MEXICO CITY, July 30 (Xinhua) -- Mexico's homicide rate reached a record high of 31,174 in 2017, with most cases occurring in central Mexico State, which surrounds the capital Mexico City, the National Statistics and Geography Institute (Inegi) said on Monday.

Last year's record number of murders eclipsed the figure from the year before, 24,559, as well as the previous record high of 27,213 homicides registered in 2011, Inegi's director, Julio Santaella, tweeted.

Mexico State registered 3,046 murders in 2017, more than the 2,768 cases reported in 2016, but fewer than the 3,311 cases reported in 2013, which marked a nearly 10-year high, according to Inegi's preliminary report.

The southern state of Guerrero, where drug-related violence has spiked in recent years, ranked second in number of murders, with 2,578, followed by central Guanajuato state, with 2,252.

Last year's total means there were 25 homicides per 100,000 inhabitants, compared to 20 per 100,000 in 2016.

Most murders involved shootings and firearms. Knives or other types of sharp weapons claimed the next highest number of victims.

Men far outnumbered women as victims, with 27,771 male victims vs. 3,324 female victims.

The independently-run Inegi said it gathered data directly from municipal forensic services, the civil registry and public ministries.

According to experts, Mexico's crime wave has been aggravated by a government strategy of dismantling the country's powerful drug cartels by going after the kingpins, leading to scores of smaller criminal rings that then fight each other for control of lucrative regional and local markets, and trafficking routes.