Photograph by Nathaniel St. Clair

By mid-2025, U.S. homicide rates were lower than pre-pandemic levels, according to the Council on Criminal Justice. It is a welcome sign, though the decline has been uneven across the country, and wider trends in violent crime remain mixed throughout the Americas.

Since the latter half of the 20th century, outside of war zones, few regions have experienced comparable levels of lethal violence to the Americas. Even Canada, generally low in crime and consistently ranked high on global peace indexes, recorded a higher homicide rate than any other G7 country in 2023 apart from the United States.

Accurate global comparisons remain difficult. Think tanks such as the Igarapé Institute compile extensive data, but differences in recordkeeping, definitions of violence, and underreporting complicate the process and fail to capture an accurate picture. Even so, underreporting is global and cannot obscure the violence experienced in the Americas.

Home to just 13 percent of the world’s population, the region’s 154,000 killings accounted for roughly one-third of global homicides in 2021, according to UN data, which stated, “The Americas have the highest regional homicide rate in the world, and high rates of homicidal violence related to organized crime.” The regional homicide rate, around 15 homicide victims per 100,000 people, was nearly triple the global average of 5.8. In fact, 43 of the 50 most violent cities in the world were located in the Americas in 2023.

Young men are disproportionately the victims, largely through inter-gang violence, though many other citizens are caught in the crossfire. While much of the violence is related to criminal activities, it is sustained by a wider set of factors. Addressing the problem will require coordinated, continent-wide efforts, which have so far proven elusive or been shaped by policies from Washington.

Sources of Violence

Inequality and poverty are major drivers of violence in the Americas. High inequality often fuels crime by breeding resentment, eroding social cohesion, and limiting legitimate work opportunities. The Gini coefficient, a standard measure of inequality, consistently places countries in the Americas among the worst worldwide. South Africa, which has Africa’s highest homicide rateand is the only country outside the Americas with multiple cities on the world’s most violent cities list, has a relatively high GDP per capita among African countries, but suffers extreme inequality

Yet inequality alone does not explain the picture. Saudi Arabia also ranks poorly on inequality based on 2019 data, but maintains a very low homicide rate. Additionally, although Pakistan’s GDP per capita is lower than that of most countries in the Americas, its homicide rate is lower compared to theirs, showing that poverty alone is not the only cause for violent crime. Corruption is also widespread in the Americas, but by Transparency International’s measures, it is no worse than in many African or Asian countries.

The region’s experience with urbanization, particularly in Latin America, has been an important contributing factor to the rising crime rates. Latin America’s rapid urbanization during the latter half of the 20th century took place before large-scale industrialization, the reverse of what happened in Europe and much of Asia. The region now has some of the highest urbanization rates in the world, with the rush creating sprawling informal settlements outside state control and social services. Combined with limited employment and education opportunities, these conditions have left large populations vulnerable to exploitation and violence.

The region has also fallen victim to geopolitics. Latin America has long been considered Washington’s backyard, and since the Monroe Doctrine, the U.S. has worked to keep out European and later Soviet influence, often backing pliable governments at the cost of strong institutions. This left many states weak, prone to instability, and unable to impose a monopoly on violence or law and order. According to “The Global Safety Report” 2024 by Gallup, the Americas scored lower than most regions outside Africa.

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