The cost of violence in Mexico increased by 10 percent last year to the equivalent of $268 billion — while the country’s “peacefulness” score sank about 5 percent, according to a global think tank.

The Institute for Economics and Peace said in its newly released report, “Mexico Peace Index 2019,” that the cost of violence is equivalent to about one-quarter of the country’s GDP, Mexico News Daily reported.

Record homicides in 2018 made the largest economic impact, accounting for half of the overall cost — a 15 percent increase from 2017.

There were more than 33,000 murders in Mexico last year, making 2018 the most violent year on record.

The think tank said that on a per-person basis, the economic cost of violence was $2,200 — more than five times the average monthly salary of a Mexican worker.

“Violence and the fear of violence create significant economic disruptions,” the report said.

“While violent incidents incur costs in the form of property damage, physical injury or psychological trauma, fear of violence alters economic behavior. It does this primarily by changing investment and consumption patterns as well as diverting public and private resources away from productive activities and towards protective measures.”

The findings came as President Trump has declared a national emergency over the humanitarian and security crisis at the southern border, where Central American asylum seekers — most of them families — and others have overwhelmed personnel and facilities.

In March alone, more than 100,000 undocumented immigrants were nabbed at the border, double the number for March 2018 — and the numbers are expected to rise as the weather improves.

Trump has blamed Democrats for not passing tougher immigration laws that he supports, but which the GOP-controlled Congress never passed during his first two years in office.

The White House is looking to Congress for solutions, while Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and other lawmakers are waiting for the administration to unveil a plan.

Trump has also threatened to close the border and branded immigrants criminals and con artists.

The IEP, meanwhile, also determined that “peacefulness” in Mexico dipped by 4.9 percent last year, the third year in a row that the measure dropped.

The per-capita homicide rate increased by 14 percent, incidents of gun violence rose to 28.6 per 100,000 people and there were 850 acts of political violence during the 2018 electoral period. At least 175 candidates or elected officials were murdered, the paper reported.

One in every three adults is a victim of crime each year, the report said.

One bright spot was that kidnappings and human trafficking declined.

The IEP also said Mexico still struggled with rampant government corruption.

Nearly 70 percent of Mexicans believed that judges are corrupt and over 65 percent believed the same about state and federal prosecutors.

The institute describes itself as the world’s leading think tank dedicated to quantifying the economic value of peace.