Bahia State Dominates Brazil's Most Violent Cities Ranking in 2025
Five cities in Brazil's Bahia state are among the ten most violent in the country for 2025, according to the 2025 Brazilian Public Security Yearbook. Bahia also leads the nation in the absolute number of intentional violent deaths. While the state has a high concentration of violent cities, it did experience a 9.5% reduction in intentional violent deaths, decreasing from 6,047 in 2024 to 5,473 in 2025. Eunápolis, located in the southern tip of Bahia, is ranked as the second most violent city in Brazil, surpassed only by Maranguape in Ceará. Other Bahian cities appearing on the national list include Porto Seguro, Simões Filho, Jequié, and Juazeiro. The report attributes the high violence in these cities largely to disputes between criminal factions over drug trafficking control. Bahia also saw an increase in deaths resulting from police interventions, with 1,570 such fatalities in 2025, up from 1,556 in 2024. This means 28.7% of intentional violent deaths in the state were linked to police actions, an increase from 25.7% the previous year. Nationally, Bahia continues to report the highest number of deaths from police interventions, ahead of São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, and Pará. Porto Seguro leads the national ranking for cities with over 100,000 inhabitants for deaths by police intervention, with a rate of 32.3 per 100,000 people, followed closely by Eunápolis with 29.7. Bahia also maintains its position as the state with the highest absolute number of intentional homicides, despite a 12.9% decrease in victims (3,765 in 2025 from 4,317 in 2024) and a 13.6% drop in reported incidents.
The data highlights persistent challenges with violent crime in Bahia, despite some reported reductions in specific categories. The concentration of cities on the most violent list, coupled with an increase in deaths related to police interventions, suggests complex underlying issues. These may involve the effectiveness of law enforcement strategies, the dynamics of organized crime, and socio-economic factors contributing to violence. The report's focus on criminal faction disputes points to the need for comprehensive approaches that address both immediate security concerns and the root causes of criminal activity. Future policy considerations might explore enhanced community policing, targeted interventions against organized crime structures, and long-term social development programs to foster sustainable peace and security.
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