The number of people killed in Mexico in the first quarter of 2018, at 7,667, is more than ten times higher than the 763 civilian deaths in war-ravaged Afghanistan during the same period, according to a Breitbart News analysis of Mexican government and United Nations data.
When taking into consideration the difference in the population between the two countries, a civilian is still nearly three times more likely to be killed in Mexico than in Afghanistan.
Using CIA World Factbook population estimates, Breitbart News determined that the murder rate in Mexico so far this year stands at 6.15 per 100,000 people.
Meanwhile, the civilian fatality rate is 2.24 per 100,000 people in Afghanistan.
The murder rate estimates are consistent with the latest data (from 2012) compiled by the World Bank, which shows that the intentional homicide rate alone in Mexico (21.3 per 100,000) is more than three times higher than that of war-devastated Afghanistan (6.6 per 100,000).
Breitbart News gleaned data on the number of homicides in Mexico from the country’s national public security services and the Afghanistan civilian death figures from the U.N.
The number of murders in Mexico in the first quarter of 2018 increased by 20 percent when compared to the same period last year.
So far, 2018 is Mexico’s “most violent year in two decades,” the Agence France-Presse (AFP) agency notes.
Referring to civilian deaths, which excludes the number of American military fatalities and fatalities among the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces (ANDSF), the U.N. Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) reports, “From 1 January to 31 March 2018, UNAMA documented 2,258 civilian casualties (763 deaths and 1,495 injured), reflecting similar levels of civilian harm documented in the first three months of 2017 and 2016.”
Breitbart News’ fatality tally for Mexico excludes the 4,272 homicides designated as involuntary manslaughter, which brings the total number of deaths in the country during the first quarter of 2018 to 11,939.