The Report: Mexico 2019

In 2018 Mexico’s economy ranked second in Latin America and 15th in the world in terms of GDP, which totalled $1.22trn, according to the World Bank. In 2019 the newly elected President Andrés Manuel López Obrador has pushed ahead with efforts to meet his pledge to tackle corruption and implement austerity measures within the government, to reduce costs and curb excessive expenditures.

Following the economic crises of the 1980s and 1990s, Mexico implemented a series of liberalising structural reforms, enabling it to become one of the world’s most open, trade-orientated emerging economies. However, the slowdown of the US economy, to which Mexico’s fortunes are closely tied, and the rising uncertainty generated by global trade tensions has affected development. Analysts expect 2019 to be the fourth successive year of economic deceleration, with the IMF forecasting growth will fall to 1.6% in 2019 before accelerating to 2-3% in the medium term. 

The longer-term picture is bright, however. The authorities’ prioritisation of infrastructure projects and fiscal incentives means that trade and industry are likely to prove fruitful for domestic and foreign investors alike, helping to sustain higher economic growth rates and accelerated improvements in the living standards of Mexicans in the longer term.