Economy
Planning your move to Mexico may include planning to work in Mexico. Mexico has a large and relatively stable free market economy. Its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of over US$1.2 trillion was ranked fourteenth globally by the World Bank (2011) out of 192 countries measured. Mexico ranked twenty-seventh out of 142 countries on the Legatum Institute Economy Sub-Index (2013).
Mexico is the third largest trading partner of the United States and represents the second largest export market for U.S. products and services. Since the implementation of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) in 1994, Mexico’s share of U.S. imports has increased from 7 percent to 12 percent and its share of Canadian imports has doubled to 5 percent. Mexico also has free trade agreements with over 50 countries. More than 90 percent of global trade conducted by Mexico is under free trade agreements. The country imported over US$371 billion goods and services in 2012 and also exported the same amount.
The Mexican economy is increasingly dominated by the private sector and is driven by expanded competition in seaports, railroads, telecommunications, electricity generation, natural gas distribution and airports. Mexico is among the world’s top 25 countries in its proportion of manufactured goods exports that are high-tech.
Mexico’s GDP fell 6.2 percent in 2009 as world demand for exports dropped, asset prices tumbled and remittances and investment declined. The country rebounded in 2012 with exports to the U.S. and other countries increasing the rate of growth to 3.9 percent. GDP growth in 2013 is forecast to slow to 3.5 percent. Mexico’s unemployment rate is below 5 percent and the country’s inflation rate has moderated to 3.5 percent.
Although Mexico has a strong global economy, income distribution remains highly unequal. The country’s per capita income is roughly one-third that of the U.S. and nearly 50 percent of the country is classified as poor.