Economy of Mexico

Economy of Mexico

Mexico City, the financial center of Mexico
Currency	Mexican peso (MXN, Mex$)
Fiscal year	calendar year
Trade organizations	G20, APEC, CPTPP, USMCA, OECD and WTO
Country group	Developing/Emerging[1] Upper-middle income economy[2] Newly industrialized country
Statistics
Population	128,649,565 (2020 est.)[3]
GDP	$2.017 trillion (nominal; 2024)[4] $3.434 trillion (PPP; 2024)[4]
GDP rank	12th (nominal, 2024) 12th (PPP, 2024)
GDP growth	3.9% (2022)[5] 3.2% (2023)[6] 2.7% (2024f)[5]
GDP per capita	$15,249 (nominal; 2024)[4] $25,963 (PPP; 2024)[4]
GDP per capita rank	63rd (nominal, 2024) 70th (PPP, 2024)
GDP by sector	agriculture: 3.6% industry: 31.9% services: 64.5% (2017 est.)[3]
Inflation (CPI)	4.88% (2023)[7]
Population below poverty line	36.3% in poverty (2022)[8] 7.4% in extreme poverty (2018)[8] 22% on less than $6.85/day (2022)[9]
Gini coefficient	41.5 medium (2020)[10]
Human Development Index	0.781 high (2022)[11] (77th) 0.641 medium IHDI (71st) (2022)[11]
Labor force	61,042,968 (2023)[12] 57.6% employment rate (2018)[13]
Labor force by occupation	agriculture: 13.4% industry: 24.1% services: 61.9% (2011)[3]
Unemployment	5.3% (2020 est.)[14] 3.5% (September 2019)[15]
Average gross salary	Mex$12,887 / $732.31 monthly[16] (2022)
Average net salary	Mex$11,434 / $649.49 monthly[17][18] (2022)
Main industries	Food processing beer soft drinks auto parts automobiles electronics chemicals iron steel petroleum mining textiles clothing motor vehicles consumer durables tourism
External
Exports	$574.1 billion (2022)[19]
Export goods	manufactured goods, electronics, vehicles and auto parts, oil and oil products, silver, plastics, fruits, vegetables, coffee, cotton
Main export partners	United States 82.7%  Canada 2.9%  China 1.9%  Germany 1.5%  Brazil 0.8% Others 10.2%
Imports	$600.7 billion (2022)[19]
Import goods	metalworking machines, steel mill products, agricultural machinery, electrical equipment, automobile parts for assembly and repair, aircraft, aircraft parts, plastics, natural gas and oil products
Main import partners	United States 43.9%  China 19.6%  South Korea 3.7%  Germany 3%  Japan 3% Others 26.8%
FDI stock	$554.3 billion (31 December 2017 est.)[3] Abroad: $243.8 billion (31 December 2017 est.)[3]
Current account	−$19.35 billion (2017 est.)[3]
Gross external debt	$445.8 billion (31 December 2017 est.)[3]
Public finances
Government debt	54.3% of GDP (2017 est.)[3]
Budget balance	−1.1% (of GDP) (2017 est.)[3]
Revenues	261.4 billion (2017 est.)[3]
Expenses	273.8 billion (2017 est.)[3]
Economic aid	$189.4 million (2008)
Credit rating	Standard & Poor's:[20][21] A (Domestic) BBB (Foreign) A+ (T&C Assessment) Outlook: Negative Moody's:[21] Baa1 Outlook: Negative Fitch:[21] BBB- Outlook: Stable
Foreign reserves	$212.408 billion (January 2024)[22]
All values, unless otherwise stated, are in US dollars.

The economy of Mexico is a developing mixed-market economy.^[23] It is the 12th largest in the world in nominal GDP terms and by purchasing power parity as of 2024.^[4] Since the 1994 crisis, administrations have improved the country's macroeconomic fundamentals. Mexico was not significantly influenced by the 2002 South American crisis, and maintained positive, although low, rates of growth after a brief period of stagnation in 2001. However, Mexico was one of the Latin American nations most affected by the 2008 recession with its gross domestic product contracting by more than 6% in that year. Among OECD nations, Mexico has a fairly strong social security system; social expenditure stood at roughly 7.5% of GDP.^[24][25][26]

The Mexican economy has maintained high levels of macroeconomic stability, which has reduced inflation and interest rates to record lows. In spite of this, significant gaps persist between the urban and the rural population, the northern and southern states, and the rich and the poor.^[27] Some of the unresolved issues include the upgrade of infrastructure, the modernization of the tax system and labor laws, and the reduction of income inequality. Tax revenues, altogether 19.6 percent of GDP in 2013, were the lowest among the then 34 OECD countries.^[28] As of 2022, the OECD 38 has members.^[29] The main problems Mexico faces are poverty rates and regional inequalities remaining high. Productivity growth has been limited by the lack of formality, financial exclusion, and corruption. The medium term growth prospects were also affected by a lower proportion of women in the workforce, and investment has not been strong since 2015.

The economy contains rapidly developing modern industrial and service sectors, with increasing private ownership. Recent administrations have expanded competition in ports, railroads, telecommunications, electricity generation, natural gas distribution and airports, with the aim of upgrading infrastructure. As an export-oriented economy, more than 90% of Mexican trade is under free trade agreements (FTAs) with more than 40 countries, including the European Union, Japan, Israel, and much of Central and South America. The most influential FTA is the United States–Mexico–Canada Agreement (USMCA), which came into effect in 2020, and was signed in 2018 by the governments of the United States, Canada and Mexico. In 2006, trade with Mexico's two northern partners accounted for almost 90% of its exports and 55% of its imports.^[30] Recently, Congress approved important tax, pension, and judicial reforms.^{[clarification needed]} In 2023, Mexico had 13 companies in the Forbes Global 2000 list of the world's largest companies.^[31][32]

Mexico's labor force consisted of 52.8 million people as of 2015.^[33] The OECD and WTO both rank Mexican workers as the hardest-working in the world in terms of the number of hours worked yearly. Pay per hours worked remains low.^{[34][35][36][37][38]}

Mexico is a highly unequal country: 0.2% of the population owns 60% of the country's wealth, while 46.8 million people live in poverty (2024).^[39]