Mexico is now the seventh largest food exporter in the world, with sales abroad — most of which go to the United States — exceeding US $50 billion in 2023. 

The value of Mexico’s food exports grew by 4.2% last year, allowing the country to leap-frog Argentina and India — both of whom suffered from drought and fell out of the top 10. 

Between 2022 and 2023, Mexico climbed from ninth place to seventh.

Juan Cortina Gallardo, president of Mexico’s National Fish and Agriculture Council, said that the country’s fish and agriculture sector produces Mexico’s third highest revenues, behind only tourism and foreign direct investment but ahead of the petroleum industry.

“We are now the No. 3 producer of food in Latin America and No. 11 in agricultural production in the world,” Cortina said at Mexico’s 2nd Congress on Health and Agri-Food Safety last week.

At the same event, Agriculture Secretary Víctor Villalobos Arámbula said that Mexico’s agri-food production increased from 285 million tonnes in 2017 to 298 million tonnes last year. 

“We will certainly surpass 300 million tonnes of production this year,” he said.

Villalobos added that Mexico’s agri-food trade numbers have risen from US $63 billion to US $96 billion in that same time frame. 

“Our country has become a production and export power in healthy and reliable foodstuffs,” he said.

Villalobos credited the work done by Senasica, the government agency that protects agricultural, aquacultural and livestock resources from pests and diseases, and its collaboration with producers and experts. 

“Mexico is now free of roughly 1,000 of the more than 1,200 pests and diseases, placing us among the top eight countries in the world with regard to zoosanitary standards,” he said.

What does Mexico export?

Mexico’s top agri-food export is beer, with suds sales surpassing US $5.8 billion in 2023.

Beer is followed by tequila and other alcoholic spirits (US $4.3 billion), breads (US $2.6 billion), water, soft drinks and other nonalcoholic beverages except for juices (US $1.1 billion)

Mexico also annually exports fruits and nuts, to the tune of US $820 million, as well as fruit juices (US $590 million) and prepared foods (US $540 million).

With reports from El Economista and La Prensa