No Surprises: Highest Murder Rates in the World

Latin America has the highest murder rates for young people in the world, according to a recently published study by the Brazilian research group - the Latin American Technological Information Network, Ritla

For youngsters growing up in crime-ridden countries like El Salvador, Colombia or Venezuela the chances of being murdered are almost 30 times higher than in Europe. The study looked at 83 countries across the world and depressingly Latin America came out as the region with most youth killings in proportion to its population. And the readings become even more depressing if you choose to include Caribbean nations - as this grim top 10 list of youth killings per 100.000 indicates:

1. El Salvador: 48.8
2. Colombia: 43.8
3. Venezuela: 29.5
4. Guatemala: 28.5
5. The Virgin Islands: 28.4
6. Brazil: 25.2
7. Santa Lucia: 24.5
8. Puerto Rico: 19.1
9. Guyana: 18.0
10. Ecuador: 18.0

A news article of this story can be found on the BBC website: "Latin America tops murder tables",