Breaking National Records: Murder Rate Drops Sixfold Over Six Years

Under the leadership of its new President, El Salvador saw its homicide rate drop substantially over the last two years, to the point where the Central American nation is no longer on the list of countries with the highest number of murders.

In 2021, the homicide rate was 18 homicides per 100,000 inhabitants or 3.1 per day, an impressive decline since 2015 – the country’s deadliest year – when the rate reached 103 homicides per 100,000 or 18.2 per day.

President Nayib Bukele came to power in 2019 with the intention to introduce and enforce security measures as part of his Territorial Control Plan. In 2020, a low record of homicide was set – 20 murders per 100,000 inhabitants or 3.7 per day, a rate 44.4% less than in 2019 – only to be broken the following year. The downward trend is set to continue in 2022. Once at the top of the infamous list of 20 countries with the highest homicide rate, El Salvador no longer figures on that list since 2021.