Panama has a reputation for being safer than many of its Central American neighbours, and for everyday life in most of the neighbourhoods where newcomers settle, that holds true. But if you want to know how serious violence in the country is developing, you need official figures. The public prosecutor's office publishes them every month. Its latest release covers the first nine months of 2026 and shows a year running almost exactly at last year's level, with a marked shift between the provinces.
The figures come from the Centro de Estadísticas of the Ministerio Público, Panama's public prosecution service, and are based on the case files of its homicide units. The report for the period from 1 January to 30 September 2026 was put online in mid-October. All values are expressly provisional, and femicides are included in the homicide total. Unless stated otherwise, every 2026 figure in this article comes from that report.
The headline figures for January to September 2026
In the first nine months of 2026 the prosecutor's office counted 454 homicide victims. For the same period of 2025, on the current data, the figure was 446. That is a rise of 2%, in practice a sideways movement.
By month:
April, with 63 victims, was the worst month, followed by May with 59. From June onwards the level settled at around 50 a month.
For the whole of 2025 the prosecutor's annual report shows 593 victims, also a provisional figure. If the last quarter of 2026 stays in line with the previous months, the year will end up in the same range.
What that means as a rate
The report gives no rate per 100,000 inhabitants. To put the figures in context, a rough rate can be calculated from the population in the 2023 census by the national statistics institute INEC, which counts 4,064,780 people in the provinces and comarcas. The 593 victims of 2025 then correspond to about 14.6 per 100,000 inhabitants. Projecting the nine months of 2026 onto a full year gives around 15. This is a simple back-of-the-envelope calculation based on the census, not an official rate, but it is good enough to compare orders of magnitude.
How the prosecutor's office counts, and why figures change
Put the monthly reports side by side and you will see that the figures for recent months are revised afterwards. The report's footnote says so itself: the victim counts for May, June, July and August were updated because prosecutors are still investigating the cases.
A comparison with the August edition shows what that looks like. There, May stood at 58, June at 49, July at 50 and August at 54 victims. In the September edition the figures are 59, 50, 51 and 52. The total to the end of August therefore rose from 406 to 407. The revisions go in both directions and stay small, but they show that the most recent month is always an interim figure. The September value of 47 may still change.
The year-on-year comparison is nonetheless reliable, because the prosecutor's office sets the 446 cases from January to September 2025 side by side with 2026 in the same report, on current data. They match the sum of the monthly values in the 2025 annual report.
Where the violence happens
For choosing where to live, the regional distribution is the most important information. Of the 454 victims,
Including San Miguelito, the province of Panamá thus accounts for 62% of all killings (280 victims), Colón for 17%. Together with Panamá Oeste, almost nine in ten cases are concentrated in the metropolitan area around the canal.
The year-on-year comparison by province
More revealing than the distribution is the change. For this, the prosecutor's office compares January to September 2025 with 2026:
The fall in Colón and the rise in Chiriquí and Coclé almost cancel each other out. That explains why the national total barely moves, even though something has shifted in the interior.
Chiriquí: why the figure matters for newcomers
Chiriquí in the west of the country is a destination for many retirees and newcomers from Europe and North America: the highlands around Boquete and Volcán, the provincial capital David, the Pacific coast. For the whole of 2025 the prosecutor's office recorded 14 homicide victims there. In the first nine months of 2026 there were already 26.
Two things belong to an honest reading. First, the absolute numbers are small, and just a few cases move the percentage sharply. Second, the report does not break the figures down by district. Whether the cases cluster in David, in the border area with Costa Rica, in the highlands or on the coast cannot be read from this data. If you want to buy or rent in Chiriquí, do not draw conclusions about your town from the provincial figure, but keep an eye on the trend and ask locally.
As a rate, Chiriquí also stays below the national average. Projected onto a full year and set against the 471,071 inhabitants in the 2023 census, it comes to about 7 per 100,000 inhabitants, after around 3 in 2025.
The rates at a glance
Using the same rough calculation, nine months projected onto a full year and divided by the 2023 census population, the picture looks like this:
The differences are enormous. San Miguelito and Colón sit at a multiple of the levels in the provinces of the Azuero Peninsula or Veraguas. The province of Panamá, however, is large and very mixed. It includes the banking districts and residential areas where many foreigners live, as well as the neighbourhoods that foreign ministries explicitly warn about.
Who the victims are and how they are killed
The report also breaks the figures down by sex, age and weapon:
The pattern is typical of violence between criminal groups: young men, firearms, a strong concentration in particular neighbourhoods. The report, however, does not record a motive. Unlike the statistics in Costa Rica, which we described in our analysis of homicide figures in Costa Rica, Panama's monthly statistics do not say how many killings were score-settling within the criminal milieu. The patterns point to the milieu, but this data cannot prove it.
What foreign ministries advise
The statistics are one thing; how governments abroad assess the country is another. The UK Foreign Office (FCDO), in advice last updated on 9 October 2026, does not advise against travel to any part of Panama. It says street crime can happen anywhere, but names San Miguelito, El Chorrillo, Río Abajo, 24 de Diciembre, Santa Ana and Juan Díaz as areas of Panama City with higher levels of crime, and asks you to take sensible precautions against mugging in, among other places, Calidonia and the city of Colón. It also reports targeted gang assassinations, some of them in tourist areas, most of them between members of rival drug gangs. East of a line from Punta Carreto in Guna Yala through Yaviza in eastern Darién to Punta Piña on the Pacific, near the Colombian border, it advises travelling only in an organised group and making sure the local police and security authorities know about your visit.
The Government of Canada, in advice last updated on 16 October 2026, asks for normal security precautions in Panama as a whole and a high degree of caution in Colón Province, the district of San Miguelito and several townships of Panama City, among them Calidonia, Curundú, El Chorrillo, Río Abajo, Santa Ana and 24 de Diciembre. It advises against all travel to the areas south of Metetí in Darién Province up to the Colombian border. It also notes that violent crime, while not frequent, has occurred in the cities of Colón and David, as well as in some beach communities.
Your own government publishes its own advice, for example the UK's GOV.UK travel advice for Panama or Canada's travel advice, and likewise the US State Department and Australia's Smartraveller. Read yours before you move, because each ministry words things differently and updates at a different time.
The statistics and the advice fit together: the districts and cities that both ministries name are exactly those where the killings are concentrated.
What the figures mean for your planning
Panama has not become more dangerous in 2026 than in 2025, but it has not become safer either. Violence remains heavily concentrated in the area around Panama City and Colón, and within it in particular districts. What is new is the rise in the interior, above all in Chiriquí and Coclé, albeit from a low level.
If you are moving to Panama City: the provincial figure says little about your neighbourhood. What matters is where you live within the city. The districts named in the travel advice are not areas newcomers usually choose, and that is precisely where the risk is highest. What daily life feels like in the usual residential areas, and which risks beyond crime play a role, is covered in our reality check on safety in Panama.
If you are heading to Chiriquí as a retiree: the province remains quiet by national standards, but the 2026 figure is a signal you should take seriously. Ask locally and specifically about the town you plan to move to, and follow the prosecutor's monthly reports until the end of the year. What retirees need for residence is explained in our guide to the Pensionado visa.
If you are comparing countries: check whether you are looking at annual figures, part-year figures or rates, and which cut-off date they refer to. The country's basic pros and cons are covered in our article on moving to Panama, and the key facts on tax and residence on our Panama country page.
When the next figures are due
The prosecutor's office publishes its report monthly; the September edition came out in mid-October. On that rhythm, the figures to the end of October will follow in November, and the annual figure for 2026 after the turn of the year. Whether 2026 ends above or below last year's 593 victims will be decided in the final quarter, and even then every figure stays provisional until the investigations are closed.