Violence costs 8.8% of GDP in Nuevo León

During the past year, the cost of violence in Nuevo León registered an increase of 11.2 percent compared to that reported during 2020 and represented 8.8 percent of the Gross Domestic Product, according to the Mexico Peace Index 2022.

“The economic impact per capita of the violence in Nuevo León last year was 35 thousand 927 pesos, which implies that in total this cost was 204 billion pesos, representing 8.8 percent of GDP in constant 2021 pesos. ″, indicated the Institute for Economy and Peace (IEP), which prepared this study.

He highlighted that this impact rose 33 percent in 2021 compared to 2015, while from 2020 to 2021 it rose 9.7 percent.

The IEP pointed out that the greatest improvement in peace in 2021 occurred in Colima, Chihuahua, Tabasco, San Luis Potosí and Sinaloa and in contrast, Sonora, Zacatecas, Nuevo León, Morelos and Michoacán registered the greatest deterioration.

He highlighted that in particular, these five states have witnessed an incursion by the Jalisco Nueva Generación Cartel (CJNG) in recent years.

Within the range of peace, Nuevo León registered a rating of 2,802 points, which places it in position number 21 as the most peaceful entity, which implied a drop of three positions, since in 2020 it was in position 18.

“As shown, four of the five states dropped just one place in the rankings. The remaining state, Nuevo León, fell three places, the largest change in ranking of any state,” the IEP indicated.

“In 2021, Nuevo León recorded the third largest deterioration in peace in Mexico, falling from 18th to 21st in the rankings. This decline was driven by substantial deteriorations in organized crime, homicide, and violent crime, while slight improvements were seen in indicators for crimes committed with firearms and in prison without a sentence. .

Thus, regarding homicides, the State registered an index of 1,943 points, crimes with violence of 3,281 points, crimes committed with firearms of 2,457, crimes of organized crime of 4,404 points, prison without sentence of 1,419 units.

The IEP highlighted that the number of homicides increased by 17 percent to reach a rate of 18.8 per 100,000 inhabitants, the highest rate since 2015.

It added that violent crime rates also rose 17 percent, driven by increases in rates of assault, sexual violence, and family violence, while the organized crime rate saw the largest increase of any indicator, up 37.9 percent.

“In this category, the most significant increase was in kidnapping and human trafficking, which increased by 76.4 percent,” he added.