Which countries in South America have the highest homicide rate?

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Of all crime statistics, the homicide rate is considered to be one of the most reliable ones. Unlike other crimes, homicides (almost) always get reported to the police, whereas robbery and theft might be under-reported due to people not bothering to report it. However, let’s not exclude the fact that many authoritarian regimes are very opaque about statistics that make them look bad, including homicide. Although this is not the case for the countries on this map.

South America doesn’t have a very good reputation when it comes to homicide rates. This map shows that that reputation is correct for some South American countries. Venezuela stand out immediately, with a homicide rate of 49.9! This is the highest in the world.

Although Chile and Argentina have some of the lowest homicide rates in South America, they still make it into the global top 50.

For reference, the highest homicide rate in Europe is 3.32 in Latvia, the nation-wide homicide rate in the US is 4.9, with Mississippi having the highest homicide rate in the US (20.5). Most of the countries in the global top 20 are Central American and Caribbean countries. But there are also 3 other South American countries represented in the global top 20: Colombia (#12), Brazil (#14) and Guyana (#18).