The North and Northeast of Brazil lead the list of capitals with the highest rates of recorded and estimated homicides per 100,000 inhabitants, according to the 2024 Violence Atlas.
The report was published by Ipea (Institute of Applied Economic Research) and the Brazilian Forum of Public Security.
In Brazil, 46,409 homicides were recorded in 2022 (the last year of Jair Bolsonaro's administration), or 21.7 homicides per 100,000 inhabitants, the same rate as in 2019.
2022 saw a slight drop of 3.6% compared to 2021, when the rate was 22.5 deaths per 100,000 inhabitants.
Salvador is the capital with the highest estimated homicide rate per 100,000 inhabitants (66.4), followed by Macapá (55.8), Manaus (55.7), Porto Velho (47.6), and Fortaleza (45.3).
Rounding out the list of the 12 highest rates are: Recife (44.7), Aracaju (41.8), Maceió (41.5), Teresina (40.4), Boa Vista (39.2), Natal (36.9), and Palmas (32.0).
The Violence Atlas, based on 2022 data, differentiated between recorded and estimated homicides. Recorded homicides are those whose data were taken from the Mortality Information System of the Ministry of Health.
Estimated homicides add recorded and hidden homicides — murders, assaults, suicides, and accidents that enter the ministry's system as an undetermined cause.