The Mexico vehicle theft statistics for 2020 are in! Last year in vehicle theft was down across the board by 13%. What does that mean in the year of shut-downs and COVID restrictions? Well, aside from the obvious that car theft was down, it also appears that the majority of thefts are shifting toward certain metropolitan areas. Keep in mind that despite the fact this report revolves around vehicle theft in Mexico you should not get the impression vehicle theft is an outrageously alarming concern in Mexico when compared to the United States. Last year in Mexico 74,000 vehicles were reported stolen, and they have a population of 129,000,000 people. In contrast, there were 721,000 vehicles stolen in the United States last year against a population of 331,000,000 people. *The data from this report comes from the Asociacion Mexicana de Instituciones de Seguros.

Driving to Mexico?

Quote Mexican Insurance Now

Vehicle Theft Rankings by State 2020

This year, just like last year, the central part of Mexico dominates car theft. If you look at the numbers for Mexico State (estado de Mexico) and Mexico City (which is surrounded by Estado Mexico) you find almost half of all vehicle theft reported are here. Notice Baja California maintains the 11th spot for the second year in a row, but with only 1,726 stolen vehicles.

Municipalities in Mexico Where Auto Theft is a Concern

Those who travel to Baja California, Jalisco, and Sinaloa might be alarmed by the report above. Sinaloa, Baja, and Jalisco are very popular for driving tourists from the United States and Canada. But take a closer look at this chart and you’ll see that the vast majority of vehicle thefts in these states occur in a small area. Specifically, over 80% of car thefts in Sinaloa take place in one city – Culiacan. Similarly in Baja California, more than 60% of these in the state are reported in Tijuana. If you can avoid these cities, you have a very small chance of having your tourist vehicle stolen. The good news for tourists driving into Mexico, the rest of the popular driving states of Sonora, Chihuahua, Coahuila, Nuevo Leon, and Tamaulipas have relatively low vehicle theft rates. Once again, Baja California Sur ranks dead last in vehicle theft.

Stolen Vehicle Recovery by State

Here is some more good news that comes from the report this year – vehicle recovery is up. Below is the chart of vehicle recovery by the Mexican State. Highlighted are the most frequently traveled states by visitors with the United States or Canadian license plates.

Most Stolen Vehicles in Mexico

So now you must be wondering, what are the favorite vehicles among thieves? We get that question a lot, people trying to figure out which car to drive down to Mexico related to “target of thieves”. The good news is that most of the vehicles reported stolen are not even made for the United States market. Take a look:

Mexico Vehicle Theft Report 2020 – Conclusion

Last year, 2020 was a remarkable and memorable year for almost everyone thanks to the global pandemic we know as “COVID”. But for tourists heading down to Mexico reading this report, there is a lot of good news. Most tourist vehicles are not targeted, and the tourist areas are not the hotbed areas for vehicle theft.

Vehicle Theft Statistics Mexico – 2019

I just received the Mexico Vehicle Theft report for 2019. The results reflect December 2018 through November of 2019. According to these numbers, automobile theft in Mexico is down for the first time since 2015.

The numbers come raw (and in Spanish) from AMIS (Asociación Mexicana de Instituciones de Seguro) in Mexico. Below we organize and chart the data for you. But, except for the alarming car-jacking figures, most U.S. vehicles appear off-radar for thieves. And in particular, the tourist towns and border states seem to be comparatively safe from theft. Vehicle recovery is also consistently in the 40% range throughout Mexico.

Vehicle Theft in Mexico By State 2019

The chart and graph below illustrate that overall vehicle theft in Mexico is down by 9% from 2018. In the top 12 states for Vehicle theft in Mexico, only Jalisco, Guanajuato, and Baja California had an increase year over year.

Vehicle Theft in Mexico 2019 — Vehicle Theft in Mexico is down 9% with significant improvement in the worst states.

Vehicle Theft in Mexico is worse in Mexico State

Stolen Vehicle Recovery in Mexico

Surprisingly, the insurance companies manage to recover nearly 40% of stolen vehicles in Mexico.

Stolen Vehicles in Mexico Recovery Rate 2019

Stolen Vehicle in Mexico Recovery Graph 2019

Most Popular Vehicles Among Thieves in Mexico 2019

So, which vehicles are most popular among thieves in Mexico? For the most part, the top 15 vehicles stolen in 2019 were the most popular in 2018, and 2017. Nissan is the biggest target, but not the U.S. makes of Nissan. The Tsuru and NP300/Pickup top the list again this year, followed by the Versa and the GM Aveo.

The 15 Most Stolen Makes and Models of Automobiles in Mexico 2019

Vehicle Theft in Mexico -CarJacking 2019

With insurance, vehicle theft is the least of your worries. But carjacking? Nobody wants to get jacked. In Mexico, they call it “robo con violencia,” or theft by violence. It is a concern to me that more than 50% of vehicle theft in Mexico is by carjacking. I suppose it’s a great way to take a car without having to hotwire the system or break the windshield and door mechanisms. Carjacking is a method of choice in Mexico. The good news for tourists, we have the data on which cars are most likely to be carjacked and where.

Carjacking is the preferred choice of thieves in Mexico year over yaer

Where in Mexico are you more likely to be suffer carjacking?

The States in Mexico where Carjacking most often occurs. 80% of carjacking in mexico happens in these states.

Which Cities are at Risk of Carjacking?

From this chart, you can see that Carjacking events declined last year compared to 2018 in most of the major cities except Celaya (Guanajuato) and Tonala (Jalisco). Zapopan (Jalisco) is still on the rise, but not at the clip of those above.

Carjacking in Mexico Broken Down by City with Comparisons in 2019

What Cars are Most Common to Carjack by Thieves in Mexico?

Fortunately for tourists and clients, we don’t see a lot of these across the border. It looks like most carjackings happen to Mexican-registered (with Mexican license plates). Which also makes sense. It is illegal for Mexican nationals to drive a foreign plated vehicle. These thieves would not be wise to draw more attention to themselves.

15 Most Carjacked in Mexico by Percentage 2019

Final Tally By State

Below is the final auto theft tally for each state, since 2014. The annual listings represent December to November of the following year. For example, heading 2013-2014 represents data from December 2013 through November of 2014.

Vehicle Theft in Mexico Statistics – 2018

The results are in! The Mexican Insurance Industry automobile theft report from September 2017 to August 2018 just provided the reports and we’ve had a chance to go through them. The numbers are on the rise in many parts of Mexico. Especially carjacking in the South and Southeastern parts of Mexico. These Insured Mexican Car Theft reports are in Spanish so we summarize these for you in English in different categories:

Overall Insured Vehicle Theft in Mexico
States Ranked by Insured Auto Theft in Mexico
The Favorite Vehicles to Steal
Carjacking of Insured Vehicles in Mexico

Mexican Insurance – Vehicle Theft Summary

The number of vehicles recovered remains between 30,000 and 50,000 during the period from July 2012 to July 2018.
The trend of stolen vehicles decreased by 19% percent for the period of July 2012 to July 2015. while for the period from October 2015 to July 2018, there was an increase of the 54%
The number of vehicles recovered remains between 2.8 and 3.0K in 12 months, (2017-2018) the theft rates oscillate between 7 and 8.03K

The States In Mexico With the Most Insured Vehicle Auto Theft.

80% of the insured vehicle thefts occur in 10 of the 32 states.

If you are driving into one of those top states be aware of this list…the top 15 towns or colonies within those states where the insured vehicles are being reported stolen.

The top 15 cities or colonies for vehicle theft in Mexico.

It is important to mention that the States of Queretaro and Puebla have their greatest increase, being 25% and 58.8% respectively.

Here you will find the rankings by State for vehicle theft. It’s nice to see Baja Sur second to last of the 32 states. A little concerning that Baja North is 11th since it is part of the mexinsurance.com Limited Territory plan. Also nice to see Sonora down at #19.

Queretaro is showing an important and constant increase.

Now that we’ve seen where the thieves are stealing vehicles, let’s take a closer look at what it is they are stealing.

Volkswagen Sedan stills the most stolen car with 92% for the last period.

Italika 111-250 Motorcycle has the highest percentage variation between 103.0% followed by the pickup Nissan NP300.

Carjacking in Mexico

Most tourist will pay highest attention to these numbers and reports below. Whenever a vehicle is stolen at gunpoint, or by force or threat of violence (what we refer to as “carjacking”) it is reported as a violent theft in Mexico. Here are the numbers below of violent thefts and notice the majority are in just a handful of states.

The municipality of Ecatepec de Morelos is at top of the list, followed by Tecamac, both of them at State of Mexico and Reynosa in Tamaulipas, where the theft is 83% with violence.

Celaya and Reynosa register variation of 100% during the period 2017.

You can see from the graphic below that carjacking in Mexico, with the exception of Sinaloa, is most common in the South and Southeastern part of Mexico. In fact, these reports suggest that 80% of all Mexican Vehicle Thefts by Violence, “carjackings” happen in these 9 states:

State of Mexico, Jalisco, and Mexico City lead the list of the states with the highest percentage of carjacking. The state of Mexico is at the top of the list with the 34% nationwide.

Vehicle Theft Statistics 2017

The results are in! The Mexican Insurance Industry automobile theft report from March 2016 to February 2017 just provided the reports and we’ve had a chance to go through them. The numbers are on the rise in many parts of Mexico. Especially carjacking in the South and Southeastern parts of Mexico. These Insured Mexican Vehicle Theft reports are in spanish so we summarize these for you in english in different categories:

Overall Insured Vehicle Theft in Mexico
States Ranked by Insured Auto Theft in Mexico
The Favorite Vehicles to Steal
Carjacking of Insured Vehicles in Mexico

Overall Mexican Insured Vehicle Theft in Mexico:

The table below shows that Mexican Insured Vehicle Theft from Feb 2016 to March 2017 have increased. This shows 30% increase in theft across the country:

Theft Report Overall increase 30%

Mexican Insurance - Vehicle Theft Summary — Mexican Insurance – Vehicle Theft Summary

Tops Areas/Cities to have Vehicle Stolen in Mexico

The States in Mexico with the Most Insured Vehicle Auto Theft

11 of 32 States account for 80% of vehicle theft in Mexico

And Baja North is the 12th most targeted state by thieves in Mexico, with vehicle thefts increasing 30% since 2015.

Mexinsurance.com Theft Report — Baja has the 12th most insured vehicle thefts in 2016, up 30%

State Theft Rankings

If you are driving into one of those top states be aware of this list…the top 15 towns or colonies within those states where the insured vehicles are being reported stolen.

The top 15 cities or colonies for vehicle theft in Mexico

Here you will find the rankings by State for vehicle theft. It’s nice to see Baja Sur last of the 32 states. A little concerning that Baja North is 12th since it is part of the mexinsurance.com Limited Territory plan. Also nice to see Sonora down at #18.