The Mexico BriefSpecial report
An overview / 13 July 2026

Mexico

The economy, politics and its relationship with the United States.
US$1.83tn2025 GDP
132m+Population
US$665bn2025 goods exports
0.5-0.6%2025 real growth
THE MEXICO BRIEF / PUBLIC RESEARCH EDITIONThe guide I wanted when I started looking
Photo: “Vista aérea del Estadio Azteca - 2026 - 18” by ProtoplasmaKid, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0; cropped and darkened for this cover.
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START HEREThe country in a few pages
START HERE / The country in a few pages / section 01

Executive summary

What this is, and the few things worth knowing first

What this is

I made this report because every answer seemed to live on a different website. GDP at INEGI. The peso and interest rates at Banxico. Public finances at Hacienda. Trade somewhere else. After ten tabs, I usually had more numbers and less of an idea what was going on.

I was born in Mexico City and moved to Miami when I was young. When I started working in Mexico again, I knew the country, or at least I thought I did. I did not know whether a peso at 17.5 was good or bad, why wages had risen so quickly, or how much of the economy actually depended on the United States. These felt like things I should probably know.

This is the overview I wanted. It is not an encyclopedia. It explains the economy, politics, people and the relationship with the United States using the original numbers. If something catches your attention, the source is there so you can keep going.

Mexico at a glance
MeasureLatest readingWhy it matters
PopulationAbout 132 millionA large consumer market and labor force.
EconomyUS$1.83tn in 2025One of the world's largest economies.
Real growthAbout 0.6% in 2025The economy grew, but barely.
Goods exportsAbout US$665bn in 2025Manufacturing and the US market matter enormously.
Inflation3.37% in June 2026Back inside Banxico's 3% +/- 1 point range.
Core inflation4.03% in June 2026Underlying prices were still rising faster than headline inflation.
Unemployment2.8% in May 2026Very low, but incomplete without informality.
Informal employment55.2% in May 2026Most workers still lack the full protection of formal work.
Multidimensional poverty29.6% in 2024Down sharply, though still 38.5 million people.
Dates matter because these series update on different schedules. Sources: World Bank, Banco de México, INEGI inflation, INEGI labor and INEGI poverty.

Six things worth knowing

  • Mexico already has the factories. Nearshoring is often described as a future opportunity. Mexico already exports cars, electronics, machinery and medical equipment at enormous scale.
  • The United States is the advantage and the risk. More than four out of five Mexican goods-export dollars go north. Access to the US market is hard to copy. Dependence on one market is hard to ignore.
  • Trade grew much faster than living standards. Mexico became far more open to trade after 2000. Real output per person rose only about 7% over the same period.
  • Low unemployment hides a divided labor market. Almost everyone who wants some kind of work can find it. Too much of that work is informal, small-scale and poorly protected.
  • Poverty fell. That is real. So are the remaining gaps in healthcare, social security, education and security.
  • Politics can now change institutions quickly. Morena is the dominant party, but its coalition is not one person and not every proposal passes.

Trade grew. Output per person barely did.

Trade grew. Output per person barely did.80100120140160180200200020052010201520182020202220242025Trade intensity (2000=100)Real GDP per person (2000=100)
Index, 2000=100. Trade is exports plus imports as a share of GDP. Real GDP per person uses constant 2015 US dollars. The comparison does not prove that trade caused slow growth. It shows that more trade did not automatically produce much higher output per person. Sources: World Bank trade and World Bank GDP per person.
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PART IHow Mexico works
PART I / How Mexico works / section 02

Country context

A country of 32 federal entities and several very different economies

Mexico has 31 states plus Mexico City. About four in five people live in urban areas. The country shares a nearly 3,200-kilometer border with the United States, but distance from that border still matters. Northern and central industrial states have denser roads, suppliers, engineers and formal jobs. The south has oil and tourism, but much less manufacturing.

Where Mexico produces, and where poverty remains highest

Where Mexico produces, and where poverty remains highestAguascalientes: MXN 284,884 GDP per resident; 1.30% of national GDP; 1.53m projected residentsBaja California: MXN 317,907 GDP per resident; 3.85% of national GDP; 4.07m projected residentsBaja California Sur: MXN 285,276 GDP per resident; 0.75% of national GDP; 0.89m projected residentsCampeche: MXN 547,790 GDP per resident; 1.56% of national GDP; 0.95m projected residentsCoahuila de Zaragoza: MXN 368,586 GDP per resident; 3.69% of national GDP; 3.36m projected residentsColima: MXN 281,709 GDP per resident; 0.64% of national GDP; 0.76m projected residentsChiapas: MXN 88,074 GDP per resident; 1.58% of national GDP; 6.03m projected residentsChihuahua: MXN 321,838 GDP per resident; 3.83% of national GDP; 4.00m projected residentsCiudad de México: MXN 545,611 GDP per resident; 14.95% of national GDP; 9.20m projected residentsDurango: MXN 237,589 GDP per resident; 1.35% of national GDP; 1.91m projected residentsGuanajuato: MXN 234,605 GDP per resident; 4.53% of national GDP; 6.48m projected residentsGuerrero: MXN 119,790 GDP per resident; 1.29% of national GDP; 3.61m projected residentsHidalgo: MXN 180,043 GDP per resident; 1.75% of national GDP; 3.26m projected residentsJalisco: MXN 287,302 GDP per resident; 7.55% of national GDP; 8.82m projected residentsEstado de México: MXN 173,661 GDP per resident; 9.11% of national GDP; 17.62m projected residentsMichoacán de Ocampo: MXN 184,851 GDP per resident; 2.75% of national GDP; 5.00m projected residentsMorelos: MXN 173,058 GDP per resident; 1.05% of national GDP; 2.04m projected residentsNayarit: MXN 171,577 GDP per resident; 0.67% of national GDP; 1.31m projected residentsNuevo León: MXN 428,759 GDP per resident; 8.05% of national GDP; 6.31m projected residentsOaxaca: MXN 146,752 GDP per resident; 1.88% of national GDP; 4.31m projected residentsPuebla: MXN 170,495 GDP per resident; 3.55% of national GDP; 6.99m projected residentsQuerétaro: MXN 308,319 GDP per resident; 2.39% of national GDP; 2.61m projected residentsQuintana Roo: MXN 250,180 GDP per resident; 1.54% of national GDP; 2.06m projected residentsSan Luis Potosí: MXN 264,089 GDP per resident; 2.32% of national GDP; 2.96m projected residentsSinaloa: MXN 224,616 GDP per resident; 2.12% of national GDP; 3.17m projected residentsSonora: MXN 355,689 GDP per resident; 3.30% of national GDP; 3.11m projected residentsTabasco: MXN 282,563 GDP per resident; 2.07% of national GDP; 2.46m projected residentsTamaulipas: MXN 271,128 GDP per resident; 3.00% of national GDP; 3.72m projected residentsTlaxcala: MXN 139,985 GDP per resident; 0.60% of national GDP; 1.43m projected residentsVeracruz de Ignacio de la Llave: MXN 178,128 GDP per resident; 4.31% of national GDP; 8.13m projected residentsYucatán: MXN 220,933 GDP per resident; 1.63% of national GDP; 2.48m projected residentsZacatecas: MXN 204,554 GDP per resident; 1.03% of national GDP; 1.70m projected residentsUNITED STATESPACIFIC OCEANGULF OF MEXICOTijuanaexport assemblyCiudad Juárezexport assemblyMonterreyindustry + HQsGuadalajaraelectronics + softwareBajío / Querétaroautos + aerospaceMexico Cityservices + governmentCancún / Riviera MayatourismREGIONAL OUTPUT + WELFARE / 20242.0×north versus southGDP per residentNORTHMXN 352k25.7% GDP • 18.6% people13.4% in multidimensional povertyNORTH-CENTRALMXN 245k20.5% GDP • 21.2% people24.0% in multidimensional povertyCENTERMXN 257k37.9% GDP • 37.5% people29.9% in multidimensional povertySOUTHMXN 177k15.9% GDP • 22.7% people47.2% in multidimensional povertySTATE GDP PER RESIDENT / MXN THOUSANDS<150150–199200–249250–324325+Banxico regions are analytical, not constitutional.
Regional comparison / 2024
NorthMXN 352kGDP per resident · 13.4% in multidimensional poverty25.7% of GDP · 18.6% of residents
North-centralMXN 245kGDP per resident · 24.0% in multidimensional poverty20.5% of GDP · 21.2% of residents
CenterMXN 257kGDP per resident · 29.9% in multidimensional poverty37.9% of GDP · 37.5% of residents
SouthMXN 177kGDP per resident · 47.2% in multidimensional poverty15.9% of GDP · 22.7% of residents
State color is 2024 GDP per resident. Regional poverty rates combine INEGI's state estimates using the population in the same survey. GDP per resident measures where production happens, not what a household earns. Sources: INEGI state GDP, INEGI poverty, CONAPO population and Banco de México regions.

The north held 18.6% of Mexico's residents in 2024 and produced 25.7% of GDP. Its GDP per resident was about MX$352,000, almost twice the south's MX$177,000. Poverty ran in the same direction: 13.4% in the north and 47.2% in the south using these regional groupings. Campeche, Tabasco and Quintana Roo are important exceptions. Oil and tourism make the south more varied than a single regional average suggests.

Sources: INEGI state GDP · INEGI state poverty

The political history in four lines

Who governed, and what changed
PeriodWhat happenedWhat stayed
PRI and predecessors, 1929-2000One political family controlled the presidency. Mexico later opened trade, privatized companies and joined NAFTA under PRI governments.A strong presidency and a centralized political culture.
PAN, 2000-2012Vicente Fox ended 71 years of PRI presidential rule. Competitive elections became normal.The North American export model.
PRI, 2012-2018Peña Nieto passed reforms in energy, education, finance and politics. Violence and corruption damaged the government.Moderate growth and deep US integration.
Morena, 2018-presentLópez Obrador and then Claudia Sheinbaum built a durable governing majority around transfers, higher wages, public infrastructure and a stronger state role.USMCA, manufacturing and the importance of the US market.
This is a compression, not a complete political history. Sources: INE electoral history, CRS and the parties' own documents.

One continuity is easy to miss: every governing party kept Mexico tied to North American production. The argument inside Mexico has been less about whether to trade and more about who benefits, how much the state should do, and whether public institutions can provide security and basic services.

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PART I / How Mexico works / section 03

The economic engine

What Mexico makes, why growth has been slow and where things stand now

Services produce most of Mexico's income. Manufacturing gets most of the attention because it fills trucks and trains headed north. Both matter. A car factory is easy to photograph. The transport, banking, retail, software, maintenance and real estate around it are part of the economy too.

Services are most of the economy. Manufacturing is a fifth.

Services are most of the economy. Manufacturing is a fifth.0%20%40%60%80%Services58.9%Manufacturing20%Other industry10.6%Agriculture3.9%Net taxes / residual6.6%
Share of GDP, 2025. Other industry is industry excluding manufacturing. Sources: World Bank services, industry, manufacturing and agriculture.

The growth problem

Mexico has spent long stretches growing around 2% a year. Once population growth is removed, the record looks worse. Real GDP per person was only about 7% higher in 2025 than in 2000 in the World Bank's constant-dollar series. That is the number behind a lot of Mexican politics.

Real output per person is only 7% above 2000

Real output per person is only 7% above 2000$8,500$9,000$9,500$10,000$10,5002000200320062009201220152018202120242025Constant 2015 US$
Real GDP per person in constant 2015 US dollars. This is production per resident, not household income. Source: World Bank.

The country contains highly productive exporters and millions of very small firms at the same time. Credit is limited, informal firms struggle to grow, infrastructure is uneven and security changes where businesses operate. A company can have access to the US market and still wait years for power, water or a permit. None of these problems is new. Together they help explain why the best parts of the economy have not pulled the rest along faster.

Sources: OECD Economic Survey of Mexico 2026 · World Bank Mexico

Where the economy is now

Real GDP grew about 0.6% in 2025. Banco de México forecast 1.1% growth for 2026 in its first-quarter report. Investment remained weak early in the year, although April improved. Manufacturing exports held up better than domestic investment. That is a slow economy, not a collapsed one.

Investment recovered after the pandemic, then slipped

Investment recovered after the pandemic, then slipped19%20%21%22%23%24%25%20002005201020152019202020212022202320242025Fixed investment
Gross fixed investment as a share of GDP. The series includes construction and equipment. Source: World Bank.

Inflation fell to 3.37% in June 2026, inside Banxico's 3% target plus or minus one percentage point. Core inflation was still 4.03%. The gap matters because the headline benefited from falling volatile prices. It does not yet mean that every kind of price pressure is gone.

Sources: INEGI, June 2026 inflation · Banco de México

Public finances

Mexico's debt is manageable, but the government has less room than the headline ratio suggests. Pensions, interest and support for Pemex compete with electricity, water, security, health and maintenance. The government plans to reduce its annual borrowing requirement after the 2024 jump, while broad public debt is still projected to edge higher through 2027.

The fiscal path
YearBroad public debtAnnual borrowing requirement
202452.0% of GDP5.8% of GDP
202553.2% of GDP4.9% of GDP
202654.7% of GDP4.1% of GDP
202755.0% of GDP3.5% of GDP
2026 and 2027 are official projections, not completed outcomes. Sources: SHCP debt and SHCP borrowing requirement.
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PART IIPeople and the state
PART II / People and the state / section 04

People, labor force and migration

A young country that is getting older, with plenty of work and too little formal work

Mexico still has a favorable age structure, but it will not last forever. Fertility has fallen below two children per woman while the working-age share has continued to rise. The lag is normal: smaller generations take years to reach working age. The next stage will depend less on adding workers and more on what each worker can produce.

Fertility fell while the working-age share kept rising

Fertility fell while the working-age share kept rising1.822.22.42.62.860%62%64%66%68%20002005201020152019202020212022202320242025Births per womanPopulation age 15-64
Fertility is on the left axis. The working-age share is on the right. Sources: World Bank fertility and working-age population.

Low unemployment, high informality

Unemployment was 2.8% in May 2026. That looks excellent until it is placed next to informality at 55.2%. Mexico does not have a large unemployment-insurance system, so many people cannot afford to remain without work. They take whatever work is available, often without social security or a formal contract.

This is why unemployment alone is a poor scorecard for Mexico. Formal jobs, pay, hours, participation and output per worker tell you much more. In May, 33.4 million workers were informal.

Sources: INEGI labor, May 2026 · OECD Employment Outlook

Poverty fell. The gaps did not disappear.

Poverty fell to 29.6% in 2024

Poverty fell to 29.6% in 20240%10%20%30%40%Multidimensional poverty29.6%Extreme poverty5.3%
Share of the population. Extreme poverty is included inside the larger poverty measure. Source: INEGI.

INEGI counted 38.5 million people in multidimensional poverty in 2024, down from 46.8 million in 2022. Higher labor income and transfers helped. This is one of the clearest improvements in the report.

Social protection still misses millions of people

Social protection still misses millions of people0%20%40%60%80%At least one deprivation61.7%No social-security access48.2%No health-service access34.2%Education lag18.6%Food-access deprivation14.4%
Share of the population, 2024. The categories overlap and should not be added together. Source: INEGI.

The same survey found that 61.7% of people had at least one social deprivation. Almost half lacked access to social security and more than a third lacked access to health services. Poverty and public services improved on different schedules. The national average also hides enormous state differences.

Migration and remittances

Migration is not one flow. Mexicans leave, return and move inside the country. People from elsewhere cross Mexico, stay or apply for protection. US enforcement changes the route quickly. The 2020 Mexican census and the 2023 ENADID are better for stocks and longer movements than for what happened last month.

Remittances are easier to measure. They support household spending and provide dollars, especially in states with long migration histories. They are not the same as productive investment. A remittance can pay for school, food or a house and still never appear as a new factory or business loan.

Sources: INEGI ENADID · Banco de México remittances · CRS migration

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PART II / People and the state / section 05

Politics and institutions

How power works now, and where the real tests are

Mexico is a presidential federal republic. The president serves one six-year term and cannot run again. Congress has a 500-seat Chamber of Deputies and a 128-seat Senate. Constitutional amendments require two-thirds support in Congress and approval by a majority of state legislatures. When one coalition controls both, Mexico can change institutions much faster than the United States.

Sources: Mexican Constitution · CRS political overview

Who holds power

Claudia Sheinbaum became president on 1 October 2024 after winning 59.76% of the vote. Morena and its allies won a two-thirds majority in the Chamber of Deputies and later secured the Senate votes needed for constitutional changes. That is a powerful position. It is not unlimited. Coalition partners have their own interests, and a major electoral reform failed in March 2026 when allied parties withheld support.

Sources: INE election results · CRS · News report: Associated Press, March 2026

The judiciary is the largest institutional change

The 2024 judicial reform replaced appointment-based selection for much of the federal judiciary with elections. The first nationwide judicial vote took place in June 2025. Turnout was about 13%. The new Supreme Court took office that September.

Supporters say elections can break closed networks and make judges answer to the public. Critics worry about political control, low-information ballots and the loss of experienced judges. The useful test is not the slogan on either side. It is whether cases become faster, decisions remain independent and judgments are actually enforced.

Sources: OAS election observation · Supreme Court

Security

Security statistics need more care than almost any number in this report. Homicide counts from prosecutors arrive quickly. Death certificates arrive later. Victimization surveys capture crimes that were never reported. None is a complete picture.

The federal government reported a large fall in daily homicides under Sheinbaum. That is worth watching, but the claim should be checked against final death-certificate data and longer state trends. For businesses and families, extortion, disappearances, theft and impunity matter alongside homicide.

Sources: Federal security update · INEGI ENVIPE · SESNSP

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PART IIINorth America
PART III / North America / section 06

Trade and foreign investment

Mexico is already a North American production base

Mexico exported about US$665 billion of goods in 2025. Most were manufactured products, especially vehicles and parts, electronics and machinery. The United States bought more than four out of every five export dollars. This is not a nearshoring pitch. It is the economy that already exists.

Sources: Banco de México trade · USTR Mexico

US-Mexico goods trade reached US$872bn in 2025

US-Mexico goods trade reached US$872bn in 2025$0bn$200bn$400bn$600bn19942000200520102015202020212022202320242025US exports to MexicoUS imports from Mexico
Billions of current US dollars, measured by the US Census Bureau. Gross trade counts products each time they cross the border and does not measure how much value each country added. Source: US Census.

What Mexico sells and buys

Mexico often imports parts and machinery, assembles or processes them, and exports the finished product. That is why a large import bill is not automatically bad. More machinery imports can be a sign that companies are adding capacity. More consumer imports mean something different.

Largest goods partners in 2024
PartnerMexican exportsMexican imports
United StatesUS$503.4bnUS$262.7bn
ChinaUS$9.1bnUS$129.5bn
CanadaUS$18.6bnUS$13.0bn
GermanyUS$7.1bnUS$21.4bn
JapanUS$4.3bnUS$19.2bn
South KoreaUS$4.1bnUS$23.0bn
BrazilUS$4.7bnUS$11.7bn
Current US dollars. Partner data can differ from Mexican and US bilateral totals because of timing, valuation and partner assignment. Source: UN Comtrade.

China is mostly on the import side

China is a major supplier of electronics, machinery and components to Mexico and a much smaller buyer of Mexican goods. Those inputs can make Mexican factories more competitive. They also create pressure in Washington for tighter rules of origin. A rule aimed at Chinese content can affect a Mexican plant even when the final product crosses from Mexico.

Sources: Data México, China · USTR talks

Foreign investment: read past the record

Mexico received a record US$40.9 billion of foreign direct investment in 2025. The number is real. Its composition is more useful: 67.7% was reinvested profit, 18.0% was new investment and 14.3% was transactions between related companies. Existing investors kept money in Mexico. The total does not mean US$40.9 billion of new factories appeared.

The United States supplied 38.8% of 2025 foreign investment

The United States supplied 38.8% of 2025 foreign investment0%10%20%30%40%50%United States38.8%Spain10.8%Canada8.1%Netherlands5.8%Japan5.6%Other30.9%
Share of inward FDI by immediate investor country. The immediate country can differ from the owner's ultimate home. Source: Mexico Economy Ministry.

What nearshoring would look like in the numbers

A press release is the first step, not the result. A real expansion eventually shows up in equipment orders, construction, an electricity connection, production, formal hiring and purchases from Mexican suppliers. Those are the numbers to watch.

Mexico's advantage is obvious: geography, existing factories, skilled workers and access to the US market. The limits are equally concrete: electricity, water, border congestion, security, permits and a shortage of qualified local suppliers in some industries. Nearshoring is useful only when interest becomes a working plant.

Sources: OECD · CENACE · CONAGUA · INEGI investment

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PART III / North America / section 07

The United States–Mexico relationship

Trade is the center, but the relationship is much larger

Mexico and the United States share factories, families, energy systems, rivers, migration routes and security problems. The relationship is too connected for either government to treat one issue as fully separate from the others. A trade dispute can become a migration negotiation by the afternoon.

USMCA did not expire

The first joint review took place on 1 July 2026. The United States did not agree to extend USMCA for another 16 years. That did not end the agreement. USMCA stays in force and the parties return for annual reviews while negotiations continue.

For a company deciding whether to build a factory that takes years to repay, this matters. Existing trade can continue while a new project waits for clearer rules. The important questions are the actual tariff treatment, rules of origin and review path, not whether a headline says the deal survived or failed.

Sources: USTR, 1 July 2026 · USMCA Article 34.7 · Mexico Economy Ministry

Four parts of the bilateral relationship
AreaWhat connects the countriesWhat usually creates friction
TradeFactories, farms, trucks, rail, energy and USMCA preferences.Tariffs, origin rules, labor cases and the bilateral deficit.
MigrationFamilies, labor markets, asylum routes and remittances.Border enforcement, returns and sudden policy changes.
SecurityFentanyl, firearms, organized crime, intelligence and extraditions.Sovereignty, trust and pressure for unilateral US action.
Water and energyShared rivers, pipelines, power needs and environmental spillovers.Treaty deliveries, drought, state energy policy and cross-border pollution.
Starting sources: CRS bilateral relations, CRS migration, CRS security and IBWC treaties.

Migration

The US border is where domestic politics in both countries becomes foreign policy. Mexico can slow or redirect migration through enforcement, visas and cooperation. The United States controls admission, asylum rules and returns. Neither side fully controls the reasons people move or the routes they take.

Security

The United States wants fewer drugs moving north. Mexico wants fewer guns and illicit dollars moving south, and it resists US actions that look like a violation of sovereignty. Cooperation continues because neither country can solve the flow from one side of the border. Trust remains the scarce part.

Energy, water and the physical border

Mexico imports large amounts of US natural gas and exports crude oil and manufactured products. Shared rivers serve cities and farms on both sides. Border crossings carry the trade. Power shortages, drought or a slow port of entry can affect a factory as directly as a tariff.

Sources: EIA energy trade · US-Mexico water plan · BTS freight

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PART IVWhat to watch
PART IV / What to watch / section 08

Outlook, scenarios and decision rules

The small set of numbers and decisions that would change the picture

I do not know exactly how the next year goes, and a fake probability would not improve that. The useful approach is to write down what would make the outlook better or worse and then watch for it.

What I am watching

  • The USMCA text, not the mood around it. A clear extension path and workable origin rules would make long-lived investment easier. Wider tariffs or rules that are impossible to meet would do the opposite.
  • New investment, not total FDI. Reinvested profits show commitment from companies already there. New investment, machinery, construction and hiring show added capacity.
  • Core inflation. Headline inflation is back near target. Core inflation tells us whether the improvement is broad enough for Banxico to keep lowering rates.
  • Formal jobs and productivity. Exports can grow without improving much for Mexican households. Formal employment, pay and output per worker show whether gains are spreading.
  • Electricity, water and border capacity. Industrial demand matters only when a site can connect, operate and ship on time.
  • The composition of public spending. A lower deficit helps, but not if grids, water, maintenance and security take all the cuts.
  • Security beyond the federal headline. Homicide, extortion, disappearances and business victimization should move in the same direction before declaring a lasting change.
Three ways the next two years could look
PathWhat happensWhat would show up first
Clearer integrationUSMCA gets a credible extension path and firms add capacity.New investment, machinery imports, private construction and formal manufacturing jobs rise together.
Continued bargainingThe agreement stays in force, but reviews and sector disputes continue.Existing exports hold up better than new projects. Investment remains uneven.
Wider disruptionTariffs or origin rules reduce the value of producing in Mexico for the US market.Project cancellations, weaker equipment demand, peso volatility and higher borrowing costs.
These are paths, not forecasts or probabilities. The first evidence should appear in trade rules, investment, machinery, construction and employment.
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SOURCESHow the numbers were chosen
SOURCES / How the numbers were chosen / section 09

Data notes and source map

Where the figures came from, and where to go if you want more

The report uses Mexican official sources first. INEGI covers output, prices, labor, poverty and many social measures. Banco de México covers monetary policy, the peso, remittances, trade and financial stability. Hacienda covers public finances. The Economy Ministry covers investment and trade policy.

The World Bank and OECD are used for long series and international comparisons. US agencies are used when the number is measured from the US side. Industry sources appear only where no complete public series exists.

A few definitions that prevent bad conclusions

Read the label before the number
TermWhat it means hereCommon mistake
GDPValue produced inside Mexico.Treating it as household income or wealth.
GDP per personGDP divided by population.Assuming everyone receives the average.
Informal employmentWork without full legal, tax or social-security protection.Treating it as unemployment or illegal work.
FDIEquity, reinvested profits and related-company debt from foreign investors.Reading the total as spending on new factories.
Trade as a share of GDPExports plus imports divided by GDP.Saying trade literally produces that share of national income.
Multidimensional povertyLow income plus at least one social deprivation under Mexico's method.Comparing it directly with a one-line income poverty measure.
Definitions follow the agencies that produce each series. The wording is shortened here for normal people.

Best place to start by question

Source map
QuestionStart here
What is the economy doing now?INEGI GDP and Banco de México's quarterly report
What is happening to prices?INEGI inflation
What is happening to jobs?INEGI labor and IMSS formal employment
How many people are poor?INEGI poverty
What does Mexico trade?Banco de México trade
What is US-Mexico trade?US Census
What is the live USMCA position?USTR and Mexico's Economy Ministry
What is happening to foreign investment?Mexico's Economy Ministry
How are public finances doing?Hacienda
What is happening to crime?SESNSP plus INEGI victimization surveys
How does Mexico compare with other countries?World Bank and OECD
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