Economy

Imports
$530 billion (2022). Refined Petroleum ($42.5B), Motor vehicles; parts and accessories (8701 to 8705) ($29.3B), Office Machine Parts ($22.1B), Integrated Circuits ($20.9B), and Petroleum Gas ($15.8B), importing mostly from United States ($294B), China ($90.9B), Germany ($16.9B), South Korea($13.8B), and Japan ($11.3B).

Financial inclusion factors (over 15 years of  age)
• 46.2% have an account with a financial institution
• 11.2% have a credit card
• 18.1% have a mobile money account
• 15.9% make online purchases

Ease of doing business
It is easy to conduct businesses (rated 72.4 out of 100). Ranked 1st out of 32 Latin American and Caribbean countries. Ranked 60th out of 190 countries worldwide (2020, World Bank).

Global Innovation Index
Ranked 3rd out of 19 Latin America and the
Caribbean countries, 58th out of 132 worldwide.

The Global Innovation Index captures the innovation
ecosystem performance of 132 economies and tracks the most recent global innovation trends.

Exports
$549 billion (2022). Cars ($48.4B), Computers ($39.3B), Crude Petroleum ($38.2B), Motor vehicles; parts and accessories (8701 to 8705) ($38.1B), and Delivery Trucks($29.1B), exporting mostly to United States ($421B), Canada ($22.2B), China ($12.7B), Chinese Taipei ($7.86B), and South Korea ($7.29B).

Main local online stores
MercadoLibre, eBay and Amazon, Netshoes, Alibaba, Garbarino.com, Musimundo.com, Frávega, Apple and Cencosud

Economic freedom
‘Moderately free’ (rated 62 out of 100). Ranked 14th out of 32 Latin American countries. Ranked 68th out of 186 countries worldwide (2024, Heritage Foundation and Wall Street Journal).

Media

Media language Spanish

Information channels
Mexico is the one of the world’s most dangerous countries for journalists and media workers.
Reporters investigating police issues, drug trafficking and official corruption face serious, sustained risk of physical harm. 
Self-censorship has increased, with many newspapers in violent areas avoiding publication of stories concerning organized crime, says Freedom House. 
Some 90% of cases of journalists who are killed are unresolved.
Two networks, Televisa and TV Azteca, dominate the TV sector. The radio market is very large, with around 1,400 local and regional stations and several major station-owning groups. Some high-powered stations on the northern border beam into lucrative US markets.
Newspapers reflect different political views; sensationalism characterises the biggest-selling dailies.

The press

Excelsior – established daily
La Jornada – daily
Reforma – influential daily
El Universal – established Mexico City daily
El Sol de Mexico – daily
El Financiero – business daily
Siempre! – political weekly
Proceso – political weekly

Television

Televisa – Mexico’s TV giant, operates four networks and has many local affiliates
TV Azteca – main competitor of Televisa, operates two networks and local stations
Imagen TV – privately owned national network
Once TV – Canal 11 – Canal 11 – public, educational, cultural
Television Metropolitana – Canal 22 – government-owned cultural network

Radio

Grupo ACIR – has stations in Mexico City and across the country
MVS Radio – operates in the capital and elsewhere
Nucleo Radio Mil – operates several outlets in Mexico City
Grupo Radio Centro – operates a large network of stations
W Radio – news, talk network; part of Televisa group
Instituto Mexicano de la Radio (IMER) – state-run

News agency

Notimex – state-run
El Universal – private

Internet Data

Internet users
83.2% penetration rate, 107.3 million

Share of web traffic by device
59.38% mobile phones, 38.91% computers (laptops and desktops), 1.52% tablet devices, others 0.19%

Median speed of mobile Internet connection
25.14 Mbps 

Median speed of fixed Internet connection
60.28 Mbps

Mobile connection as a percentage of total population: 97.3%

Percentage of mobile connections that are broadband (3G-5G): 95.8%

Most popular web search engines
Google (90.91%), Bing (3.64%), YANDEX (1.61%), Baidu (1.15%), Yahoo (1.13%), DuckDuckGo (0.55%).

Most used social media
Facebook (61.21%), Instagram (11.59%), YouTube (8.88%), Twitter (8.22%), Pinterest (7.49%), reddit (1.55%)

Social statistics

Life expectancy
70 yrs (2021)

Corruption perceptions Index
Mexico scored 31 out of 100, ranked 126 out 180 countries worldwide.

Current health expenditure
6.24% of GDP

Gender
This is a very complex issue in Mexican culture. It is a matriarchal society where the “Mother” is the most respected figure in society. At the same time it is still pretty much male-dominated. Women nowadays do have influential positions, but their earning power will be lower than men. Women are still seen as sexual objects and the ones who should be in charge of household duties – even if they hold a full time position.

Localization Tips

Business in Mexico, like in many other countries, is not just about providing a service or selling a product, but also about relationships. Generally, Mexicans are very warm and passionate people, so it is crucial to establish a good network of professionals in order to be successful when localizing in Mexico.

CO2 emissions
3.0 metric tons per capita

World Happiness Index
Mexico ranked 46 out of 146 countries, with a score of 6.128.

Current education expenditure
97.9% of total expenditure in public institutions

Religion
Mostly Catholic. Very important part of most people’s lives. Particularly for lower class and less educated. Religious holidays will be respected at work.

Class
Mexican society is highly “classist” and elitist. The way you are seen by others and the position you hold in society will depend on the class to which you belong. People will treat you according to your class. Opportunities and education will depend on class. It is not impossible to climb to a higher class (e.g. winning the lottery) but still there will be several cultural issues that will make the climbing hard.

Ethnicity
Ethnic background greatly influences the way one is seen and treated. Belong to an acceptable ethnic group means one is treated with respect; lack of respect means suffering discrimination.
A person suffering ethnic discrimination would struggle twice as hard to be accepted as the one whose ethnicity is accepted.