The number of murders in Mexico hit an all-time high this year — in the first 11 months of the year a total of 23,101 murder investigations were opened. The number topped the 22,409 registered murders for 2011 for the highest total since modern records have been kept.

Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto promised to curb violence in the country when he took office in 2012. In his first two years in office murders went down, but have risen steadily ever since. The new murder totals were published in a government report Friday night. The figures have been kept since 1997.

Mexico has a population of 127.5 million people, and its murder rates are lower than they were in 2011 when the population was 119.1 million, according to the World Bank. This year the murder rate was 18.7 per 100,000 people versus 19.4 per 100,000 in 2011 under former president Felipe Calderon.

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