Overview
- Three in four Peruvians rank crime among the country’s top problems, the region’s highest share, with May 2025 data showing nine in ten fear victimization and one in seven households reporting a recent incident.
- The OECD identifies physical insecurity as the leading driver of institutional distrust, and Peru records the region’s lowest trust in government at 20%.
- The Finance Ministry projects criminality will cost S/19.8 billion next year, equal to 1.7% of GDP, outstripping the proposed S/15.821 billion public order and security budget.
- Estimates cited from the IDB and Peru’s central bank suggest the total economic hit could approach 3% of GDP.
- Ipsos reports 85% of executives cite insecurity as the top national concern and see effective crime control as key to reviving investment, as organized networks expand into illegal mining and migrant trafficking and extortion threatens over 250 microfinance branches.