A report by InSight Crime highlights the homicide rate registered in Costa Rica in 2017, which was 12.1 per 100,000 inhabitants, the highest number in its history.
The report indicates that Costa Rica is a country that has traditionally been considered "peaceful," and in respect to the escalation of the homicide rate, an increase that local authorities attribute to organized crime, the report indicates that "... lack of retrospective and a vague methodology is weakening the authorities' attempts to attribute blame to organized crime."
Drug trafficking and gangs are the main factors responsible for intentional murders in the most violent countries in the world: Honduras, Belize, El Salvador and Guatemala.
According to a report by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime at the United Nations (UNODC), in 2012 Honduras recorded 90.4 killings per 100,000 inhabitants.
In Belize, the homicide rate is 44.7 per 100 thousand inhabitants, in El Salvador it is 41.2, and in Guatemala is 39.9.
During 2008, homicides increased 39%, and the fact that many crimes go unreported evidences lack of confidence in security institutions.
An article by Mario Bermúdez Vives in Elfinancierocr.com collects data from the State of the Nation Report 2009.
"The percentage of affected population increases in proportion to income levels. For high income population, 50% of all families reported being victim of a felony, and it was 40% for experts and medium businessman".