Mexico

Mexico Overview - ​Mexico's $2.4 trillion economy – 11th largest in the world - has become increasingly oriented toward manufacturing since the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) entered into force in 1994. Per capita income is roughly one-third that of the US; income distribution remains highly unequal.

             News

      Recent Articles

Mexico's Economy Expands Most in Year as Recovery Gathers Speed - BNN Bloomberg

(Bloomberg) -- Mexico's economy expanded at the fastest pace in over a year in April, suggesting a recovery seen at the beginning of 2022 is gathering speed. Latin America's second-largest economy grew 1.1% compared to the previous month, the most since March 2021 and above the 0.8% median estimate from analysts in a Bloomberg survey.

Mexico on the Rebound

Mexico's economy is rebounding from its steepest recession in decades. Raising productivity and tackling poverty remain key challenges. Manufacturing and exports are above pre-pandemic levels, services are re-opening, and employment is recovering. However, the pandemic has taken a severe toll on the country, with over half a million excess deaths.
Strengths
Weaknesses 
                                         Mexico Quick Economic Quick View
​Mexico has become the US' second-largest export market and third-largest source of imports. In 2017, two-way trade in goods and services exceeded $623 billion. Mexico has free trade agreements with 46 countries, putting more than 90% of its trade under free trade agreements. In 2012, Mexico formed the Pacific Alliance with Peru, Colombia, and Chile.
Characterisitic
Fact
Terrain
​high, rugged mountains; low coastal plains; high plateaus; desert
Percentage of English Spoken
12%
Population
​130,207,371 (July 2021 est.)
​Target Cities
​Mexico City, Guadalajara, Monterrey, Tijuana, Querétaro, Cancún
​Main Industries
​food and beverages, tobacco, chemicals, iron and steel, petroleum, mining, textiles, clothing, motor vehicles, consumer durables, tourism
​GDP Growth
​-0.3% (2019 est.)
​Government 
​federal presidential republic
​Economic Freedom Score
​65.5
Urbanization
​80.7% of total population (2020)
​Internet Connectivity
​65.77% (July 2018 est.)
​Moody's Credit Rating 
​Baa1 (2020)
​Terrorism Threat
High
VAT Tax​
16%
Travel Advisory
Yes,
Natural Disaster Risk Ranking
77 (Very High)
Corruption Index Rank
124
Disposable Income Per Capita of OECD Countries
$16,269
Coface Risk Assessment ​
​B

                                                Mexico Disputes and Issues 

​Military - note

the Mexican military under President LOPEZ OBRADOR has been placed in charge of some infrastructure projects, such as building a new airport for Mexico City and sections of a train line in the country’s southeast; in mid-2020, the armed forces were directed to administer the country’s land and sea ports and customs services in order to fight crime and corruption; the military also runs some 2,700 branches of a state-owned bank
Transnational Issues


Disputes - international

abundant rainfall in recent years along much of the Mexico-US border region has ameliorated periodically strained water-sharing arrangements; the US has intensified security measures to monitor and control legal and illegal personnel, transport, and commodities across its border with Mexico; Mexico must deal with thousands of impoverished Guatemalans and other Central Americans who cross the porous border looking for work in Mexico and the US; Belize and Mexico are working to solve minor border demarcation discrepancies arising from inaccuracies in the 1898 border treaty


Refugees and internally displaced persons 

refugees (country of origin): 9,257 (Honduras) (2019); 62,044 (Venezuela) (economic and political crisis; includes Venezuelans who have claimed asylum, are recognized as refugees, or have received alternative legal stay) (2020)

IDPs: 345,000 (government's quashing of Zapatista uprising in 1994 in eastern Chiapas Region; drug cartel violence and government's military response since 2007; violence between and within indigenous groups) (2019)

stateless persons: 13 (2019)

​Illicit drugs major drug-producing and transit nation; Mexico is estimated to be the world's third largest producer of opium with poppy cultivation in 2015 estimated to be 28,000 hectares yielding a potential production of 475 metric tons of raw opium; government conducts the largest independent illicit-crop eradication program in the world; continues as the primary transshipment country for US-bound cocaine from South America, with an estimated 95% of annual cocaine movements toward the US stopping in Mexico; major drug syndicates control the majority of drug trafficking throughout the country; producer and distributor of ecstasy; significant money-laundering center; major supplier of heroin and largest foreign supplier of marijuana and methamphetamine to the US market

See US State Department Advisories 


https://www.tamiu.edu/binationalcenter/documents/TexasEnergySummitPromexicoBINCLIBRARY.pdf