These are reportedly the latest and most up to date figures. Holding the first position among the world's most dangerous cities with 300,000 or more inhabitants is Caracas with a rate of 119.87 homicides per 100,000 inhabitants.
Having had the first for four consecutive years, San Pedro Sula (111.03) moved into second place, to achieve a significant decrease in the number of homicides.
San Salvador, a city I know all too well landed in the third position (108.54), Acapulco fourth (104.73) and the fifth to Maturin (86.45).
Then are Belo Horizonte (Brazil); Medellin and Cucuta (Colombia); Chihuahua, Cuernavaca, Juarez, Nuevo Laredo and Torreon (Mexico). Mexico corresponds to the largest number of cities that left the ranking (five), a country which in 2011 came to be 12 cities.
The ranking included the Venezuelan cities of Cumana, Gran Barcelona, Maracaibo (re-entry) and Maturin; Brazilian Campos dos Goytacazes, Feira de Santana and Vitória da Conquista and South Africa Johannesburg (reentry).
The most significant decreases in the incidence of murders were Colombian and Mexican cities and the largest rise occurred in San Salvador. This city had in 2014 a rate of 61.21 homicides per 100,000 inhabitants and 111.03 in 2015: an increase of 81.41% in a single year.
Of the 50 cities in the ranking, 21 are located in Brazil, 8 in Venezuela, Mexico 5, 4 in South Africa, 4 in the United States, 3 in Colombia and 2 in Honduras. There is a city of El Salvador, Guatemala, and Jamaica. The overwhelming majority of the 50 most violent cities in the world are in Latin America (41 cities).
In the 50 cities, the average rate was 53.08 (41.338 Intentional homicide 77,878,896 inhabitants). But only the first 20 cities exceeded that average.
Although Brazil has a greater number of cities that Venezuela, the level of violence in cities of 300,000 or more inhabitants is higher in Venezuela than in the first country. In Brazil, the average rate was 46.31 homicides per 100,000 inhabitants, while in Venezuela was 74.65. No doubt Venezuela is the country with the highest level of urban violence in the world outside two cities Honduras and El Salvador with one.
List of the 50 most violent cities in the world.
City, Country, and Homicides Rates:
#1 Caracas, Venezuela
3,946 3,291,830 119.87
#2 San Pedro Sula, Honduras
885 797.065 111.03
#3 San Salvador, El Salvador
1,918 1,767,102 108.54
#4 Acapulco, Mexico
903 862.176 104.73
#5 Maturín, Venezuela
505 584.166 86.45
#6 Central District, Honduras
882 1199802 73.51
#7 Valencia, Venezuela
1,125 1,555,739 72.31
#8 Palmira, Colombia
216 304.735 70.88
#9 Cape Town, South Africa
2,451 3,740,026 65.53
#10 Cali, Colombia
1,523 2,369,821 64.27
#11
Guayana city
Venezuela
547 877.547 62.33
#12
Strength
Brazil
2,422 3,985,297 60.77
#13
Native
Brazil
921 1518221 60.66
#14
Salvador
Brazil
1,996 3,291,830 60.63
#15
St. Louis
U.S
188 317.416 59.23
#16
João Pessoa
Sources: Mexico Citizens Council for Public Safety
Brazil
643 1100956 58.40
#17
Culiacán
Mexico
518 923.546 56.09
#18
Maceio
Brazil
564 1013773 55.63
#19
Baltimore
U.S
343 623.911 54.98
#20
Barquisimeto
Venezuela
719 1308163 54.96
#21
São Luís
Brazil
802 1511678 53.05
#22
Cuiabá
Brazil
412 849.083 48.52
#23
Manaus
Brazil
985 2057711 47.87
#24
Cumaná
Venezuela
199 416.587 47.77
#25
Guatemala City
Guatemala
1,528 3,239,185 47.17
#26
Belém
Brazil
1,101 2,402,437 45.83
#27
Feira de Santana
Brazil
281 617.528 45.50
#28
Detroit
U.S
295 672.193 43.89
#29
Goiânia and Aparecida de Goiania
Brazil
847 1952607 43.38
#30
Teresina
Brazil
360 844.245 42.64
#31
Vitoria
Brazil
802 1910101 41.99
#32
New Orleans
U.S
164 395.710 41.44
#33
Kingston
Jamaica
492 1196040 41.14
#34
Great Barcelona
Venezuela
334 833.328 40.08
#35
Tijuana
Mexico
668 1708679 39.09
#36
Vitoria da Conquista
Brazil
132 343.230 38.46
#37
Recife
Brazil
1,492 3,914,317 38.12
#38
Aracaju
Brazil
349 925.744 37.70
#39
Campos dos Goytacazes
Brazil
175 483.970 36.16
#40
Campina Grande
Brazil
405.072 146 3604
#41
Durban
South Africa
1,237 3,442,361 35.93
#42
Nelson Mandela Bay
South Africa
413 1152115 35.85
#43
Porto Alegre
Brazil
1,479 4,258,926 34.73
#44
Curitiba
Brazil
1,121 3,230,061 34.71
#45
Pereira
Colombia
153 469.612 32.58
#46
Victoria
Mexico
107 350.862 30.50
#47
Joburg
South Africa
1,344 4,434,827 30.31
#48
Macapá
Brazil
138 456.171 30.25
#49
Maracaibo
Venezuela
477 1653211 28.85
#50
Obregon
Mexico
90 318.184 28.29