By the end of November, the country had reached nearly 278 days without murders and is on track to reach 1,100 in December since President Nayib Bukele took office.

These figures would mark a milestone in the history of a country that survived years of violence imposed by gangs.

Homicides have been decreasing since 2016, but especially since 2022, when a state of emergency was declared on March 27 after a weekend with nearly 80 murders.

In 2015, 6,656 homicides were committed, and the number decreased to 5,280 in 2016, 3,962 in 2017, 3,346 in 2018, and 2,398 in 2019, according to official figures.

From 2021 to 2022, murders fell from 1,147 to 458, while 154 homicides occurred in 2023 and 114 in 2024, when the country registered a record rate of 1.9 per 100,000 inhabitants.

The year 2025 is projected to shatter the records of previous years, and according to government projections, El Salvador could end the year with between 75 and 90 murders, which would represent a rate of between 1.2 and 1.4 homicides per 100,000 inhabitants. However, there are more optimistic projections that suggest a rate of less than one percent.

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