecurity.
It was followed by Los Mochis (15%), the Benito Juárez district of Mexico City (19.4%), Los Cabos (20.9%), Tampico (22.1%) and the Cuajimalpa mayor’s office (22.3%).
Regarding specific physical spaces, 74.3% of the population stated that they felt insecure in ATMs on public roads, 67.1% in public transport, 58.9% in the bank, and 57% in the streets that they usually use.
The population that reported having witnessed criminal behavior in the surroundings of their home was related to alcohol consumption in the streets (60.6%), robberies or assaults (52.2%), vandalism (42.7%), sale or consumption of drugs (39.8% ) and frequent gunshots (38.3 percent).
They also denounced violent gangs or gangs (25.5%), irregular light sockets (14.2%), and theft or illegal sale of gasoline or diesel (3%).
These surveys only measure the public perception of safety where they live, actual crime statistics are not used to determine the most insecure or secure cities of Mexico. While many foreigners believe Mexico is safe, their experience in life is much different than most Mexicans, and are shielded from much of the crime in Mexico by living in ex-pat communities where the government invests more resources for security, and areas where most Mexicans do not have the financial advantage to live.
two-thirds of the population aged 18 and over considered living in their city unsafe, according to the National Survey of Urban Public Safety (ENSU . . .
