28th November, 2008

Latin America has the highest murder rates in the world for people aged between 15 and 24 years, according to a Brazilian study.

Reseachers at the Latin American Technological Information Network drew on information from 83 countries to find that the murder rate among young people in South America is 30 times that of a similar aged person in Europe.

The youth murder rate for El Salvador topped the list at 92.3 murders per 100,000 people followed by that of Colombia (73.4), Venezuela (64.2), Guatemala (55.4) and Brazil (51.6).

The youth murder rate for continents as a whole had Latin America at the top of the list with 36.6. murders every 100,000 people, followed by Africa with 16.1, North America with 12, Asia with 2.4, Oceania with 1.6 and Europe with 1.2.

- DAVID ADAMS