Economy
Economy overview: Mexico has a free market economy, which is a mixture of modern and outdated industrial and agricultural industries, the private sector is becoming increasingly important in the economy. The number of state-owned enterprises in Mexico fell from 1,000 in 1982 to less than 200 in 2000. The ZEDILLO administration privatized and expanded competition in shipping, air, rail, telecommunications, electricity, and the delivery of natural gas to consumers. A strong export sector helped cushion the 1995 recession and enabled the economy to recover quickly during 1996-2000. Private consumption has become the main driver of growth, complemented by growth in employment and wages. Mexico still needs to solve many structural problems, as it tries to modernize the economy and raise living standards. The distribution of income is very unequal, with 20% of the population accounting for 55% of income. Trade with the United States and Canada has tripled since the conclusion of the Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) in 1994. Mexico in 2000 prepared free trade agreements with the EU, Israel, El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala, and concluded additional trade agreements with Latin American countries and Asia to reduce the country’s dependence on the United States.
GDP: at purchasing power parity – $915 billion (2000 est.).
Real GDP growth rate: 7.1% (2000 est.).
GDP per capita: at purchasing power parity – $9,100 (2000 est.).
The composition of GDP by sectors of the economy: agriculture: 5%; industry: 27%; service sector: 68% (2000).
Proportion of population below the poverty line: 27% (1998 est.).
Percentage distribution of family income or consumption: 10% of the poorest families account for: 1.8%; 10% of the wealthiest families account for: 36.6% (1996).
Inflation rate at consumer prices: 9% (2000 est.).
Labor force: 39.8 million people (2000 est.).
Employment structure: agriculture 20%, industry 24%, services 56%
Unemployment rate: in cities 2.2% also a significant part of the population is employed part-time.
Budget: revenues: $125 billion; expenditures: $130 billion, including capital investment – NA (2000 est.).
Economic sectors: food and beverage, tobacco, chemicals, iron and steel, oil and petroleum products, mining, textiles, clothing, automobiles, consumer durables, tourism.
Growth in industrial production: 7.5% (2000 est.).
Electricity generation: 182.492 billion kWh (1999)
Sources of electricity generation: fossil fuels: 74.12%; hydropower: 17.75%; nuclear fuel: 5.21%; others: 2.92% (1999).
Electricity consumption: 170.754 billion kWh (1999)
Electricity export: 11 million kWh (1999).
Electricity import: 1.047 billion kWh (1999)
Agricultural products: corn, wheat, soybeans, rice, legumes, cotton, coffee, fruits, tomatoes; beef, poultry, dairy products; forest products.
Exports: $168 billion (free on board, 2000), including duty-free temporary importation (for assembly plants).
Exports: manufactured goods, oil and oil products, silver, coffee, cotton.
Export partners: USA 88.6%, Canada 2%, Spain 0.9%, Germany 0.9%, Japan 0.6%, UK 0.6%, Netherlands Antilles 0.5% Switzerland 0.3%, Venezuela 0, 3%, Chile 0.3% (2000 est.).
Imports: $176 billion (free on board, 2000), including duty-free temporary admission (for assembly plants operating in cooperation with US companies).
Import items: machine tools, rolled steel, agricultural machinery, electrical equipment, car assembly components, car parts, aircraft and components for them.
Import partners: USA 73.6%, Japan 3.7%, Germany 3.3%, Canada 2.3%, South Korea 2%, China 1.6%, Taiwan 1.2%, Italy 1%, Brazil 1% (2000 est.).
External debt: $162 billion (2000). Economic aid recipient: $1.166 billion (1995)
Economic aid donor:
Currency: Mexican peso.
Currency code: MXN.
Exchange rate: MXN/USD – 9.7701 (January 2001), 9.4556 (2000), 9.5604 (1999), 9.1360 (1998), 7.9185 (1997), 7.5994 (1996).
Fiscal year: calendar year.
Telecommunications
Telecommunications Telephone lines: 9.6 million (1998).
Mobile cell phones: 2.02 million (1998)
Phone system: low level of telephony, approximately 11 fixed telephones per 100 people; privatized in December 1990; in January 1997 opened to competition, resulting in development prospects; Domestic: Satisfactory telephone service for business and government agencies, but the population is significantly worse served; national satellite system with 120 ground stations; an extensive microwave radio relay network; fiber optic and coaxial cables, mobile cellular communications are widely used; international: satellite earth stations: 32 Intelsat, 2 Solidaridad (provide Mexico with better communications with South and Central America and most of the United States, as well as domestic communications), numerous Inmarsat mobile earth stations; attached to the Central American Microwave Trunking System;
Broadcast stations: AM – 865, FM – about 500, shortwave – 13 (1999).
Radio receivers: 31 million (1997)
Television broadcast stations: 236 (and repeaters) (1997).
Televisions: 25.6 million (1997)
Internet Country Code: mx
Internet Service Providers: 51 (2000).
Number of users: 2.5 million (2000).
Transport
Transport Railways: total: 31,048 km; standard gauge: 30,958 km (1.435 m gauge) (246 km electrified); narrow gauge: 90 km (0.914 m gauge) (1998 est.).
Roads: total: 323,977 km; paved: 96,221 km (including 6,335 km of expressways); unpaved: 227,756 km (1997 est.)
Waterways: 2,900 km of navigable rivers and coastal channels.
Pipelines: for crude oil – 28,200 km; for oil products -10,150 km; for natural gas – 13,254 km; for petrochemical products – 1,400 km.
Ports and harbors: Acapulco, Altamira, Veracruz, Guaymas, Coatzacoalcos, La Paz, Lazaro Cardenas, Manzanillo, Mazatlán, Progreso, Salina Cruz, Tampico, Topolobampo, Tuxpan, Ensenada.
Merchant navy: in total: 43 vessels (of 1,000 tons displacement or more) with a total displacement of 590,657 gross register tons / 920,456 long tons of gross tonnage; vessels of various types: bulk carriers – 2, cargo ships – 1, chemical tankers – 4, liquefied gas tankers – 3, oil tankers – 28, ferries for the transport of loaded vehicles – 2, coastal passenger ships – 3 (2000 est. ).
Airports: 1,848 (2000 est.).
Airports with paved runways: total: 238; over 3,047 m: 11; from 2438 to 3047 m: 28; from 1524 to 2437 m: 90; from 914 to 1523 m: 82; less than 914 m: 27 (2000 est.).
Airports with unpaved runways: total: 1,610; over 3,047 m: 1; from 2438 to 3047 m:1; from 1,524 to 2,437 m: 65; from 914 to 1523 m: 470; less than 914 m: 1,073 (2000 est.). Helipads: 2 (2000 est.).
Armed forces
Branches of the Armed Forces: Ministry of National Defense (includes Army and Air Force), Ministry of the Navy (includes Naval Aviation and Marine Corps). See militarynous.com to know more about Mexico Military.
Conscription age: 18 years; note: beginning in 2000 female volunteers will be recruited into the military.
Total Military Manpower: Male 15 to 49: 26,703,300 (2001 est.).
Eligible for military service: men aged 15 to 49: 19,394,184 (2001 est.).
Number of persons reaching military age each year: male: 1,077,536 (2001 est.).
Military spending in dollar terms: $4 billion (1999)
Military spending as part of GDP: 1% (1999).
International Issues
International issues International disputes: no.
Illicit drugs: illicit cultivation of opium poppy (cultivated in 2000 on 3,900 ha; potential heroin production 2.4 tons) and hemp (cultivated in 2000 on 3,900 ha); a government eradication program keeps illicit drug production low; an important supplier of heroin and marijuana to the US market; continues to play an important role as a transit point for cocaine from South America to the United States; two major crime syndicates control the drug trade throughout the country; main supplier of methamphetamines in the US; the production and sale of ecstasy is growing.
