In 2024, there were approximately 25.4 homicides per 100,000 inhabitants in the country, down from a homicide rate of 25.7 a year earlier. The homicide rate in Colombia has been stable since 2014 with the numbers varying between 24 and 26.8 homicides per 100,000 inhabitants. Crime and corruption Approximately 31 percent of the population identifies corruption as the main problem of the country, with fraud emerging as the foremost committed corruption and economic felony in Colombia. Followed by instances where residents were either firsthand or indirectly encountered attempts to purchase electoral votes. These experiences stem from discontent with flawed democratic functioning, culminating with the country positioned among the Latin American nations most plagued by corruption. Moreover, Colombia's corruption index was 39, where 0 represents the worst corruption scenario. Notably, those entrusted with safeguarding public welfare—the police, congressional representatives, and presidential personnel—are implicated in these transgressions, thereby fostering a prevailing sense of insecurity among the population. Not an easy way out of drug trafficking Amidst the economic challenges stemming from an uneven distribution of wealth that predominantly favors merely one percent of the population, the youth demographic and individuals residing in rural areas are more inclined towards seeking a convenient route to monetary gains. This trend has the adverse consequence of resulting in land expropriation and engenders a state of insecurity for landowners, particularly concerning crop cultivation. The proliferation of narcotics has escalated significantly, prompting alarm within the government. These authorities have grappled with a persistent inability to curb the proliferation of this phenomenon. Notably, the cultivation and exportation of marijuana and cocaine stand out as the primary illegal undertaking, facilitated through international transport via land, aircraft, and maritime shipments.

Antioquia and Valle del Cauca were the departments where most homicides were recorded in Colombia throughout 2024, with 1,649 and 2,265 murders respectively. By contrast, only 2 homicide was registered in Guainía. In total, 13,341 homicides were recorded in Colombia. Homicides During 2024, Colombia ranked as the sixth South American country with the highest homicide rate. Even though Colombia ranks quite high, the homicide rate has remained stable for the last decade, between 24 and 26.8 cases per each 100,000 inhabitants. The situation with crime, poverty, and drug trafficking stays as barriers to the betterment of peace for the citizens.
How much does crime cost?
Crime always takes a toll on the economic development of a country, adding to the insecurity and instability of the country. As a consequence, governments spend a lot to try to stop the further development of crime. For example, Colombia’s public spending on order and security increased 220 percent from 2010 to 2023. And the economic cost of violence is estimated at over 274 billion U.S. dollars per year.

This dataset is part of the ESCALA (Study of Urban Health and Climate Change in Informal Settlements in Latin America) project that was funded by the Lacuna Fund of the Meridian Institute https://lacunafund.org/. This dataset contains homicide cases reported by police in the municipal area of Bogotá, 2012-2022, by Planning Zone Units (UPZ - Unidad de Planeamiento Zonal). Data were provided by the Statistical, Criminal, Contraventional, and Operational Information System (SIEDCO). (1) Anomalous values in the column "HOMCOUNT" that may exceed realistic homicide counts (e.g., outliers or values below 0). (2) Missing or incomplete data for some UPZs where no homicides were reported. (3) Potential misalignment between UPZs in the dataset and official geographic definitions. (4) If "HOMRATE" includes calculated rates, errors may occur due to incorrect population denominators or missing population data for specific years. Data preprocessing included (1) flagging records with anomalous values in "HOMCOUNT" for further investigation while retaining them for analysis, (2) verifying missing "ID_UPZ" values against secondary sources to match the homicide data with official UPZs (3) checking the accuracy of population estimates for corresponding UPZs in cases where "HOMRATE" was calculated.

Firearms were the most common method used to commit murder in Colombia in 2024, causing more than ****** homicides. Sharp objects were used in nearly ***** murders in the South American country. Furthermore, Valle del Cauca and Antioquia were the departments where most homicides were recorded in Colombia throughout 2023.

From January to December of 2024, Antioquia was the Colombian department with the highest number of femicides, with a total of 130 women having been murdered on account of their gender. Bogotá came in second, with 84 femicides reported. These two regions made up for approximately one fourth of all femicides registered in Colombia that year.

In 2022, the highest number of alleged victims of sexual violence in Colombia were girls between 10 and 14 years old, with 11,395 such cases reported that year. More than 6,200 of the supposed attacks that year involved victims of both genders aged between zero and nine years.

In 2022, the average price of cocaine in Colombia reached ***** Colombian pesos per kilogram. Meanwhile, cocaine paste was marketed at around ***** pesos per kilogram in 2022.