Mexico remains on track to have a record-breaking year for export revenue in 2024, despite stagnant earnings in September compared to last year.

Mexican exports were worth US $455.71 billion in the first nine months of the year, according to preliminary data published on Monday, a 3.2% increase compared to the same period of 2023.

Export revenue totaled just over $593 billion last year, a record high.

Between January and September of 2024, Mexico earned an average of $50.63 billion in export revenue per month, putting it on track to exceed an annual total of $600 billion for the first time ever.

Mexico’s expenditure on imports also increased in the first nine months of 2024, and at a slightly higher pace than the year-over-year growth in export revenue.

Mexico’s deficit with its trade partners around the word increased 11% in annual terms between January and September to reach just over $11 billion.

Manufacturing sector generated almost 90% of export revenue

INEGI data shows that manufacturing sector exports were worth $408.38 billion in the first nine months of 2024, a 4% increase compared to the same period of last year.

That figure represents 89.6% of Mexico’s total export earnings between January and September.

Mexico exports a wide range of manufactured goods, including vehicles, auto parts, machinery, televisions, computers, medical devices and clothes.

The federal government and others are aiming to further bolster Mexico’s manufacturing sector by attracting foreign companies to nearshore here.

The full sector-by-sector export data for the first nine months of the year is as follows:

• Automotive exports increased 3.7% to $144.1 billion (31.6% of total revenue).
• Non-auto sector manufacturing exports increased 4.2% to $264.73 billion (58% of total revenue).
• Oil exports declined 14.1% to $21.48 billion (4.7% of total).
• Agricultural exports increased 7.2% to $17.69 billion (3.9% of total).
• Mining exports increased 8.2% to $7.7 billion (1.7% of total).

A stagnant September  

Mexico’s exports were worth $49.62 billion in September, representing 0.0% growth compared to the same month of last year, INEGI reported.

On a month-over-month basis, export revenue fell just under 1%.

The El Economista newspaper partially attributed the lack of growth to stagnation in the manufacturing sector in the United States, which is easily Mexico’s largest export market.

Revenue from oil exports slumped 44.9% in September compared to the same month last year, while earnings from automotive sector exports declined 7.4% annually.

The decline in automotive exports coincided with a 0.5% contraction in secondary sector output in September, as reported by INEGI last week.

Despite the decline in earnings from auto exports, revenue from the manufacturing sector as a whole increased 2.6% compared to September 2023.

As detailed above, the value of oil sector exports fell 14.1% in the first nine months of the year, in part due to Mexico keeping more crude at home as it seeks to reach self-sufficiency for fuel. Lower oil prices in September were another factor in the sharp year-over-year decline in oil revenue last month.

The full sector-by-sector data for exports in September is as follows:

• Automotive exports declined 7.4% to $15.42 billion (31.1% of total revenue).
• Non-auto sector manufacturing exports increased 8.7% to $29.83 billion (60.1% of total revenue).
• Oil exports declined 44.9% to $1.88 billion (3.8% of total).
• Agricultural exports increased 12.5% to $1.51 billion (3% of total).
• Mining exports increased 26.4% to $966.8 million (1.9% of total).

Spending on imports increased 3.4% between January and September 

INEGI reported that Mexico spent $466.73 billion on imports in the first nine months of the year, a 3.4% annual increase. Almost 94% of expenditure was on non-oil products, while just over 6% was on oil goods, including gasoline.

The full breakdown is as follows:

• Imports of intermediate goods increased 2.7% to $352.87 billion (75.6% of total expenditure). Almost 94% of that expenditure was on non-oil intermediate goods.
• Imports of consumer goods increased 4.4% to $68.05 billion (14.6% of total). Almost 89% of that spending was on non-oil consumer goods.
• Imports of capital goods (factory machinery, for example) increased 7.2% to $45.79 billion (9.8% of total).

Mexico has a trade surplus with the US, but a global deficit 

The value of Mexico’s exports to the United States far exceeds the value of Mexico’s imports from the world’s largest economy.

However, Mexico recorded an overall trade deficit of $11.01 billion in the first nine months of the year, a 11% increase compared to the same period of 2023.

In September, Mexico’s spending on imports declined 1.8% to $50.2 billion, leaving it with a trade deficit of $578.9 million. That figure represents a 61.4% decline compared to Mexico’s deficit in September 2023.

With reports from El Economista