🇲🇽 United Mexican States (Mēxihco)
Visiting: Dangerous
Mexico has real risks to weigh. Violent crime is the defining risk: homicide ranks 171st, one of the highest rates in the world, and women's safety is extremely poor, placed 168th. Even so, LGBT rights are solid, ranking 24th, and freedom is only partly protected, at 84th. Road deaths are moderate, ranking 98th, and there is significant exposure to conflict, at 150th.
Homicide
Intentional homicides per 100,000 people — lower is better.
Mexico: 21.4
Ranked 10th in the world for the highest homicide rate.
Why this rank?
Twenty-one killings per 100,000 people a year is twice the ten that marks the deadliest countries.
Is it safe to visit?
A real risk on the numbers. 33,550 killings in 2024 — nearly four times the world average rate.
Why we updated the score?
The statistics institute has published a preliminary 2025 count, 27,989, the fewest since 2018. The UN takes its figure from the institute a year later, so we used the new count.
Road Fatalities
Road-traffic deaths per 100,000 people per year — lower is better.
Mexico: 13.6
Ranked 83rd in the world for the deadliest roads.
Why this rank?
Nearly fourteen deaths per 100,000 people a year is just below the world average of fifteen.
Is it safe to visit?
Reasonable. Below the world average, and about the same as the United States.
Why we updated the score?
The WHO's 2021 figure was Mexico's own death-registration count. The statistics institute's newest year is 2024, with 17,082 deaths, so we've used it.
Conflict
Conflict deaths inside the country in the last twelve months, as recorded by the Uppsala conflict database, civilians killed on purpose, and any UN sanctions or court order over a war. The worst of those sets the colour. Lower is better.
Mexico: 3.02
Ranked 31st most conflict-affected country in the world.
Why this rank?
123 people died in fighting inside Mexico in the year to July 2026, 91 of them civilians killed on purpose.
Is it safe to visit?
Not safe in Sinaloa, Guanajuato, Michoacán and Guerrero, where cartels at war with the state killed 91 civilians in the year to July 2026. Cartel fighting among themselves is counted under Homicide.
Freedom
Six freedoms rated 0–4 by Freedom House — protest, speech, press, religion, movement and due process. The weakest rating sets the colour, and the total places the country inside it — higher is better.
Mexico: 6.40
Ranked 84th freest country in the world.
Why this rank?
In Mexico the lowest is due process at 1. Total 15 of 24.
Is it safe to visit?
An electoral democracy with severe rule-of-law deficits. Due process is the low rating. Organised crime violence, corruption and rampant impunity are the challenges. Speaking freely is not the risk.
LGBT Rights
LGBT equality in law and daily life — higher is better.
Mexico: 7.1
Ranked 24th most equal in the world for LGBT people.
Why this rank?
Same-sex marriage has been legal in all 32 states since 2022, with adoption and broad anti-discrimination law. The law index scores 86, public opinion 57.
Is it safe to visit?
Fine. Mexico City has a large, open LGBT scene, though violence against trans women remains serious.
Women's Safety
Women's safety — feeling safe out at night, political violence against women, a fair hearing in court, and how normal violence at home is, with the night figure setting a floor on the colour — higher is better.
Mexico: 4.10
Ranked 13th least safe country in the world for women.
Why this rank?
Only 41 percent of women feel safe out alone at night and the courts rate poorly for women. Attacks on women were recorded throughout 2024, and at a rate few countries match.
Is it safe to visit?
Mexico is a high-risk destination for a woman travelling alone.