The country once known for having the highest murder rate in the world, El Salvador, is now the safest country in Latin America.

New figures from the Salvadoran government of President Nayib Bukele show only 114 murders in 2024. In the context of El Salvador’s recent history, 114 is astonishingly low. The trend line is clear. In 2023, the country suffered 154 homicides. In 2022, there were 495. In 2021 and 2020, there were more than 1,000. In 2019, more than 2,000 Salvadorans were murdered. Applied per 100,000 people, El Salvador’s homicide rate is now one-tenth that of Mexico and 30 times lower than that of Jamaica.