Mexico

Mexico: steady but modest growth, 1980–2025

The 1982 debt crisis and 1994-95 'Tequila Crisis' peso collapse were followed by NAFTA-driven (from 1994) integration with the US economy, which came to dominate Mexico's growth model. Between 1980 and 2025, Mexico's GDP per capita grew from $3,055 to $13,889 (current US$), a compound annual growth rate of 3.4% — steady but modest growth. Annual GDP growth averaged 2.2% with a year-to-year standard deviation of 3.6 points, reflecting relatively stable macroeconomic conditions. Structurally, agriculture's share of the economy moved from 6.3% to 3.9% of GDP (a classic decline as the economy industrialized/modernized), while services rose from 59.9% to 58.9% of GDP, a comparatively unusual pattern for this period. On human development, life expectancy rose from 64.3 to 75.3 years, while tertiary school enrollment moved from 20.5% to 48.2%, while the urban population share grew from 66.3% to 80.0%.

What this growth cost: Growth was not without cost: per-capita CO2 emissions rose from 3.58 to 3.64 tonnes CO2e per person; income inequality (Gini index) narrowed from 48.5 to 42.6; the poverty headcount ratio fell from 15.0% to 1.6%.