The world’s most violent cities

By The Data Team

VENEZUELA is in turmoil. Tanking oil prices have taken a heavy toll on its income, along with years of economic mismanagement by the government. Inflation is running at nearly 200%—the highest rate in the world—according to the IMF, and a week ago it was awarded another dismal accolade. A ranking of the world's most violent cities by CCSP-JP, a Mexican NGO, reports that Venezuela's capital Caracas had the highest murder rate in the world last year. Some caution should be used when reading the ranking, which applies to cities with 300,000 people or more, and does not count war zones or cities with unavailable data. It is also notoriously difficult to compare crime statistics within countries, let alone across them. Murder statistics are usually supplied by police or from death registers derived from health-agency data. In countries with fewer resources the data are therefore less reliable. CCSP-JP uses estimates* in such cases, and cities with good records may therefore suffer from their efficiency.