With a record 63,880 murders last year, Brazil is easily the world’s most homicidal nation

Brazil had a record number of murders last year, with homicides rising 3.7 per cent from 2016 to 63,880 according to a study released on Thursday, just months before a presidential election in which violence has become a key issue.

That is likely to be more than other country on Earth by a considerable margin, although other places have higher rates of homicide per head of population.

In 2017, Brazil had a murder rate of 30.8 per 100,000 people, up from 29.9 in 2016, according to data published by the Brazilian Public Security Yearbook 2018.

The yearbook is published by the Brazilian Forum of Public Security, a think-tank.

Triggered by ever-more violent gangs capitalising on tighter law enforcement budgets and a political void in the wake of massive graft scandals, growing violence is a key voter concern ahead of the October election.

Far-right lawmaker Jair Bolsonaro, who leads polling in the presidential race excluding jailed former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, wants to loosen gun laws and toughen up policing to tackle the rise in violence.