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Economic and political outline

Economic indicators | Foreign Trade in figures | Sources of general economic information | Political outline

Economic indicators

The Mexican economy showed a reduced growth rate in 2008 and even a negative rate in 2009. GDP growth should become positive again during 2010. The rise in international oil prices could contribute to the revival of the economy. Unemployment has increased in the last two years whereas inflation has remained relatively under control.

 

Nevertheless the general economic prospects are worrying. The anti-crisis mesures developed by Calderón's government are not discernable to the whole of the population. Additionally, the country's growing security issues discourage investments and tourism. In the near future, we are expecting more devaluations of the currency due as much to the reduction in foreign exchage income as to the constant capital flight.

 
Main indicators 20062007200820092010
GDP (billions USD) 952.341,025.43e1,088.13827.19e863.36e
GDP (constant prices, annual % change) 5.13.3e1.3e-3.7e1.0e
GDP per capita (USD) 9,1389,742e10,2357,703e7,961
Inflation rate (%) 3.64.05.1e4.83.4e
Unemployment rate (% of the labor force) 3.63.74.0--
Current Account (billions USD) -4.38-8.17-15.53e-20.84-18.77
Current Account (in % of GDP) -0.5-0.8-1.4e-2.5-2.2

Source: IMF - World Economic Outlook Database ; OECD - Economic Outlook n°84

Note: (e) Estimated data

Main sectors of industry

Agriculture accounts for approximately 4% of the GDP and employs nearly 16% of the active population, however, the scarcity of credit continues to penalize this sector. Mexico ranks amongst the world's largest producers of coffee, sugar, corn and oranges. Mexico is amongst the world's leading producers of many minerals, including silver, fluorite, zinc and mercury, and its oil and gas reserves are one of its most precious possessions. Mexico is the world's 5th biggest producer of oil.  Cattle farming and fishing are also important economic activities.

The free trade zones dedicated to exports to the United States, the "Maquiladoras", which up to now used to energize the Mexican economy, are currently suffering from a crisis caused by competition from Asian countries and the American economy recession. Consequently, the manufacturing sector has markedly slowed down in these recent years and currently contributes around a quarter of the country's GDP.

The tertiary sector contributes to around 60% of the GDP and the construction sector is coming up again due to real estate investments.

 
Breakdown of economic activity by sector Agriculture Industry Services
Employment by sector (in % of total employment) 15.1 25.7 58.6
Value added (in % of GDP) 3.7 35.9 60.3
Value added (annual % change) 2.1 1.9 3.9

- last available data.

 
Monetary indicators 20042005200620072008
Mexican Peso (MXN) - Average annual exchange rate for 1 USD 11.2910.9010.9010.9311.13

Source: World Bank - World Development Indicators

 

Indicator of economic freedom

Score:
65.8/100
Position:
moderately free
World Rank:
49 out of 179
Regional Rank:
3 out of 3

Distribution of Economic freedom in the world
Source: 2008 Index of Economic freedom, Heritage Foundation

 

Country risk

See the country risk analysis provided by Ducroire.

 

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Foreign trade in figures

Mexico is one of the countries that most depends on foreign trade.  Foreign trade represents around 70% of its GDP. Mexico is a member of NAFTA - the free-trade agreement that unifies the United States, Mexico and Canada, since 1994. The country signed a free trade agreement with the European Union in 2000 and a commercial agreement with Japan came into force in April 2005.

The United States buys 80% of Mexico's exports. Its main export partners are the NAFTA and the European Union. The main export goods are electrical and electronic equipment, vehicles, mineral fuels, oil and machinery.  Its three main import partners are the NAFTA, China and Japan.  It mainly imports electrical and electronics equipment, machinery, vehicles and plastic products.

Mainly because of the decrease of Mexican product purchases by the United States, the Mexican trade balance has been in deficit since 2008. This is another one of the chronic structural problems of the mexican economy, as the country imports more than it exports and the trend increased with the world crisis, especially in the oil sector. The devaluation of the Mexican peso in October 2008, which in theory made Mexican exports more attractive did not stabilize the growing trade balance deficit.

 
Foreign trade indicators 20032004200520062007
Imports of goods (millions USD) 170,546196,810221,820256,059281,949
Exports of goods (millions USD) 164,766187,999214,233249,925271,875
Imports of services (millions USD) 18,14119,77921,44022,83323,826
Exports of services (millions USD) 12,61714,04716,13716,39217,736
Imports of goods and services (annual % change) 0.710.78.512.87.0
Exports of goods and services (annual % change) 2.711.56.810.86.2
Imports of goods and services (in % of GDP) 26.828.428.629.429.9
Exports of goods and services (in % of GDP) 25.426.627.228.128.3
Trade Balance (millions USD) -5,780-8,811-7,587-6,133-10,074
Trade Balance (including service) (millions USD) -11,304-14,543-12,890-12,574-16,164
Foreign trade (in % of GDP) 52.255.055.857.558.2

Source: World Bank

 

Main partner countries

Main customers
(% of exports)
2007
United States 82.2%
Canada 2.4%
Germany 1.5%
Spain 1.4%
Colombia 1.1%
See more countries 11.5%
Main suppliers
(% of imports)
2007
United States 49.6%
China 10.6%
Japan 5.8%
South Korea 4.5%
Germany 3.8%
See more countries 25.8%

Source: Comtrade

Main products

Main exports
(% of exports)
2007
Electrical machinery and equipment and parts...Electrical machinery and equipment and parts thereof; sound recorders and reproducers, television image and sound recorders and reproducers, and parts and accessories of such articles 25.8%
Mineral fuels, mineral oils and products of their...Mineral fuels, mineral oils and products of their distillation; bituminous substances; mineral waxes 15.7%
Vehicles other than railway or tramway...Vehicles other than railway or tramway rolling-stock, and parts and accessories thereof 15.4%
Nuclear reactors, boilers, machinery and...Nuclear reactors, boilers, machinery and mechanical appliances; parts thereof 12.5%
Optical, photographic, cinematographic, measuring,...Optical, photographic, cinematographic, measuring, checking, precision, medical or surgical instruments and apparatus; parts and accessories thereof 3.2%
See more products 27.4%
Main imports
(% of imports)
2007
Electrical machinery and equipment and parts...Electrical machinery and equipment and parts thereof; sound recorders and reproducers, television image and sound recorders and reproducers, and parts and accessories of such articles 21.2%
Nuclear reactors, boilers, machinery and...Nuclear reactors, boilers, machinery and mechanical appliances; parts thereof 15.1%
Vehicles other than railway or tramway...Vehicles other than railway or tramway rolling-stock, and parts and accessories thereof 9.5%
Mineral fuels, mineral oils and products of their...Mineral fuels, mineral oils and products of their distillation; bituminous substances; mineral waxes 6.9%
Plastics and articles thereofPlastics and articles thereof 5.7%
See more products 41.6%

Source: Comtrade

 
See more products
More imports (Intracen Data)
More exports (Intracen Data)

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Sources of general economic information

Ministries
Ministry of the Economy
Ministry of Social Development
Ministry of Finance
Ministry of Energy
Statistical Office
National Institute of Statistics and Geography
Central Bank
Bank of Mexico
Stock Exchange
Mexican Stock Exchange
Search Engines
Yahoo Mexico
Buscador
Explora Mexico
Mexico Channel
Mexico Global
Mexico Online
Mexico Web
Mexsearch
Mxsearch
Sbel
Economic portals
Trade in Mexico

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Political outline

Executive Power
As established by the Constitution, the Executive power is headed by the President of the United Mexican States.
The President is both head of state and head of government.  He is Supreme Commander of the Army Force.
The President is elected by popular vote and cannot be reelected. The presidential term lasts six years.
Legislative Power
The Mexican legislative power is in the hands of the General Congress  which is divided in two chambers: the Deputies and the Senators.
The Chamber of Deputies has 500 members, from which 300 are elected according to the principle of plurality. The remaining 200 are elected through the rule of proportional representation.
The Chamber of Senators applies in the same manner the principle of proportional representation by integration, electing 32 of its 96 members every two years.
Main political parties
Mexico has a multi-party system. There are three major political parties in the country:
- PAN (National Action Party) – a conservative liberal party, to which the actual President of the Republic belongs.
- PRI (Institutional Revolutionary Party) - the oldest political party in the country, it governed for 70 years, it is the center or middle party.
- PRD (Party of the Democratic Revolution)- a left wing socialist party.
Current political leaders
President : Felipe Calderón Hinojosa elected on July 2, 2006, member of  PAN
Next election dates
Presidential: July 2012
Senate: July 2012
Chamber of Deputies: July 2009
 

Indicator of freedom of the press

World Rank:
140/173
Evolution:
4 places down compared to 2007

Source: Worldwide Press Freedom Index 2007, Reporters Without Borders

 

Indicator of political freedom

Ranking:
Free
Political freedom:
2/7
Civil liberties:
2/7

Map of freedom 2007
Source: Freedom House

 

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Last updates: November 2009