the 5 ‘deadliest’ municipalities in Mexico in 2020

In 2020, 35,644 people were killed across the country, representing a marginal reduction of just 1% from the previous year (36,065). 71% of them occurred by firearm. 
That year, five municipalities concentrated 17% of the total homicides nationwide (6,212 victims), making them the ‘deadliest’ areas of the country, according to the Atlas of Homicides: Mexico 2020 made by Mexico United Against Crime (MUCD).
These municipalities are: 

Juárez (Chihuahua): 2,072 homicides 
Tijuana (Baja California): 2,018 homicides 
Celaya (Guanajuato): 812 homicides 
León (Guanajuato): 780 homicides 
Irapuato (Guanajuato): 530 homicides

Although violence is not the same in these territories, MUCD explains in its analysis. 
“While the wave of homicides sweeping Tijuana seems to have stabilized, Juarez had a significant increase in the number of homicides that occurred in its territory (+38%). Likewise, it is observed that two of the three most violent municipalities of 2020 that were found in Guanajuato presented increases in lethal violence (Celaya and León),” the analysis states.
In Juarez, the total number of homicides that occurred in 2020 increased 38% compared to 2019. The highest percentage of victims were men of 33 years on average mainly killed with a firearm (67% of the victims) and / or on public roads (52%). In the case of women, they had an average age of 32 years and the places of their murder were public roads (44%) and homes (22%). 61% were killed with a firearm. 
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Celaya continues with the upward trend of homicides, for the fifth consecutive year, MUCD reported, with 140% more homicides when compared to 2019. At the municipal level, the average age of the men killed was 34 years old and they were mainly assaulted on public roads (55%) and/or with a firearm (86%). While female victims were 32 years old on average, they were assaulted on public roads (41%) or in undetermined places (29%) and/or with firearms (84%).
Leon had a 59% increase compared to 2019 in the number of murders. Male victims were 33 years old on average and women 36. The murders occurred with a firearm more than 80% of the time. However, men were killed on public roads (52%) and women in housing (37%), in second place of homicides of women was public roads (36%).
Although it is part of the ‘most lethal’ municipalities, Irapuato was the only one that had a 10% decrease in homicides compared to 2019. 
The victims were men aged 32 on average, the women were 31 years old. The attacks were with firearms (91% in men and 83% in women) and on public roads (51% for each)
Zacatecas, with the largest increase in violence
At the state level, there are also five states that concentrate the highest number of homicide victims: Guanajuato, Chihuahua, State of Mexico, Baja California and Michoacán concentrated 46% of homicides (16,500) nationwide.
“Weighted by population size, of these five entities, only Chihuahua, Guanajuato and Baja California appear as the entities of greatest risk for those who inhabit them (except for the State of Mexico and Michoacán), as well as Colima and Zacatecas,” he explains. 
Find out: Prosecutors increased, but case resolution decreased by 20% and the level of impunity for homicides remains at 90%
The analysis indicates that this year 17 entities had a downward trend in the number of homicides that occurred. 
“While there are entities such as the State of Mexico and Michoacán de Ocampo where the decrease in the number of homicides compared to the previous year may be encouraging, there are other entities that continue to be a cause for concern for presenting a continued upward trend such as Guanajuato and Chihuahua.”

The analysis highlights the case of Zacatecas, where homicides increased 70% compared to 2019; this is the largest increase for a state. Fresnillo concentrated 31% of the murders that occurred in the state. 
The highest homicide rate in the state was 378 homicides per 100,000 inhabitants in the municipality of General Enrique Estrada. The number of violent deaths that occurred in the framework of “legal and war operations” is also high: 15% of the national total, the Atlas notes.
However, Guanajuato remains the entity with the highest number of homicides in the last three years. 
“In 2020, it was the entity that accumulated the most homicides (14% of the national total), concentrated the highest percentage of murders committed on public roads (6 out of 10 male victims and 5 out of 10 women) and wide open.ticular, the municipalities of Celaya, León and Irapuato concentrated 43% of the homicides in the state,” explains the analysis. 
Unlike Puebla, where murders were reduced 30% compared to 2019, but its capital concentrated 20% of the total homicides in the state.
Here you can review the complete Homicide Atlas.
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Original source in Spanish

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