San Salvador, January 7 (teleSUR-RHC)-- El Salvador recorded the highest homicide rate in Central America during 2015 with a 70 percent spike in violent deaths from the year before.

According to the National Forensics Institute, the year ended with about 6,650 Salvadorans murdered, up from 3,912 last year, most of them victims of clashes between alleged gang members and police. But growing evidence has also suggested a spike in extrajudicial killings carried out by authorities.

Reports say that the overall murder rate rose to 104 per 100,000 inhabitants, while the report also stated the Central American nation recorded 52 murders in only one day, August 23, making it the bloodiest day of the year.

Meanwhile, from January to August, the country recorded 4,246 homicides, an average of 17.5 a day, and up 67 percent on the same eight-month period in 2014. However, societal violence and high murder rates is a problem shared throughout the region, with the seven countries of Central America, which together have a population of 46.7 million inhabitants, recording approximately 18,800 homicides in 2015, an average of 40 homicides per 100,000 inhabitants.

El Salvador has only 13.6 percent of Central America’s population, but it has the 35.3 percent of all homicides in the region.