Mexico's statistics institute says the number of homicides in the country climbed by nearly 25 percent last year as the nation's drug war intensified.

The National Institute of Statistics and Geography said in a new report that it recorded 24,374 homicides over the course of last year, compared with 19,803 two years ago.

The statisticians said the state of Chihuahua, on the border with the United States, saw the highest number, with 4,747. The northwestern state of Sinaloa registered 2,505.

President Felipe Calderon's office attributed more than 15,000 homicides in 2010 to organized crime.

President Calderon has deployed nearly 50,000 troops in the crackdown against drug violence since he took office nearly five years ago. Violence has risen in many areas as a result of the drug trafficking and other organized criminal activity.