Based on homicides, June 2024 is the safest month in El Salvador in over 40-plus years. June 2024 ended with 6 homicides for a 0.20 daily rate; additionally, it achieved 24 days with zero homicides.
June ended with the same number of homicides and days without murders as February 2024, the previous record holder; however, June’s daily rate is 0.01 lower than February’s. February 2024 concluded with six homicides for a 0.21 daily rate and 24 days without murders.
June 2024 is the 14th month during the Bukele administration that the daily homicide rate in El Salvador has been under 0.50; it is an impressive accomplishment considering that in 2019, the year Bukele took office, the daily murder rate was 6.57.
Month | Days without homicides | Homicides | Daily Homicide Rate | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | June 2024 | 24 | 6 | 0.20 | PNC Link |
2 | February 2024 | 24 | 6 | 0.21 | PNC Link |
3 | July 2023 | 23 | 8 | 0.26 | PNC Link |
4 | January 2024 | 24 | 9 | 0.29 | PNC Link |
5 | November 2023 | 23 | 9 | 0.30 | PNC Link |
6 | March 2024 | 22 | 10 | 0.32 | PNC Link |
7 | April 2023 | 24 | 10 | 0.33 | PNC Link |
8 | June 2023 | 21 | 10 | 0.33 | PNC Link |
9 | September 2023 | 20 | 10 | 0.33 | PNC Link |
10 | January 2023 | 21 | 11 | 0.35 | PNC Link |
11 | March 2023 | 20 | 12 | 0.39 | PNC Link |
12 | April 2024 | 19 | 13 | 0.43 | PNC Link |
13 | December 2022 | 22 | 14 | 0.45 | PNC Link |
14 | May 2024 | 21 | 14 | 0.45 | PNC Link |
The safest months in El Salvador do not include the deaths of alleged gang members who have died in confrontations with the Salvadoran National Police or military security forces, 120 in 2022, 38 in 2023, and three thus far in 2024.
El Salvador’s security has drastically improved to new low levels since Nayib Bukele became president on June 1, 2019. For example, June 2024 is the 27th consecutive month that the daily homicide rate for the country has been under one.
Furthermore, under the current administration, El Salvador has achieved over 610 days with zero homicides. The days with zero homicides in El Salvador are remarkable, considering that before the Nayib Bukele Administration, El Salvador had experienced less than five days with zero homicides in 15 years.
Month | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
January | 9.29 | 3.87 | 3.58 | 2.65 | 0.35 | 0.29 |
February | 7.14 | 4.36 | 3.86 | 2.71 | 0.50 | 0.21 |
March | 7.68 | 2.19 | 3.61 | 5.32 | 0.39 | 0.32 |
April | 10.87 | 4.90 | 3.50 | 0.77 | 0.33 | 0.43 |
May | 9.23 | 2.13 | 3.77 | 0.52 | 0.55 | 0.45 |
June | 7.70 | 2.40 | 2.93 | 0.87 | 0.33 | 0.20 |
July | 5.00 | 3.74 | 2.94 | 0.55 | 0.26 | 0.57 |
August | 4.19 | 4.10 | 1.84 | 0.61 | 0.52 | |
September | 4.93 | 4.37 | 2.03 | 0.63 | 0.33 | |
October | 4.00 | 5.10 | 2.61 | 0.61 | 0.65 | |
November | 4.60 | 3.30 | 4.03 | 0.63 | 0.30 | |
December | 4.19 | 3.71 | 3.06 | 0.45 | 0.55 |
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Month | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
January | 288 | 120 | 111 | 82 | 11 | 9 |
February | 207 | 122 | 108 | 76 | 14 | 6 |
March | 238 | 68 | 112 | 165 | 12 | 10 |
April | 326 | 147 | 105 | 23 | 10 | 13 |
May | 286 | 66 | 117 | 16 | 17 | 14 |
June | 231 | 72 | 88 | 26 | 10 | 6 |
July | 155 | 116 | 91 | 17 | 8 | 4 |
August | 131 | 126 | 57 | 19 | 16 | |
September | 148 | 131 | 61 | 19 | 10 | |
October | 122 | 158 | 82 | 19 | 20 | |
November | 136 | 100 | 120 | 20 | 9 | |
December | 130 | 115 | 95 | 14 | 17 | |
Total | 2398 | 1341 | 1147 | 496 | 154 | 62 |
2023 ended as the safest year in El Salvador in over 40 plus years; this year, 154 people were murdered, for a daily homicide rate of 0.42 or 2.4 homicides per 100,000 inhabitants.
Since the 90s, Salvadorans have grappled with persistent security concerns, navigating challenges that impact daily life. However, in 2024, life in El Salvador is better since security has improved.
Reduction in homicides is one of the main achievements of the Nayib Bukele administration.
Salvadoran authorities credit the implementation of the Territorial Control Plan and the State of Exception launched on March 27, 2022, for the impressive homicide reduction. Both plans have allowed Salvadoran authorities to remove gang members from the streets.
The Territorial Control Plan launched in 2019 has seven phases: Preparation, opportunity, modernization, incursion, extraction, and integration. Phase seven is unknown at this time.
The Regime of Exception was approved last March by the Legislative Assembly at the request of Bukele. Since then, the number of homicides has dropped substantially.
During this exception regime, more than 78,000 people have been detained – suspected of being gang members or collaborators. The controversial security measure has been extended over 25 times.
National and international human rights organizations have criticized the Regime of Exception for human rights violations, arbitrary arrests, and the death of inmates in prisons.
However, surveys conducted during the State of Exception have shown that the majority of Salvadorans approve of this controversial measure.