Earlier this week, we told you about the murder rate in the Caribbean - where Belize is ranked third highest for 2017, behind Jamaica and St. Kitts-Nevis.
But how do we compare in Central America, which is constantly the most murderous geographical zone in the world? It's called the Central American triangle, where the murder numbers are driven by violence in El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala.
But, those nations have been trending down in the past three years, while Belize has been trending up.
First off, in El Salvador - which was the most homicidal country in Central America last year - the murder total was down 25 percent to just under four thousand, working out to a murder rate of 63 per hundred thousand residents - which is still one of the highest rates in the world.
Honduras' has also seen a 25% decrease in its murder rate. The total number of murders - based on the information we have been able to gather - was about 3,800, leading to a murder rate of 43 per hundred thousand residents, down sharply from almost 60 per hundred thousand residents in 2016.
And while those two countries are showing a downturn in the murder rate, in Costa Rica it's up. Typically the most peaceful country in the region, Costa Rica recorded its highest-ever annual murder rate in 2017. There were 603 homicides which works out to a rate of 12.1 murders per 100,000 residents.
Figures for Guatemala and Panama, were not available at press time.
But, going north, to Mexico, it was the deadliest year in that country's history where there were 23,101 murders up to the end of November, for a murder rate of 18.1 per hundred thousand residents.
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