Public safety in João Pessoa: what the data says

Official data converge in pointing to a drop in homicides in Paraíba and João Pessoa, but the sources use different methodologies.

The 2024 Atlas of Violence, produced by Ipea in partnership with the Brazilian Public Security Forum (FBSP) based on the Datasus Mortality Information System, showed Paraíba with a rate of 27.2 homicides per 100,000 inhabitants in 2022 (1,105 victims) — the third-lowest rate among Northeastern states, behind only Maranhão (27.1) and Piauí (24.1). The same study points to a cumulative drop of 31.3% in the state rate since 2012, with stronger reductions among young people (-43.2%), children (-47.1%) and adolescents (-48.7%) over the same period — but these figures are statewide, not municipal, and the most recent data available in this series has 2022 as its base year.

The 2025 Yearbook from Paraíba's State Secretariat of Security and Social Defense (Sesds-PB), in turn, works with direct police records and points to a 35.6% drop in the state's homicide rate between 2014 and 2024, from 1,551 to 1,058 killings in the period — a source and methodology distinct from the Atlas of Violence, which explains any differences in figures between the two surveys.

Specifically regarding João Pessoa, reports from the Paraíba press, citing the Ministry of Justice's National System of Public Security Indicators, reported a rate of 22.28 homicides per 100,000 inhabitants in the capital, placing it as the safest capital in the Northeast and 10th in the country on this indicator — but the reports do not clearly specify the exact reference year, which calls for caution in reading this isolated figure. No recent official statistics broken down by neighborhood in João Pessoa were found in the sources consulted, and this text therefore avoids comparisons between neighborhoods.