33.7% of companies operating in Mexico fell victim to crime in 2017
, which is slightly less than the 35.5% reported in 2015 , according to data from the National Survey of Business Victimization conducted by the National Institute for Statistics, Geography, and Information Technology (INEGI) .
The 12 entities where the most companies were affected by crime were : Campeche, 46.1%; Aguascalientes, 44.2%; Sonora, 43.2%; Michoacán, 41.5%; Baja California, 41%; Mexico City, 40%; Quintana Roo, 38.9%; Puebla, 38.1%; San Luis Potosí, 37.2%; Baja California Sur, 36.7%; The State of Mexico, 36.2%, and Guerrero, 35.4% .
By unit size, 59.3% of large companies fell victim to crime, as well as 61.5% of mid-size companies , 51.4% of small ones , and 32.9% of micro-enterprises . By sectors, it is estimated that 38.4% of commercial companies were victims , 30.6% of companies from the industrial sector , and 29.3% of service providers .
Last year, most felony cases committed against companies consisted of merchandise theft , while pilferage rose to second place above extortion.
The average cost of these crimes per business entity in 2017 was of 66,031 pesos ( USD$3,395 as per the existing rate).
Among larger entities, the average cost went from 1.4 to 1.9 million pesos between 2015 and 2017 . In mid-size companies , costs went from 510 thousand to 725 thousand .
Based on the survey, it was estimated that there were 3.8 million crimes related to 1.5 million economic units in 2017 , with an average of 2.5 crimes per company and a crime victimization prevalence rate of 3,273 victims per every 10,000 economic units , which was 4.9% below rates registered in 2015 .
The dark figure of crimes committed in 2017 against the private sector rose to 86.6% . In these cases, companies did not file complaints and no investigations were opened . This number is inferior to the 90.3% that was estimated for 2015 .
At a national scale, 63% of economic units considered that insecurity and delinquency were the main issues they faced , followed by the population’s low purchasing power (35.4%) .
78.9%
of victims pointed to insecurity in their local entities as the main cause for these crimes.
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