The number of businesses that were victims of crimes in Mexico last year increased compared to 2021, with extortion and robbery or assault being the most common, according to Inegi data.
In 2023, it was estimated that 1.3 million businesses were victims of crime, which meant a rate of 2,722 victims per 100,000 economic units, higher than the 2,463 in 2021.
The information released this Tuesday by the statistics institute comes from the National Company Victimization Survey (ENVE) 2024, which was applied to almost 37,000 economic units throughout the country between May 2 and June 28.
The Inegi detailed that during 2023, 2.9 million crimes were committed associated with the 1.3 million businesses attacked, that is, the concentration rate was 2.2 crimes per victim economic unit.
These 1.3 million businesses that were victims of at least one crime represented 27.2% of the country’s total economic units, a percentage higher than the 24.6% in 2021.
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Businesses, the ones that suffered the most
The establishments that reported the highest victimization rate were those in the commerce sector, with 31.5%, while businesses in the service sector had the highest concentration of crimes, with 2.4 per victim economic unit.
Extortion, the most frequent crime
The most frequent crime in 2023 was extortion, with a prevalence rate of 1,562 per 10,000 economic units. Theft or assault followed, with 1,030, and ant robbery, with 1,002.
All these crimes accounted for 58.8% of those that occurred against the victim establishments.
The rate of 1,562 extortion crimes is lower than the 1,744 recorded in 2021, but Inegi indicated that there is no statistically significant change.
Of the 747,000 extortion crimes committed in total in 2023, 84.1% were carried out by telephone, a percentage lower than the 91.2% in 2021.
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Extortion on the street, the establishment or collection of fees represented 15.2% of the total, a figure much higher than the 8.1% in fiscal year 2021.
Increases effectiveness of extortionists on the street
Of the extortions originating on the street, in the establishment or due to floor charges, in 67% of the cases the victims delivered what was requested, a percentage higher than the 44.8% in 2021.
Only 12.2% of crimes were reported
Of the 2.9 million crimes that occurred last year, only 12.2% were reported, a figure higher than the 11.4% in 2021, although it is not a statistically significant change for Inegi.
The hidden figure, made up of the percentage of crimes without a report or without the initiation of an investigation file, was 90.3%, lower than the 91.5% in 2021, but it was not a statistically significant change.
58.9% of unreported crimes were due to causes attributable to the authority.
On the other hand, in 79.4% of the reported crimes an investigation file was initiated, and of that percentage, 6.8% of the businesses recovered their assets.
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