Mexico in Facts and Figures

Last Updated: March 2013

• Geography and Demographics
• Economic Data and Economic Indicators
• Mexico's Sales Tax Rates
• Minimum Daily Wage in Mexico
• Economic Activities

Geographic and Demographic Data

Land Area:

1,972,000 square kilometers; 769,000 square miles.

Location:

Borders immediately south of the United States, in-between the USA and Central America. Mexico is classed as a member of Latin American nations, and is part of the North American Continent (not South America as often thought and sometimes quoted).

Population:

107 Million in 2008 (Source: INEGI, derived from 2005 census data)

Capital City:

Mexico City, with an estimated population and catchment area of over 20 million people.

Language:

Spanish is the official language, but around 50 different languages are also spoken by the indigenous peoples of Mexico, including Nahuatl, Zapotec, Otomi and (in the Yucatan region) various Maya languages.

Religion:

c. 90% Roman Catholic.

Government:

Federal Republic, democratically elected President, bicameral Congress. Also see Mexico Government Structure

President:

Felipe Calderon Hinojosa; Sworn in Dec. 1, 2006 for a non-renewable six-year term.

[Menu]

Economic Data and Indicators

Currency:

Mexican Peso (100 centavos = 1 Peso). For Exchange Rates and other useful information see Money in Mexico here on Mexperience.

GDP:

Mexico’s Gross Domestic Product in 2012 was about US$1.22 trillion. Growth was ~4% in real terms for 2012, and estimated to be 3.5% in 2013.

Exports of manufactured goods, oil, remittances to Mexico from Mexicans working abroad, and tourism are currently Mexico’s prime sources of foreign currency income.

GDP Annual Growth/Decline:

Mexico’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) grew 4% in 2012, and GDP growth rate predictions for 2013 are ~3.5%.

Inflation:

The official inflation rate ended 2012 at 3.6%, down from 3.8% in 2011, although the average rate was above 4% for the whole of 2012. Inflation is expected to be between 3% and 4% in 2013. The Bank of Mexico inflation target is 3%.

[Menu]

Mexico's Sales Tax Rates

Sales tax in Mexico is known as Value Added Tax (VAT), in Spanish IVA Impuesto al Valor Agregado. Mexico has two VAT rates: 11% in the border zones and 16% everywhere else.

The current rate of sales tax on all goods and services classed for the application of IVA is 16% unless the transaction takes place inside the 'border zone' in which case the lower rate of 11% will apply. Most items, including financial service charges and commissions (and also includes interest on unsecured debts) have the 16% VAT rate applied to them. Items exempt from the VAT are food and medicines.

[Menu]

Minimum Daily Wage

The official daily minimum wage in Mexico for 2013 rose by 3.9% (2012 increase was 4.2%). The minimum salary in "Geographical Zone A" is $64.76 Mexican pesos (US$4.98) per day. Zones A and B were merged in November 2012, and Zone A now accounts for most of the country.

The minimum salary in "Geographical Area A" is $62.33 pesos per day; "Geographical Area B" $60.57 pesos per day; and "Geographical Area C" $59.08 pesos per day. [currency converter].

Area A (Includes old Area 'B' Merged with A in 2012): The states of: Baja California, Baja California Sur, Mexico City; some municipalities of the states of: Mexico, Sonora, Tamaulipas Veracruz and Chihuahua. The states of: Jalisco, Nuevo León and some municipalities of the States of: Sonora, Tamaulipas and Veracruz.

New Area B: The states of: Aguascalientes, Guerrero, Quintana Roo, Nayarit, Oaxaca, Puebla, Querétaro, San Luis Potosí, Sinaloa, Tabasco, Tlaxcala, Yucatán, Zacatecas, Morelos, Michoacán, Hidalgo, Guanajuato, Durango, Chiapas, Coahuila, Campeche, and some munipalities of Veracruz, Nuevo León, Sonora, Tamaulipas, Jalisco, and Chihuahua.

[Menu]

Economic Activities

Oil and gas, tourism, mining, chemicals, iron and steel, motor vehicles, agriculture (coffee, sugar, tomatoes, avocados, tobacco) food and beverages, consumer durables.

Major Trading Partners:

USA, Canada, UK, China, Japan.

NAFTA

Mexico is a member of NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement).

Other Free Trade Agreements

Besides NAFTA, Mexico has FTA's with over 40 countries world-wide including The European Union and Japan.

[Menu]