Clara Zepeda
La Jornada newspaper
Friday, September 19, 2025, p. 4
Fraud, extortion and threats were the crimes that most rebounded in the country in the recent year; In addition, the greatest estimate of kidnapping victims was recorded since 2019, the National Institute of Statistics and Geography (INEGI) revealed.
Through the National Survey of Victimization and Perception of Public Security (ENVIPE) 2024, which does not consider homicides, Inegi said that 33.5 million crimes were recorded in the country last year, which represented the same level as in 2017 (33.6 million).
With 15 Editions of the Envipe, INEGI showed that crimes increased 1.52 percent during the administration of Andrés Manuel López Obrador; While in the six -year period of his predecessor, Enrique Peña Nieto, the crimes that occurred rose 18.7 percent, from 27.8 million crimes in 2012 to 33 million in 2018.
Adrián Franco, vice president of the Inegi Governing Board, explained that there is a new configuration of criminal phenomena in Mexico, since in 2018 almost half of the crimes, 45.8 percent, had to do with robberies, assaults on the street or in public transport, as well as extortion; By 2024, that half went to a third (34 percent). In 2018, 22 percent were fraud and threats; By 2024 it was 35 percent; “That is, the configuration of violent crimes changed to less violent in the past six years,” Franco said in a press conference.
According to the shipping, fraud, in addition to being the most frequent crime, was the one that recounted the most last year, from 6,962 events in 2023 to 7 thousand 574 in 2024, per 100,000 inhabitants; Likewise, the extortion rose from 5,213 crimes in 2023 to 5,971 last year. Meanwhile, threats went from 3,346 to 4,683 events in the reference period.
These crimes presented a concentration rate of 21.7, 17.1 and 13.4 percent, respectively.
During 2024, 94 thousand 679 kidnappings were estimated, while 92 thousand 888 were documented victims, according to INEGI figures, which total three years of increases. Both, their greatest specific estimates of victims since 2019.
When comparing with 2023, the rate of crime victims dropped into seven federative entities in 2024; It increased by seven others and had no changes in 18. In that same year, in 10 federative entities, the rates surpassed the National. The highest were recorded in the State of Mexico, with 34 thousand 851; Mexico City, 30 thousand 804, and Tlaxcala, 30 thousand 498. The lowest rates were presented in Chiapas, with 15 thousand 576; In Tamaulipas, 16,537, and Michoacán, 16,572 per 100,000 inhabitants.
In 2024, the rate of women victims of crimes did not present statistical change compared to 2023, while that of men was statistically greater. In 2024, 23 thousand 399 women and 25 thousand 10 victims were registered per 100,000 inhabitants.
The INEGI stressed that despite the fact that sexual crimes, a line in which a rate of 4,160 crimes for every 100,000 women was estimated in 2024, a statistically equivalent to the 4,290 crimes estimated in 2023, eight sexual crimes committed to women for each sexual crime committed to men were counted.
According to INEGI, in 2018 10.6 percent of the total crimes that occurred was denounced; In 2024 9.6 percent was denounced. “It is a percentage point of difference, but strictly represents a tenth of the complaint; that is, we Mexicans have stopped denouncing and that is serious for the security system in the country,” Franco acknowledged. The Public Ministry (MP) – or State Prosecutor – opened a investigation folder in 70.5 percent of these complaints. The above implies that 93.2 percent of crimes were not investigated (what is known as a hidden figure). The percentage was similar to 2023 (92.9 percent). The most common reasons for not denouncing are the loss of time, with 34.6 percent, and distrust of the authority, 14 percent.
Hence, the difficulty of having evidence with fraud, extortion or threats could affect that in Mexico the practice of crime complaint is improved.
Inegi estimated that of the 38.8 million households that are estimated in the country, 11.4 million had at least one member who was a victim of crime; This showed a criminal prevalence of 29 percent in homes by 2024.
According to the Institute, chaired by Graciela Márquez, the estimate of the cost of crime and insecurity in Mexico for 2024 was 269.6 billion pesos. On average, each affected person lost 6,226 pesos.
Thus, the total cost represented 1.07 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP). The preventive measures that Mexican households took against crimes represented 34 percent of the total amount and losses for victimization 62 percent, and were estimated at 91.8 billion pesos and 177.8, respectively.
In 2024, the judges occupied the second position as the most corrupt, only after transit agents. And it is that of the population of 18 years and more than, between March and April 2025, he identified the Traffic Police, 75.1 percent considered that said authority is corrupt. Similarly, of the population that identified judges, 69 percent considered them corrupt.
In the most recent shipping, the Navy and the Army did not register a statistically significant change; In the rest, the perception of corruption in authorities in charge of public security had statistically significant increases compared to 2024.
The confidence of society in the different authorities increased for the Navy (91 percent); while for the Army and the Attorney General’s Office were maintained. Likewise, the level of confidence decreased significantly in seven other authorities.
