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The Economics of Mexico

A library on how business and money work in Mexico.

Twelve books by J Rutan Flores for the people who have to make a decision about Mexico. The first six are written, each in English and in Spanish, and the Spanish edition of each is a book of its own, written for the Mexican reader. The first six also come in Chinese, translated for the reader in mainland China as 《出海墨西哥》. The Economics of Mexico is where the series begins.

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Also in Spanish · 中文版

  • 6books written
  • 3languages: English, Spanish and Chinese
  • 32states, each with its own room
Cover of The Economics of Mexico, Book 1 of The Economics of Mexico, by J Rutan FloresThe Economics of MexicoCover of Selling It in Mexico, Book 2 of The Economics of Mexico, by J Rutan FloresSelling It in MexicoCover of Making It in Mexico, Book 3 of The Economics of Mexico, by J Rutan FloresMaking It in MexicoCover of Exporting from Mexico, Book 4 of The Economics of Mexico, by J Rutan FloresExporting from MexicoCover of Investing in Mexico, Book 5 of The Economics of Mexico, by J Rutan FloresInvesting in MexicoCover of Where to Go in Mexico, Book 6 of The Economics of Mexico, by J Rutan FloresWhere to Go in Mexico
Before you decide

The four questions every buyer asks first

Straight answers, each figure dated and sourced, each pointing to the chapter that goes deeper.

Mexico by state

Thirty-two economies. Open any one.

Every state has its own room on rutanamex.com: its people, output, exports and work, each figure with its date. Tap a state on the map.

Interactive maptap or click a state to open its page

Aguascalientes, The Bajío and Center-North: 1.3% of national outputBaja California, The Pacific Border: 3.9% of national outputBaja California Sur, The Pacific Border: 0.8% of national outputCampeche, The Peninsula: 1.6% of national outputChiapas, The Deep South: 1.6% of national outputChihuahua, The Texas-Facing North: 3.8% of national outputCoahuila, The Texas-Facing North: 3.7% of national outputColima, The West: 0.6% of national outputDurango, The Bajío and Center-North: 1.4% of national outputGuanajuato, The Bajío and Center-North: 4.5% of national outputGuerrero, The Deep South: 1.3% of national outputHidalgo, The Center: 1.8% of national outputJalisco, The West: 7.6% of national outputMexico City, The Center: 15.0% of national outputMichoacán, The West: 2.8% of national outputMorelos, The Center: 1.1% of national outputNayarit, The West: 0.7% of national outputNuevo León, The Texas-Facing North: 8.1% of national outputOaxaca, The Deep South: 1.9% of national outputPuebla, The Center: 3.5% of national outputQuerétaro, The Bajío and Center-North: 2.4% of national outputQuintana Roo, The Peninsula: 1.5% of national outputSan Luis Potosí, The Bajío and Center-North: 2.3% of national outputSinaloa, The West: 2.1% of national outputSonora, The Pacific Border: 3.3% of national outputState of Mexico, The Center: 9.1% of national outputTabasco, The Gulf and the Isthmus: 2.1% of national outputTamaulipas, The Texas-Facing North: 3.0% of national outputTlaxcala, The Center: 0.6% of national outputVeracruz, The Gulf and the Isthmus: 4.3% of national outputYucatán, The Peninsula: 1.6% of national outputZacatecas, The Bajío and Center-North: 1.0% of national outputMexico City 15.0%
The Texas-Facing North4The Pacific Border3The Bajío and Center-North6The Center6The West5The Gulf and the Isthmus2The Peninsula3The Deep South3

The ten largest state economies, 2024

Share of Mexico’s output, percent

The ten largest state economies, 2024Mexico City15.0%State of Mexico9.1%Nuevo León8.1%Jalisco7.6%Guanajuato4.5%Veracruz4.3%Baja California3.9%Chihuahua3.8%Coahuila3.7%Puebla3.5%

Mexico City (15.0%) and State of Mexico (9.1%) together produce 24.1% of the national output.

Source: INEGI, Producto Interno Bruto por Entidad Federativa 2024, current prices, published 5 December 2025; shares our arithmetic.

The ten largest exporting states, 2025

Exports, USD billions

The ten largest exporting states, 2025Chihuahua$109.6 bnCoahuila$67.5 bnNuevo León$58.7 bnBaja California$56.5 bnJalisco$52.7 bnTamaulipas$36.8 bnGuanajuato$33.3 bnSonora$28.6 bnSan Luis Potosí$24.9 bnState of Mexico$21.8 bn

The top three, Chihuahua, Coahuila and Nuevo León, all sit on the border with the USA.

Source: INEGI, Exportaciones por Entidad Federativa, the four quarterly releases of 2025 summed (published 30 June 2025 to 31 March 2026), preliminary. All states together: USD 599.6 bn.

All 32 states on rutanamex.com

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Where to buy the first six

Prices are in U.S. dollars; tax and shipping are shown at checkout. Lulu prints and ships the press's direct orders.

BookPaperbackHardcoverEbook
The Economics of MexicoUS$44.99 Lulu · AmazonUS$59.99 Lulu · AmazonUS$34.99 Amazon · Barnes & Noble
Selling It in MexicoUS$49.99 Lulu · AmazonUS$64.99 LuluUS$39.99 Amazon · Barnes & Noble
Making It in MexicoUS$49.99 Lulu · AmazonUS$64.99 Lulu · AmazonUS$39.99 Amazon · Barnes & Noble
Exporting from MexicoUS$49.99 Lulu · AmazonUS$64.99 LuluUS$39.99 Amazon · Barnes & Noble
Investing in MexicoUS$49.99 LuluUS$64.99 LuluUS$39.99 Barnes & Noble
Where to Go in MexicoUS$49.99 LuluUS$64.99 LuluUS$39.99 Barnes & Noble
At a glance

Mexico in nine charts

Charts from the books, each with its date and source. Tap one to see it in full; every figure is on the companion figures page.

Mexico, 2025: the shape of a young country: chart from COS101D (Chapter 2 demographics).
Mexico, 2025: the shape of a young countryFigure 2.3, Selling It in MexicoSource: INEGI, Encuesta Intercensal 2025 (published September 22, 2026), population in private dwellings by five-year group and sex; each group spread over single years using the UN World Population Prospects 2024 age pattern for Mexico. Age not stated (18,589 people) left out.
The Americas: Mexico and its two partners: chart from COS101D (Chapter 2 demographics).
The Americas: Mexico and its two partnersFigure 2.4, Selling It in MexicoSources: Mexico, INEGI, Encuesta Intercensal 2025 (five-year groups spread over single years as in Figure 2.3; median age as published by INEGI). United States and Canada, UN World Population Prospects 2024, medium variant, July 1, 2025 (median age as published by the UN).
Seventeen countries from youngest to oldest: chart from COS101D (Chapter 2 demographics).
Seventeen countries from youngest to oldestFigure 2.7, Selling It in MexicoSource: UN World Population Prospects 2024, medium variant, July 1, 2025 (median age as published by the UN; 65+ ratio calculated from its single-year data).
The window: when Mexico grows as old as the United States is today: chart from COS101D (Chapter 2 demographics).
The window: when Mexico grows as old as the United States is todayFigure 2.8, Selling It in MexicoSource: UN World Population Prospects 2024, medium-variant projections; ratio calculated from the UN's single-year data.
Where Mexico's young people live: chart from COS101D (Chapter 2 demographics).
Where Mexico's young people liveFigure 2.10, Selling It in MexicoSource: INEGI, Encuesta Intercensal 2025, tabulado Población 4 (median age, population in private dwellings). National median: 31.9. Outlines: Natural Earth (public domain).
Points chart of Mexico's population in millions: INEGI counts of 126.0 in 2020 and 130.9 in 2025; CONAPO's projection of 132.3 in 2024, 133.4 in 2025, 138.0 in 2030, 144.5 in 2040, a peak of about 147 in 2053 and 141.4 in 2070; a line at 2034 marks the year people aged 60 and over equal those aged 0
Mexico's population to 2070Figure 3.3, The Economics of MexicoSources: INEGI, 2020 census (January 25, 2021) and Encuesta Intercensal 2025 (September 22, 2026); CONAPO, Proyecciones de la Población de México 2020-2070, as presented by CESNIDS to the SNIEG, December 7, 2023, and as relayed by the press for 2025, 2030 and 2040.
Line chart. Full years from 2017 to 2025: Mexico from about 557 billion dollars in 2017 to 797.3 billion dollars in 2023 and 872.8 in 2025, Canada 715.5 and China 414.6 in 2025; Mexico marked as first partner from 2023. January to August: Mexico 559.8 in 2024 and 682.8 in 2026; Canada 509.0 in 2024
The United States trades most with MexicoFigure 6.1, The Economics of MexicoSources: USA Census Bureau, trade in goods by country (2023, 2025 and January to August 2026, as of October 2026; January to August 2024); Congressional Research Service, August 13, 2026.
Horizontal bars of regional shares of GDP in 2024: center 38.3 percent, north 25.2, center-north 19.8, south 16.6. Arrows: economic activity fell in all four regions in the first quarter of 2026 and rose in all four in the second; manufacturing rose in the north, center-north and south in the second
Banxico's four regions, 2024 and 2026Figure 13.4, The Economics of MexicoSource: Banco de México, Reporte sobre las Economías Regionales, June 16, 2026 (shares and first quarter) and September 10, 2026 (second quarter).
Bar chart of output per person in 2024 for the 32 entities, from Campeche at 461,400 pesos and Mexico City at 450,300 down to Guerrero at 84,600 and Chiapas at 67,200, against a national 192,800.
Output per person by state, 2024, in thousands of constant 2018 pesos, all 32 entities ranked, with the national figure marked.Figure 1.1, Where to Go in MexicoSource: Comité Estatal de Información Estadística y Geográfica de Chiapas, calculation from INEGI preliminary state GDP for 2024 (base 2018, published December 5, 2025) and CONAPO population projections; Chapter 1 of this book.

Every figure from the six books →

Why this series

Written for the person who has to decide.

Evidence from the field

The author has lived and worked in Mexico since 1999. Each book starts from what actually happens at the border, at the buyer's desk, on the shop floor and on the shelf.

Data behind each claim

Every figure carries a date and a source, because Mexico's rules and numbers moved a great deal in 2025 and 2026.

Two languages, two books

Each Spanish edition rebuilds the meaning sentence by sentence, paragraph by paragraph and chapter by chapter for the Mexican reader.

Which book first?

Six decisions, six books.

Your decisionStart with
Understand Mexico's economy firstThe Economics of Mexico
Sell a product in MexicoSelling It in Mexico
Make or assemble in MexicoMaking It in Mexico
Buy from Mexico, or sell from Mexico to the worldExporting from Mexico
Put capital to work in MexicoInvesting in Mexico
Decide where in Mexico to goWhere to Go in Mexico

The whole series, including the second shelf

USA-Mexico trade in goods and services, 2025

Billions of U.S. dollars

The USA sells to MexicoUS$390.4 BThe USA buys from MexicoUS$580.6 B
Source: U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, U.S. International Transactions factsheet, 2025. Together about US$971 billion (derived). More dated data: rutanamex.com.

Data and counsel on Mexico's economy

Dated data, the changes that matter to sellers, the trade-show calendar and help with the rest live at Rutanamex.

Visit rutanamex.com