Tuesday, September 16, 2025

Poverty levels moved up 3 points to 40.7% last year

Poverty levels increased 3.4% to over 40% of the population in 2020, according to data published by the national social development agency Coneval.

In the final quarter of last year, the monthly income of 40.7% of the working age population was insufficient to purchase a canasta básica, a basic food basket consisting of a selection of foodstuffs including beans, rice, eggs, sugar and canned tuna. The monthly cost of the canasta is about 1,700 pesos (US $84) in urban areas and 1,200 pesos in rural parts of the country.

In the final quarter of 2019, 37.3% of the population was considered poor, and the figure dropped to 35.7% in the first quarter of 2020. However, the coronavirus pandemic caused many people to lose their jobs or see their incomes reduced, and poverty levels increased as a result, reaching a record 44.5% in the third quarter of last year before falling almost four points in the final quarter.

A 6.1% annual increase in the cost of the canasta básica in urban areas and a 7.6% spike in rural areas, as well as overall inflation of 3.5%, also contributed to poverty levels going up in 2020.

Poverty levels increased in 24 of Mexico’s 32 states with the biggest rises recorded in Quintana Roo (+14.7%), where many tourism sector workers lost their jobs last year, Tabasco (+10.4%), Mexico City (+10.4%) and Baja California Sur (+9.1%).

Poverty levels
Poverty levels in the fourth quarter of last year are shown in gray and those for 2019 in red. oem

The eight states where poverty decreased were Chiapas, Guerrero, Oaxaca, Morelos, Zacatecas, Michoacán, Querétaro and Nayarit.

With 64.3% of people unable to afford the canasta básica, Chiapas had the highest poverty level at the end of last year followed by Guerrero (58.6%) and Oaxaca (56.6%).

Nuevo León had the lowest poverty rate (24%) followed by Jalisco (25.1%) and Baja California (25.3%).

Source: Milenio (sp) 

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