The National Institute of Statistics and Geography (El Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Geografía or INEGI) has disclosed preliminary information, nationally and by state, of all homicides in Mexico for 2012. The statistics were released on Tuesday, July 30. According to the data, overall homicides dropped in Mexico from 27,213 in 2011, to 26,037 in 2012.

The state of Baja California saw a drop from 809 homicides in 2011, to 584 in 2012. The states homicides have dropped since hitting a high of 1,530 in 2009.

The state of Baja California Sur had the lowest number of homicides with only 37. Mexico state had the highest at 2,905.

The nation in whole had a homicide rate of 22 per 100,000 people. In 2011 the rate was 24 per 100,000 people. The states with the highest homicide rates were Chihuahua and Guerrero, both at 77.

INEGI, which tallied the statistics, is an autonomous agency of the Mexican Government. The agency is responsible for the official census, which is recorded every 10 years.

Statistics which are used by INEGI are collected by 4,700 Oficialías del Registro Civil and 1,107 Agencias del Ministerio Público. These officials send in monthly totals which are collected from death certificates. Note that these statistics often differ from other non-governmental agencies in Mexico, which at times report a higher homicide number than INEGI.

Despite the drop in homicides, Baja California rarely gets convictions in homicide cases. The state successfully prosecuted less than 4% of all homicides in 2012. Mexico as a whole convicted only 1.4% in total cases.

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