Daily Murders in the nation Fall Over a Third During the Sheinbaum Administration, Per Official Data

The mean figure of everyday homicides monthly in Mexico has decreased by more than a third since Head of State Claudia Sheinbaum took office, as stated by new administrative data. However, security experts have cautioned that murder figures might not signal better countrywide security.

Significant Reduction in Per-Day Figures

There was an mean of close to 55 murders a day in the month of November as opposed to roughly 87 when Claudia Sheinbaum began the presidential office in September. This information was provided by the head of the country’s federal safety system, Marcela Figueroa Franco, during the leader's daily news conference on Tuesday.

“The outcome in murders that we’ve had in these months is very significant,” the President said, explaining that in November the smallest figure of murders were recorded for any November in the past decade.

Historical Background and Official Plan

Fierce drug cartel rivalries, coupled with the government’s heavily military efforts to confront the trafficking organizations, have led to Mexico’s murder numbers soar in recent years. The figure peaked at a maximum of 36,773 killings in 2020, according to the country’s official data agency.

That gave Mexico a homicide figure more than four times higher than the United States. However, homicides have been on the decrease, declining to 33,550 in the last calendar year. Claudia Sheinbaum has credited her national security plan for an ostensibly steeper drop in homicides in the current year.

At a media briefing in August, the Mexican leader said: “We have a plan, we have monitoring of the plan, and we have detailed monitoring municipality by municipality in some cases. The strategy is effective. And we have to persist at it daily.”

The central elements of Sheinbaum’s security strategy include:

• Bolstering Mexico’s national guard.
• Advancing information gathering and investigation work.
• Enhanced coordination between government agencies.

Analyst Caution and Statistical Limitations

But, security analysts warned that relying on murder data to draw a conclusion of improved security was problematic. This is especially true in light of the rise in other crimes such as people going missing.

“That would be excellent news if this were a reduction, but I think we shouldn't just focus on the murder data and conclude: ‘Alright, excellent,’” commented Cecilia Farfán-Méndez, an authority on Mexican cartels. “I would be tentatively optimistic.”

Per the public policy research organization Mexico Evalúa, murders in total dropped by more than 20% in the first 10 months of this year versus the same timeframe the previous year. But, disappearances have risen by 15% and in some regions have risen by as much as 200%.

“Numbers on homicides is not reliable for assessing the situation of insecurity,” stated Armando Vargas, a safety analyst at Mexico Evalúa. “Firstly, we have police and investigators who lack the resources or the will to accurately identify and categorize corpses. Secondly, organised [criminals] … have the means to mask violent acts through abductions.”

Vargas pointed out that relying on month-to-month averages of daily killings was additionally an issue because it may mask periods when there were particularly spiking levels of murders.

“Relying on the daily mean renders spikes of violence unseen,” he stated.

Detentions and Confiscations as Measures of Success

Where the administration can highlight the effectiveness of its security strategy is on arrests and confiscations. Close to 40,000 people were arrested between last October and November 2025 for high-impact crimes, per government figures. Over 20,000 firearms were confiscated and 311 tons of drugs intercepted.

“The former US president can't accuse President Sheinbaum of doing nothing, because in reality she is doing a lot with these thousands of detentions, thousands of confiscations, and all the operational weakening of criminal groups. It’s extremely in political terms profitable,” commented Vargas.

Ongoing Violence and Societal Anger

However in spite of these measures, Mexico remains plagued by extreme bloodshed, with a number of states in the midst of cartel-related bloodshed. Last month there was a notable assassination of a popular local official in the region of Michoacan, one of 10 mayors murdered in the past year.

A short time after, thousands of youth took to the streets in the capital and across the nation to voice their outrage at corruption and cartel violence.

“The federal government frames [data] in a way to build a picture of improvement. Politically it’s very effective, from a social perspective it’s highly debatable,” Vargas remarked.