Safety: Part I - Crime Rates, Country Comparison

SAFETY is a key consideration when acquiring a primary or secondary residence - at home or abroad. Drug Trafficking Organization (DTO) homicides reported in the media suggest visiting or living in Mexico is unsafe.

However, a review of crime and homicide data covering the past decade provides new perspectives and a different conclusion. Mexico is as safe in non-border resort and retirement areas as it was 10 years ago. See documented statistics below:

1. Crime Rate (World) * - per 1,000 population, 57 countries

(1998 - 2000)

• South Africa #1 - 12.07 (highest crime rate)
• United States #7 - 7.56
• Canada #9 - 7.11
• Mexico #20 - 2.40
• Azerbaijan #57 - .02 (lowest crime rate)

These statistics suggest Mexico is 3 times safer than the US or Canada.

Although this data is 10 years old, it likely represents nearly the same crime rates per 1,000 population today for Mexico, Canada and the US. Statistically, crime data for developed countries with large populations (Canada - 33,000,000; Mexico - 111,000,000; US - 330,000,000) don't vary greatly.

Mexico is a developed country ranking #14 in GDP among 59 countries tallied by the World Bank in 2009 - listed after Australia and before South Korea. Canada ranked #10 and the US ranked #1.

2. Homicide Rate (World) ** - per 100,000 population, 122 countries (2000 - 2009)

(2000 -----2009)

• 37 ----------71 #1 El Salvador (highest homicide - 92% increase)
• 14 ----------14 #15 Mexico (unchanged)
• 5.5 ----------5.4 #45 United States (2% reduction)
• 1.5 ----------1.8 #74 Canada (20% increase)
• -0----------- -0- #122 Liechtenstein (lowest homicide rate)

These statistics show Mexico's homicide rate the same at the beginning as at the end of the decade - 2.6 times the United States and 7.8 times Canada.

Interesting data points - Mexico's crime rate is much lower and homicide rate is much higher than US or Canada. Why?

Mexico's lower crime rate is attributed to the country as a whole having a considerate, peaceful and easy going society.

Mexico's higher homicide rate is attributed to disputes and rivalries among ethnic and religious groups, communal farms and drug gangs. The rate rarely includes tourists or foreigners living in Mexico. ***

3. Homicide Rate (Caribbean & Central American Countries)**** - per 100,000 population, countries with popular tourist or retirement areas:

(2006)

• Jamaica 49 (highest homicide rate)
• Belize 33.0
• Dominican Republic 23.5
• Puerto Rico 18.8
• Panama 11.3
• Mexico 11
• Costa Rica 7.6 (lowest homicide rate)

Mexico is ranked the second lowest in homicide rate among Caribbean and Central American Countries.

Crime in general and homicides specifically are rare in Mexico's non-border tourist and retirement areas (Riviera Nayarit, Puerto Vallarta, San Miguel de Allende, Lake Chapala, Los Cabos or Cancun).

4. Homicide Rate (DTO - Mexico)***** - 23,000 (2007 - 2009)

Regarding all DTO deaths, criminals totaled 90%, police and military totaled more than 5% and innocent people totaled less than 5% (Recent press statement by Mexico's president Felipe Calderon).

Loss of life by innocent civilians and law enforcement personnel regardless of cause is always unacceptable. However, in a country of 111.000,000 people, accidental deaths of innocent people will occur, but the predictability of occurrence is extremely low - on par with deaths from natural disasters (e.g. hurricanes or earthquakes).

5. Conclusion. Mexico is as safe today in non-border resort and retirement areas as it was 10 years ago. It is safer than most popular Caribbean and Latin American countries as well. However, safety requires use of common sense and avoiding travel in areas of known criminal activity - the same as in your home country.

Next weeks BLOG features Part II: review of DTO homicide areas to be avoided followed by Part III: comparison of homicide rates between US Cities and Mexico.

Live well.

Norm

Costa Riviera is a boutique real estate firm specializing in beach homes in Puerto Vallarta and on the Riviera Nayarit.

Bookmark and visit http://blog.costariviera.com/ weekly for new postings. We bring you important facts from credible sources to use when acquiring property and living in Mexico. Let us know your questions and comments.

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* United Nations (UN) Office of Drugs and Crime, Center for International Crime Prevention (1998 - 2000). These are the "freshest" numbers we could find.

** 2000 - 2009, Wikipedia, Homicide Rates by Country - compiled from various sources. Nationmaster.com shows similar rates and rankings extracted from the older UN data.

***August 23, 2010, USA Today, Chris Hawley, Crime in Mexico

**** 2006, Wikipedia, Homicide Rates by Country (2006 is most recent available data for countries compared).

***** April 16, 2010, Associated Press, Ivan Moreno - Calderon: Most Mexico Drug War Dead are Criminals.