In 2023, more than 17 people were murdered per 100,000 inhabitants in Costa Rica. During years prior 2023, the homicide rate remained fairly stable, with figures varying between 9.5 and 12.1 per 100,000 inhabitants.

Intentional homicides are estimates of unlawful homicides purposely inflicted as a result of domestic disputes, interpersonal violence, violent conflicts over land resources, intergang violence over turf or control, and predatory violence and killing by armed groups. Intentional homicide does not include all intentional killing; the difference is usually in the organization of the killing. Individuals or small groups usually commit homicide, whereas killing in armed conflict is usually committed by fairly cohesive groups of up to several hundred members and is thus usually excluded.

In Costa Rica, the number of homicide victims remained steady bellow 600 per year since, at least, from 2016 to 2021. The number of people murdered in this Central American country amounted to 849 in 2023, up from 611 deaths reported a year earlier. Costa Rica's homicide rate had remained at around 11 victims per 100,000 inhabitants in recent years, until 2023.

During 2023, Costa Rica recorded almost 50,000 crimes and around 36 percent of them were registered in the province of San Jose. In 2022, Costa Rica registered under 611 homicide victims.

In 2024, the highest homicide rate among 22 Latin American and Caribbean countries surveyed was in Haiti, with around 62 murders committed per 100,000 inhabitants. Trinidad and Tobago came in second, with a homicide rate of 46, while Honduras ranked seventh, with 25. In the same year, the lowest rate was recorded in El Salvador, with a homicide rate of 1.9 per 100,000 inhabitants. A violence-ridden region Violence and crime are some of the most pressing problems affecting Latin American society nowadays. More than 40 of the 50 most dangerous cities in the world are located in this region, as well as one of the twenty countries with the least peace in the world according to the Global Peace Index. Despite governments’ large spending on security and high imprisonment rates, drug and weapon trafficking, organized crime, and gangs have turned violence into an epidemic that affects the whole region and a solution to this issue appears to be hardly attainable. The cost of violence in Mexico Mexico stands out as an example of the great cost that violence inflicts upon a country, since beyond claiming human lives, it also affects everyday life and has a negative impact on the economy. Mexicans have a high perceived level of insecurity, as they do not only fear becoming victims of homicide, but also of other common crimes, such as assault or rape. Such fear prevents people from performing everyday activities, for instance, going out at night, taking a taxi or going to the movies or the theater. Furthermore, the economic toll of violence in Mexico is more than considerable. For example, the cost of homicide and violent crime amounted to 2099.8 and 1778.1 billion Mexican pesos in 2023, respectively.

In 2022, 3,004 people were murdered in Guatemala. This is the highest death toll of the last three years. Guatemala still has higher homicide rates than other Central American countries such as Panama and Costa Rica.

472 (number) in 2022. “Homicide” is defined as unlawful death purposefully inflicted on a person by another person

During 2023, there were 642 victims of homicide in Costa Rica, where the crime was related to the organized crime. That was the highest number of homicides of this type ever recorded in the Central American country.

11.2 (cases per 100,000 population) in 2020. “Intentional homicide” is defined as unlawful death purposefully inflicted on a person by another person

During 2023, Costa Rica recorded almost 50,000 property crimes. The most common ones being theft with 16,500, robbery with 12,700, and burglary with 10,900 cases. In 2022, Costa Rica registered 611 homicide victims.

During 2023, revenge and reckoning were, by far, the main reasons for homicides in Costa Rica, with 633 cases happening this year. Discussions and quarrel followed with 177 cases.

During 2023, only 29 percent of the homicides commited in Costa Rica were not related to the organized crime, whereas 71 percent were related to it. It's the highest rate ever recorded in the Central American country.

During the timeframe displayed, the highest number of femicide registered in Costa Rica was in 2011 with 42 murders. In contrast, the lowest number was in 2019 with 17 cases.

In 2023, the province of San Jose, which serves as the capital, recorded the highest number of deaths in Costa Rica, with approximately 9,850 cases. This was followed by the districts of Alajuela and Cartago.

During 2023, Costa Rica recorded almost 50,000 crimes and around 59 percent of the victims were male. In 2022, Costa Rica registered under 611 homicide victims.

A research project developed by the Trans Murder Monitoring (TMM) revealed that at least 235 trans or gender-diverse people were murdered in Latin America from October 2022 to September 2023. The highest number of victims was reported in Brazil, with 100 homicides. Mexico was the second deadliest country for trans people in Latin America, having registered 52 murders in the same period.

Hasta 2022, la tasa de homicidios en Costa Rica se mantuvo relativamente estable, oscilando entre los 9,5 y 12,2 por cada 100.000 habitantes. Sin embargo, en 2023 se ha registrado un notable repunte en este índice, ya que durante dicho año se cometieron más de 17 homicidios por cada 100.000 habitantes.

Brazil led the list with a total of 4,390 kidnapping cases in the latest available data. Ecuador followed with 1,246 occurrences in 2022. On the flip side, there was only three reported kidnapping in the Antigua and Barbuda during that year. Homicides, another recurrent problem in Latin America Among the region's prevalent offenses, intentional homicide emerged as one of the main concerns in the region. Nonetheless, the rates vary among the different countries. Brazil leads the ranking of the most number of homicides in Latin America, as well as being the most populated country by far. On the other hand, Jamaica holds the top position according to the homicide rate, reporting nearly 61 instances per 100,000 inhabitants in 2023. Nevertheless, even with these varying homicide rates across countries, four out of five of the world's most perilous urban centers are situated in Mexico, with Colima leading the pack at a 2024 homicide rate of 140 per 100,000 inhabitants.

Cost of violence in Central America Following criminal acts, the responsibility for addressing the consequences falls squarely on the government, causing government expenditure to surge, called the cost of violence. Notably, Panama is more severely impacted in Central America, with the economic cost of violence per inhabitant accounting for over 3,771 U.S. dollars in 2022. In terms of a percentage of Gross Domestic Product (GDP), El Salvador takes the first place with a value of 15 percent of their GDP.

The victimization rate in Chile increased by five percentage points (+18.52 percent) in 2023 in comparison to the previous observation. In total, the rate amounted to 32 percent in 2023. For more insights about the victimization rate consider different countries: In 2023, in comparison to Chile, the rate in Uruguay was lower and in Costa Rica it was considerably lower.

In 2023, the feminicide rate per 100,000 women in Colombia did not change in comparison to the previous observation. The feminicide rate per 100,000 women remained at 0.7 percent. For more insights about the feminicide rate per 100,000 women consider different countries: In 2023, in comparison to Colombia, the rate in Argentina as well as in Costa Rica was higher.