As we've been reporting, the number of murders recorded in Belize in 2016 increased sharply. It shot up by 15% from 119 in 2015 to 137 in 2016. That is our unofficial number since the police still have not circulated the final statistics.
That accounts for a murder rate of 36 per one hundred thousand - which si very high, among the highest in the Caribbean.
Here's how it compares based on available statistics. The number of murders in Jamaica went up by 10%, and their murder rate shot up to 47 per hundred thousand, which is probably the highest in the Caribbean. Based on preliminary information gleaned from a number of sources, that would put Belize's murder rate at the second highest in the Caribbean, with the largest percentage increase in murder. And while Belize is at 36, Trinidad is closely behind at 34 mruders per hundred thousand, and they had a 10% increase in the number of murders.
The Bahamas is next with a murder rate of 30 per hundred thousand, but they had a 22% decline in the number of murders. St. Lucia is also unexpectedly high with a murder rate of 23, but, again, the number of murders went down by 26%.
But, the highest murder rates in the world are on the American mainland. Venezuela recorded a staggering 28,479 murders up 3% for a murder rate of 91 per one hundred thousand residents. El Salvador which was the highest in the world last year was down sharply in 2016. There were 20% fewer murders for a still very high murder rate of 81. We were unable to get murder statistics for Honduras and Guatemala, but we'll keep working on that. They are consistently amongst the most murderous countries on earth.
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