There aren't a lot of trees in Nezahualcóyotl, but thanks to nonprofits like SUGi, there are more than there used to be. (SUGi)
A year ago, a network of reforestation workers embarked on a challenging mission to plant a pocket forest in Nezahualcóyotl, an area located on the periphery of Mexico City.
Andrea Guzmán, the urban planner behind the project, realized during her studies that most city layouts were driven by architectural design rather than by the biology of the environment. When she heard about SUGi, a nonprofit that has fostered the creation of over 263 pocket forests across 62 cities, she decided to propose the creation of an urban forest in Neza. “The truth is, everything happened very quickly. They already had a funder. And within months, we were planning the project,” she said of the process.
Planting Trees in ‘Neza York’
Located on the periphery of Mexico City, Nezahualcóyotl is an area badly in need of more green spaces. (Mexico News Daily)
Nezahualcóyotl, also known as “Neza York,” is a densely populated urban settlement located on the former bed of the saline Lake Texcoco. It suffers from the urban heat island effect, in which concrete and asphalt absorb and re-emit the sun’s energy, creating “islands” of intense temperatures, often between 1–7 degrees Fahrenheit higher than surrounding areas. Marginalized communities are especially at risk. Due to environmental injustice, these communities often receive little to no investment in green space, which offers relief through shade and heat absorption. In Nezahualcóyotl, residents have access to just a fraction of the green area considered adequate, far below the roughly 100 square feet per person recommended by the World Health Organization.
But soil conditions in Neza are also part of the problem. “Because of the high level of soil salinity, we first needed to validate that planting an urban forest would work,” said Diego, co-founder of the Chilean reforestation company Simbiótica, who was hired for the project.
Reforesting with the Miyawaki method
Funded by Steve Madden, under the direction of Andrea and Symbiotika’s team, consisting of Diego, Gabriel and Nicolás, and with the help of over 300 volunteers, the bare soil near the university campus of the Universidad Tecnológica de Nezahualcóyot was transformed into a living ecosystem. The technique used is inspired by the Japanese Miyawaki method, a “high-intensity” reforestation process mimicking forest structures in urban environments. The soil is decompacted, reoxygenated and revived with large amounts of compost. Between three and five different trees and shrubs are planted within roughly 10 square feet. The dense planting encourages vertical growth and an irrigation system supports the plants during their first three years. From the third year onward, the best management becomes no management, as the forest becomes autonomous and self-sustaining.
One year after the painting, the urban forest in Neza thrives, with a plant survival of more than 90% and some trees having reached over 10 feet. The circular green space with multi-layered vegetation holds over 25 native plants that tolerate soil salinity. The project in Neza is considered a success, proving that an urban forest, if designed purposefully, can even grow in saline soil.
What trees bring to Mexico City
“In cities, the marginal value of every new tree is higher than in landscapes that are already heavily vegetated because they provide more ecosystem services,” says Amelia Harvey, an urban planner and data analyst who created a dataset analyzing tree density, marginalization and surface temperatures in Mexico City and the peripheral area to identify the areas most in need of vegetation, such as Nezahualcóyotl and Ecatepec.
Urban forests can reduce noise pollution and capture harmful air particles. They attract biodiversity, enhance soil health, store carbon and allow water to infiltrate, helping to prevent flooding. Surface temperatures within the pocket forest can be significantly lower than in the surrounding area.
Planting urban forests has several positive effects, from reducing noise pollution to lowering the depression and anxiety levels of city residents. (SUGi)
Another benefit of green spaces in cities is their contribution to residents’ mental health. A growing body of research shows that people with little or no access to green space tend to have higher levels of depression and anxiety.
“An urban forest is a healthy place that can inspire and surprise you. A place where you can spot insects you have never seen before, different colors … where suddenly a purple flower grows. We need to be part of a world that still holds magic,” explains Andrea about the forest’s impact.
“When everything is so controlled, when you know in how many minutes the Uber will arrive or when your coffee will be ready, nothing surprises you anymore. But the natural world can still surprise us every day.”
Micro-ecosystems, ‘urban acupuncture’ and biodiversity corridors
From a global perspective, the carbon capture of urban forests may be limited, but at the local level, green spaces are a powerful solution. Climate change must be addressed in two ways: through large-scale reforestation and through the creation of biodiversity corridors and vegetation within cities.
“You cannot care for something you don’t know,” says Andrea when we talk about climate change. The urban forest becomes a teacher and reference point for city residents, who are often disconnected from the natural environment.
To help cities counter the negative effects of urbanization and climate change, she suggests “urban acupuncture,” a strategy in which small green spaces are distributed across the city to help it recover and heal. The introduction of biodiversity corridors is also crucial to help reconnect the fragmented wildlife habitats that are a consequence of urbanization. The next urban forest is planned for Iztapalapa.
Nezahualcóyotl’s green spaces relative to those in neighboring Mexico City. (SUGi)
But installing urban forests is not the only goal.
“We also want to change the perception of green areas,” says Gabriel, co-founder of Simbiótica. A green space with a lawn and a few trees does not hold the ecosystem that existed before urbanization. Andrea is working on projects that will reintroduce bountiful vegetation into existing parks and lawns in Miguel Hidalgo and Cuauhtémoc. She is convinced these micro-ecosystems work. “The response we’ve received from people has been incredible. There’s been an impressive sense of ownership over these forests, a level of participation that exceeds our expectations. People are eager; once you place it in their neighborhood, they want it and take care of it.”
Katy Alivraz is a contributor to Mexico News Daily.
"La Oficina," the Mexican version of the hit U.K. and U.S. shows "The Office," is good ... almost surprisingly so. (IMDb)
I was very skeptical when Amazon Prime announced “La Oficina,” the remake of the classic comedy “The Office,” which began in the U.K. and went on to become an even bigger hit in the U.S. version starring Steve Carell.
As the name suggests, “The Office” — which has remakes in at least a dozen countries, including Australia, Germany and France — follows the day-to-day life of an office, its employees and their boss in a satirical documentary-style format known as mockumentary.
La Oficina | Tráiler Oficial | Prime Video
As a fan of the U.S. version myself, I cringed the first time I saw an ad for “La Oficina” in my Amazon Prime account.
“Why are they doing this? We don’t need a Mexican version of ‘The Office,'” I thought, considering the intent to be a profanation of the hugely successful show.
Still, I decided to give it a try.
The format works in Mexico, too
So, with the uncomfortable feeling of not knowing what to expect and fully anticipating turning the TV off within the first five minutes, I pushed my prejudices aside and watched the show.
To my surprise — and to the surprise of many Mexicans — the show was a joy to watch.
“‘La Oficina’ (México) is really well done!” said a user on social media.
Even specialized media like El Saber del Todo called the show “a pleasant surprise to anyone who had no faith in the project.”
In fact, the show was so well received by Mexicans that a few weeks after it was released, Amazon Prime announced it would be renewed for a second season.
Upon learning the news, I felt thrilled about what any of the employees of “La Oficina” would’ve felt if “corporate” had decided to give them an unexpected bonus.
Why did ‘La Oficina’ work so well?
When I discovered that the production behind “La Oficina” was Gaz Alazraki, it all made sense. He is the creator of two of Mexico’s most successful productions in modern times: the film “Nosotros los Nobles” and Netflix’s first Spanish language show, “Club de Cuervos.”
In an interview withSopitas, Alazraki said that what they had created with “La Oficina” was something Mexicans had never seen before. And he was right, because I can’t recall any show that depicted office reality in such a precise and humorous way.
Gaz Alazraki is as successful at capturing office dynamics in “La Oficina” as he was with soccer in “Club de Cuervos.” (IMDb)
Throughout the whole first season, I found myself nodding and almost clapping at scenes that felt strangely familiar, as if they were taken from real-life events from my days in a Mexican office environment (yes,I was a godín once).
One of the things that the show depicts really well is the reality of Mexico’s business scene.
With “The Office” franchise, the lead character is always an incompetent boss who somehow manages to successfuly run his office, despite his personal shortcomings. For “La Oficina,” however, the boss — Jerónimo, nicknamed Jero — is the grandson of the founder of Jabones Olimpo, a fictional company that sells soap. In a country where most companies are family-run businesses, this couldn’t have been better thought out.
Having the son of the owner as the boss means that no matter how hard the employees try, they’ll never succeed him. It also means that no matter how bad he messes up — or how inappropriate he may be — he’ll never be let go, which gives “La Oficina” a unique plot that accurately, and uncomfortably, represents how many offices in Mexico work.
An uncomfortable familiarity
Another thing the show did really well was choosing Aguascalientes as the setting. The original two series also take place in slightly off-kilter locations, with the fictional Wernham Hogg offices in Slough (a town so legendarily ugly that the UK’s national poet, John Betjeman, called for it to be bombed) and the U.S. version being set in Scranton, Pennsylvania. These quiet corners of the country help establish the characters that inhabit them further and it’s no different for the cast of “La Oficina,” who feel like ordinary Mexicans, not characters in a Netflix drama.
The characters will seem very familiar to those who have actually worked in a Mexican office. (IMDb)
Even the intro scene depicts ordinary streets and public bus rides that reflect how most Mexicans commute to work. In that sense, Aguascalientes accurately conveys the story’s premise: an ordinary city with ordinary people working at ordinary companies. And this feeling of “familiarity” wouldn’t have been possible without the show’s characters.
Alazraki and his team created each of the characters so masterfully that any one of them could fit perfectly into a real office. Because if you’ve ever worked in a Mexican office, you’ve surely had a colleague who does her entire make-up sitting at her desk, or you’ve seen the corporate lawyer in brightly colored shirts with white collars and the paranoid colleague spraying the entire office with disinfectant.
You’ve probably also seen Pope John Paul II’s blessing framed and displayed in a glass case (what Mexican family or company doesn’t have this image on display?) as well as the gigantic portrait of the company’s founder at the backdrop of the boss’s office.
Because if you’ve worked in a Mexican office, I’m sure the show would make you feel — even during the most bizarre moments — that this could be, in fact, your office.
Gabriela Solis is a Mexican lawyer turned full-time writer. She was born and raised in Guadalajara and covers business, culture, lifestyle and travel for Mexico News Daily. You can follow her lifestyle blog Dunas y Palmeras.
The Chevrolet Aveo will be assembled starting next year in Mexico, where it is already GM's top selling car, with over 60,000 sold in 2025. (Chevrolet)
General Motors will launch operations to assemble the Chevrolet Groove and Aveo in Mexico, as the Detroit automaker moves toward shifting more of its production supply chain to the Mexican market.
GM previously produced the cars in China to export to other markets.
The Groove, like the Aveo, was assembled in China until now. (Chevrolet)
The change is part of GM’s US $1 billion investment in Mexico, which the firm announced in January, underscoring the automaker’s long-term commitment to the country where its market share is over 12%.
President Sheinbaum made the announcement on Tuesday at an event in Toluca, México state, alongside GM Mexico CEO Francisco Garza Rodríguez, where she said that following the imposition of U.S. tariffs on the automotive industry, she held talks with global automotive executives.
“The first thing I told them was: we want you to stay in Mexico. Don’t think about leaving!” Sheinbaum said.
Economy Minister Marcelo Ebrard said the announcement was the result of months of direct negotiations between the president and GM’s global CEO, Mary Barra.
Starting next year, GM will be assembling vehicles at its Ramos Arizpe plant in Coahuila, which began operations 45 years ago and employs around 5,000 workers. The firm expects to produce around 80,000 vehicles a year by 2030.
The Aveo is one of the top sellers in the Mexican market and is GM’s top-selling car in Mexico, with over 60,000 sold in 2025.
“This announcement is concrete proof that Plan México is working and that collaboration between the government and the private sector is fundamental to strengthening employment, national productive capacity and sustainable industrial development,” Garza Rodríguez said.
GM’s investment is expected to strengthen Mexico’s automotive industry and create more skilled jobs. The move implies greater certainty in the Mexican market following GM’s decision to lay off 1,900 workers from Ramos Arizpe earlier this year, citing weak U.S. demand.
GM is responsible for approximately 200,000 direct and indirect jobs in Mexico.
The GM announcement “confirms confidence in Mexico,” the Business Coordinating Council stated on social media. “This decision represents more investment, more jobs, and greater confidence in the country’s productive capacity, in line with the objectives of the Plan México.”
The carne asada grilling tradition is (along with seafood) Sonora's claim to culinary fame. But to enjoy it at National Geographic's "Best of the World" level, you need to accompany it with the agave-based spirit bacanora. (Guinness World Records)
Sonora, Mexico’s second-largest state and home to spectacular desert landscapes, has entered National Geographic’s Best of the World list of gastronomical destinations, joining such culinary meccas as Vietnam’s Central Highlands, Lucknow in India and Southern Tasmania’s Aboriginal region as one of the 15 best places in the world to eat.
The border state is known for seafood and its central role in northern Mexico’s carne asada grilling tradition, but neither of those two beloved foods can claim credit for Sonora’s newfound recognition. Neither can any other chewable food.
The bacanora tradition in Sonora goes back centuries, when Pre-Columbian Indigenous people consumed a molasses-like prototype. Today’s version is more like mezcal in terms of texture, but unique in its own way. (Mitanel)
That honor goes to a lesser-known agave-based spirit called bacanora, a smokier beverage stronger than tequila and tightly tied to Sonora’s identity, stretching back as it does “to the Indigenous Ópata, who sipped the [then-] molasses-like concoction, made from roasted agave hearts.”
Bacanora is distinguished from other mezcales by the type of agave used in its production. Known as Pacific agave, bacanora’s star ingredient mostly grows in the arid highlands of Sonora, where it has been consumed at ceremonies since pre-Columbian times.
With the arrival of Jesuit missionaries in the 17th century, the distillation process was perfected enough to produce a clear spirit with a smooth flavor, featuring notes “of candied agave and an earthy minerality from the arid foothills,” as National Geographic puts it.
By the 18th century, bacanora was ubiquitous at weddings, baptisms, and quinceañeras before it was forbidden in 1915 by Governor (later President) Plutarco Elías Calles, who linked the spirit to moral decay. But sonorenses didn’t stop producing it, and families would distill the beverage in 50-gallon drums and plastered vessels buried in the undergrowth in remote mountainous areas.
“Bootlegging became both an act of cultural preservation and a silent political rebellion,” the magazine said.
The Museo Estatal del Bacanora in the town of Bacanora showcases copper stills, archival photographs and contraband bottles that tell the story of the producers who kept the distilling tradition alive during prohibition.
The spirit is still mainly produced artisanally, but with the growing international demand for Mexican spirits like mezcal and tequila, bacanora is experiencing a revival. Commercialization is sure to set in, which is why National Geographic urges a visit to the Bacanora region of Sonora as soon as possible.
Union representatives are demanding better pay, shorter shifts and access to necessary training. (Galo Cañas/Cuartoscuro)
Just over three weeks before the FIFA men’s World Cup kicks off in Mexico City, Mexican air traffic controllers are threatening to go on strike over inadequate pay and “exhausting shifts,” among other concerns.
In a statement issued on Tuesday, the National Syndicate of Air Traffic Controllers (Sinacta) said that its representatives would go to the Federal Tribunal for Conciliation and Arbitration in Mexico City on Wednesday to file a formal strike notice (emplazamiento a huelga).
In doing so, the union — which represents employees of the state-controlled Navigation Services for Mexican Airspace (Seneam) — will increase its pressure on the federal government to meet its demands. It specifically wants to enter into dialogue with federal officials with the aim of securing better pay and conditions for its members, who work at airports across Mexico.
If air traffic controllers were to go on strike in the coming weeks, the operation of airports in Mexico could be severely disrupted, if not halted altogether, at a time when demand for flights to and from Mexico will be higher than normal due to the World Cup.
In its statement, Sinacta said that its members have maintained their “commitment to the safety and efficiency” of Mexico’s airspace with “irreproachable professionalism.”
However, the union asserted that federal authorities, including the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Infrastructure, Communications and Transport — of which Seneam is part — have responded to air traffic controllers’ “dedication with silence and indifference.”
Sinacta outlined five central complaints. It said that:
More than 19 air traffic controllers are working without the formal employment “appointment” to which they are legally entitled.
Air traffic controllers’ wages have lost 30% of their purchasing power (over an unspecified period of time.)
Air traffic controllers face “more barriers” to performing their job.
Air traffic controllers are required to work “exhausting shifts.”
Sinacta said that its decision to file a strike notice wasn’t taken lightly. However, it said that the notice is a “legal and legitimate recourse to demand that the state guarantee the minimum salary and working conditions required to practice our profession.”
“To every colleague who is today covering their shift in the control towers and centers. You are not alone,” Sinacta said.
“This [strike] notice is a tool to force the opening of a table for decisive and real dialogue,” the union said, adding that it wants commitments in writing from the federal government.
“We know the enormous responsibility we carry on our shoulders every time we sit in position. It’s time for that responsibility to be remunerated and respected as it should be,” said Sinacta, which received support for its position from the Association of Airline Pilots of Mexico.
Mexico’s airports are more chaotic than usual due to World Cup-related construction. A strike would be an additional pain for the routine traveler and a nightmare for the fútbol fan who needs to make it to a match. (Camila Ayala Benabib/Cuartoscuro)
The union issued its statement after holding its National Congress meeting on Tuesday. At that meeting, Sinacta members demonstrated their support for strike action by chanting “huelga, huelga, huelga!” (strike, strike, strike!).
José Alfredo Covarrubias, the secretary general of Sinacta, said that federal authorities — rather than air traffic controllers — posed a threat to the normal operation of airports during the World Cup, a 39-day tournament during which teams, officials and a large number of football fans will be flying into and out of Mexico, precipitating the need for additional flights.
“We lack personnel, there are equipment failures, there are communication failures,” he said on Tuesday.
“The most concerning thing is that due to a lack of personnel, the controllers have to work more hours. And, in addition, the payment for this extra work time is irregular — they take months to pay,” he said.
The newspaper La Jornada reported that air traffic controllers said at Tuesday’s meeting that they have remained on the job for as long as 30 hours.
Ulises Orozco Velázquez, a retired air traffic controller, said that the air traffic control system in Mexico is facing a critical situation that places operational safety at risk.
“While the United States is in the process of incorporating 2,400 [additional air traffic] controllers, in Mexico it’s projected that only between 50 and 60 [new] positions [will be added] in the coming years,” he said.
The governor's European itinerary includes Sweden, home of the manufacturer Scania, a participant in the Nuevo León economy. (Samuel García / Facebook)
Samuel García kicked off his 27th business trip as governor of Nuevo León by boarding Aeroméxico’s new direct flight to Paris from the state capital of Monterrey.
García will be touring several European countries to promote investment in his state, a task he has pursued energetically since he assumed office in December of 2021. Just last month, García completed a work trip through Asiawhich included meetings with Panasonic, Mitsubishi, Nissan and Yazaki in Japan.
Once airborne, Gov. García left behind him a swirl of news reports about an investigation of him by the Federal Attorney General’s Office for alleged fund diversion.
His frequent flying seems to have paid off, as Nuevo León holds the top spot among Mexican states in FINSA’s Industrial Development Index.
In a press release, García’s state government said that he plans to highlight Nuevo León’s role as host for several World Cup games as a means of promoting its value as a destination for investment and tourism.
“I’m very pleased because, in addition to [drawing] nearly US $3 billion in Swedish, Dutch, French, and Spanish investments, we have new direct flights,” García said in a video posted on his official social media channels on Monday. “And heading into the World Cup, we’ll be inviting the national teams and fan bases of Sweden and the Netherlands.”
García’s World Cup-themed agenda will include a meeting in Stockholm with the governing body of Sweden’s national team, and with the Dutch Football Association in Amsterdam (KNBV) to explore joint promotional and outreach initiatives.
In the Netherlands, García will meet with executives from Heineken, one of the world’s largest breweries, for which Nuevo León is a major market.
He will also travel to Madrid, Spain’s capital, where he will seek to strengthen collaboration with companies for energy development in Nuevo León.
In the final leg of the trip, García will meet with executives from Vinci Airports in Paris, France. Vinci Airports is the main shareholder of OMA, which operates 13 airports across Mexico.
Sector activity had declined year over year in January, February and March, according to INEGI. (Unsplash)
Manufacturing sector activity in Mexico increased 1.3% in April compared to the same month of 2025, according to preliminary data published by the national statistics agency INEGI on Wednesday.
INEGI said that in April, the Timely Monthly Indicator of Manufacturing Activity had a value of 107.9 points.
“This level corresponds to an estimated annual variation of 1.3%,” the agency said.
The preliminary data indicates that activity in Mexico’s manufacturing sector — an export powerhouse — increased last month even as some high-value Mexican-manufactured products, such as vehicles and steel, continued to face tariffs when shipped to the United States.
The publication of the data comes after INEGI reported last week that Mexico’s manufacturing output increased 1.1% annually in March.
Similarly, Mexico’s export revenue — the majority of which is derived from the shipment abroad of manufactured goods — has risen despite increased protectionism from the United States, Mexico’s largest trade partner.
In March 2026 — our first focus month — the MND Economy Index™ scored 63.39 — above the neutral midpoint of 50, but with room for improvement. (Mexico News Daily)
THE MND ECONOMY INDEX™
Providing broad insight into the Mexican economy
MND Intelligence · Inaugural edition
Welcome to the MND Economy Index™, the latest addition to the MND Intelligence™ suite of data products from Mexico News Daily.
If you follow Mexico’s economy, you have almost certainly encountered two very different narratives. One holds that Mexico is in the midst of a historic opportunity: a nearshoring boom that could transform the country into a global manufacturing powerhouse as companies shift supply chains away from Asia. The other holds that Mexico is squandering that opportunity, held back by poor economic policy, legal frameworks, insecurity and creaking infrastructure.
Many of our readers have seen both versions of Mexico with their own eyes. You may have visited a resort city humming with tourism activity, or driven through a gleaming industrial corridor in Monterrey or Querétaro — and wondered how that squares with a country that also has some of the deepest inequality in Latin America, a country where a vast informal economy sits alongside pockets of extraordinary wealth.
The MND Economy Index™ aims to provide a realistic, data-backed and broad measure of the Mexican economy that takes both the good and the bad into account.
In our first focus month of March 2026, the MND Economy Index™ scored 63.39 — above the neutral midpoint of 50, but with room for improvement. Read on to learn about the index’s methodology, rationale and findings.
What is the MND Economy Index™?
How is Mexico’s economy really doing? It’s a deceptively simple question — and one that economic growth data alone rarely answers well. GDP for any given period tells you whether an economy is growing or shrinking, but it tells you nothing about inflation, currency stability, investor confidence or the many other forces that determine the overall health of the economy.
The MND Economy Index™ was built to go further. It is a 10-pillar, 19-indicator composite index that compiles a broad range of economic data into a single score between 0 and 100 — giving Mexico News Daily readers a clear, accessible picture of how the Mexican economy is performing across multiple dimensions.
(Mexico News Daily)
Why did we develop the MND Economy Index™?
Mexico’s economy has become increasingly difficult to read. GDP growth has been weak for some time — yet the country continues to attract record levels of foreign direct investment, and export revenue has been growing by double digits.
It is precisely that dichotomy that motivated Mexico News Daily to develop the MND Economy Index™. The index was designed to assess the Mexican economy across a broad array of areas, and to track how that performance evolves month by month.
How does the MND Economy Index™ work?
The index is built on 10 equally weighted pillars, each scored between 0 and 100 and contributing 10% to the final score. The pillars draw on 19 data points in total, sourced from Mexico’s National Institute of Statistics and Geography (INEGI), the Bank of Mexico (Banxico), the Mexican Social Security Institute (IMSS) and international financial markets.
The scoring logic falls into two types. The first are “be close to a target” pillars — where the optimal outcome is hitting a specific benchmark, and deviation in either direction is penalized. Inflation is an example: a reading of exactly 3.0% — the Bank of Mexico’s target — scores a perfect 100. Each percentage point above or below that target costs 20 points.
The second are “more growth is better” pillars — where a neutral baseline anchors to 50, and performance above or below that baseline moves the score up or down proportionally. The Economic Growth pillar is an example: growth of 2.0% scores 50 (neutral). Every additional percentage point adds 20 points; every point below subtracts 20.
It is worth noting that building an index of this kind requires judgment calls. For example, MND set the neutral benchmark for economic growth at 2.0% year-over-year growth — a modest but meaningful threshold for a developing economy — while the productivity growth neutral benchmark was fixed at 1.0%, reflecting Mexico’s historically low productivity gains. In each pillar, scores are capped at 100 and floored at 0. Given that there are 19 data points across 10 pillars, no single data point can dominate the index.
Here is a short guide to what the overall index score means.
85–100: Exceptional — the economy performing at a high level across nearly all indicators.
75–84: Strong — broad-based performance with only minor areas of concern.
60–74: Above neutral — meaningful strengths, but with notable room for improvement.
50–59: Mixed — passing marks overall, more indicators above benchmark than below.
Below 50: Broad underperformance — more indicators below benchmark than above.
Five snapshots of an evolving Mexican economy
The MND Economy Index™ launches today with five months of back data — March, September and December 2025, and February and March 2026. The data paints a picture of an economy that is neither in crisis nor firing on all cylinders.
(Mexico News Daily)
The index scores ranged from a low of 56.99 in March 2025 to a high of 71.06 in December 2025, before settling in the low 60s in early 2026. In every month, the score has remained above 50 — the index’s neutral midpoint — suggesting that despite well-documented headwinds, Mexico’s economy has continued to perform above its baseline across the majority of indicators.
Economic Growth was the index’s weakest pillar during most of the reference period. In four of the five months assessed, Mexico’s monthly GDP proxy, the IGAE (Global Indicator of Economic Activity), was either contracting or barely positive — with only December 2025 bucking the trend at +2.4%.
The bright spots are consistent across all five months. Inflation remained relatively close to the Bank of Mexico’s 3% target in most months, although it edged up toward 5% in March 2026. Scores for the Monetary Policy pillar have improved steadily as the Bank of Mexico cut its overnight rate from 9.0% in March 2025 to 6.75% a year later, bringing the rate closer to the central bank’s neutral range.
Increases in export revenue — most of which is derived from the shipment abroad of manufactured goods — were a consistent bright spot, with the export component of the manufacturing health pillar hitting the scoring ceiling in December 2025 and March 2026. That growth was supported in late 2025 and early 2026 by a recovery in domestic manufacturing output.
Productivity, as measured by the IGPLE (Global Indicator of Labor Productivity in the Economy), was below the 1.0% benchmark in four of the five months of the reference period — a reflection of an entrenched structural challenge.
The MND Economy Index™ in March 2026
As noted above, the MND Economy Index™ score for March 2026 was 63.39, a slight decrease compared to the previous month. Below you will see the score for each of the ten pillars that make up the index, expressed out of 10 to reflect each pillar’s exact contribution to the final composite score.
Pillars are color-coded using a traffic light system: green (a score of 7.5 or above) indicates strong performance; yellow (5.0–7.4) signals above-neutral performance but with room for improvement; and red (below 5.0) flags a pillar that is falling short of its benchmark. Where a pillar score has improved compared to the previous month, an upward arrow appears alongside its corresponding traffic light; a downward arrow indicates deterioration; and a pause symbol denotes no change.
(Mexico News Daily)
A short description of the performance of each pillar during March 2026 accompanies each score.
🟢 ⬇️ MONETARY POLICY (9.2):
The Bank of Mexico’s rate-cutting cycle continued in March, with the overnight rate lowered to 6.75% — just above the top end of the bank’s estimated neutral range. The real interest rate, at 2.16%, also sat close to its 2.7% neutral midpoint, even as it decreased slightly due to an uptick in inflation in March. With both the nominal and real rates near their respective neutral benchmarks, Monetary Policy remained the index’s top-performing pillar in March 2026.
🟢 ⬇️ INFLATION (8.2):
Inflation increased to 4.59% in March from 4.02% in February, causing a decline in the score for the current inflation component of the pillar. However, the 12-month forward inflation forecast — which points to a rate just above the Bank of Mexico’s 3.0% target — kept the overall pillar score strong.
🟢 ⬆️ MANUFACTURING SECTOR HEALTH (7.8):
A perfect score on the exports component due to a 27.7% annual increase in goods exports — almost double February’s increase — pushed the Manufacturing Sector Health pillar into green territory in March. The overall score was held back, however, by a more modest performance on the domestic production side. Manufacturing output grew 1.1% year-on-year, up from 0.9% in February. While the rate cleared the neutral benchmark of 0%, it fell well short of the growth needed to replicate the exports component’s perfect score.
🟡 ⬇️ INVESTMENT CLIMATE (7.5):
The top contributor to the pillar in March was the S&P/BMV FIBRAS Total Return Index, which tracks the performance of Mexico’s listed real estate investment trusts. The index grew 27.9% year-on-year, a slight softening from February’s 32.7%. Foreign direct investment, measured on a rolling 12-month basis, held steady at 10.8% year-on-year growth, unchanged from February pending the release of FDI data for the first quarter of 2026.
🟡 ⬇️ SOVEREIGN RISK (6.7):
Mexico’s sovereign credit ratings remained unchanged in March, with Moody’s and S&P both holding a BBB rating and Fitch maintaining BBB−, all with stable outlooks. The pillar’s month-on-month decline was driven entirely by a widening in Mexico’s 5-year credit default swap spread, which rose from 88.53 basis points in February to 110.29 basis points in March — reflecting a rise in the market-implied cost of insuring against a Mexican sovereign default. In May,S&P revised its outlook on Mexico’s sovereign rating from stable to negative, a development that will weigh on this pillar in future editions.
🟡 ⬇️ CURRENCY STABILITY (6.2):
This pillar penalizes significant deviation from a 19.00 USD:MXN exchange rate baseline in either direction, recognizing that a peso that has strengthened too far from this benchmark — which is based on the 2025 average rate — can erode export competitiveness and reduce the purchasing power of remittances, just as a weakening peso raises import costs. The spot rate component of the pillar performed reasonably well, as the peso depreciated from 17.23 at the end of February to 17.93 at the end of March, moving closer to — albeit still well below — the 19.00 baseline. A bigger drag came from the volatility of the peso, with the standard deviation of daily exchange rate movements nearly doubling from 0.44% in February to 0.94% in March.
🟡 ⬇️ LABOR AND EMPLOYMENT (5.9):
The pillar score declined slightly compared to February due to a marginal reduction in annual wage growth and a slight increase in the rate of informality. Nominal wages rose 7.1% year-on-year in March — down fractionally from 7.2% in February, but still well above the 3.5% benchmark. Formal employment grew 1.2% year-on-year, unchanged from February. Those two components scored fairly well, but the overall pillar was held back by the informality component, where the share of workers in the informal economy grew by 0.5 percentage points year-on-year — a deterioration from February’s 0.3 percentage point increase. Almost 55% of all Mexican workers worked in the informal economy in March.
🟡 ⬇️ EXTERNAL INCOME (5.1):
The two components of this pillar moved in opposite directions in March, leaving the overall score just above neutral. Remittances grew 4.9% year-on-year — a significant improvement from February’s 0.4% — providing a solid contribution to the pillar. Tourism revenue, however, contracted 4.4% year-on-year, reversing February’s modest positive reading and dragging the pillar down.
🔴 ⏸️ PRODUCTIVITY (4.8):
The Productivity pillar was unchanged from February, as the IGPLE — INEGI’s quarterly productivity measure — held at 0.9% year-on-year growth, a fraction below the 1.0% neutral benchmark. The pause symbol reflects the quarterly release cycle of the IGPLE. As was the case in February, data for the final quarter of 2025 was used to assess this pillar in March. While the pillar score sits in red territory, the gap between Mexico’s productivity growth and its benchmark remains narrow.
🔴 ⬆️ ECONOMIC GROWTH (2.0):
The economic growth pillar remained a drag on the MND Economy Index™ score in March. Year-over-year growth improved to 0.5% — up from a contraction of 0.3% in February — but the modest expansion remained well below the 2.0% neutral benchmark required to score 5.0 out of 10. While a score of 2 out of 10 is low, it is markedly better than the 0.4 out of 10 result recorded in February, when the economy 0.3% compared to the same month of 2025.
The Mexico Peace Index 2026 report states that "early indications suggest that Mexico’s evolving security strategy may be contributing to recent gains," a statement the president seized on to celebrate her political movement's results. (Gabriel Monroy/Presidencia)
Sheinbaum’s mañanera in 60 seconds
🕊️ Mexico Peace Index boost: A new report by the Institute for Economics & Peace found peacefulness in Mexico improved 5.1% in 2025, driven by a 22.7% drop in homicides. Sheinbaum credited her government’s security strategy, though the report cautioned that violence remains elevated relative to historical levels.
🇲🇽 AMLO gets credit too: Sheinbaum said the Peace Index confirms that Mexico’s long deterioration in peacefulness reversed after former President López Obrador took office in 2018. “[After] all the previous years of deterioration of peace in Mexico, peace began to be built from the arrival of President López Obrador,” she said.
🇺🇸 Trump isn’t the problem — his advisors are: Sheinbaum said she doesn’t believe Trump himself is pushing for U.S. intervention against Mexican cartels. Rather, presidential advisors are driving that pressure ahead of November’s U.S. midterms, she claimed.
Why today’s mañanera matters
At her Wednesday morning press conference, President Claudia Sheinbaum seized on a new report that states that “peacefulness” in Mexico improved markedly in 2025. The finding gave the president the opportunity to tout her government’s security strategy and the results it has achieved over the past 18 months. Sheinbaum focused on aspects of the report that serve her government’s narrative — i.e., that the security situation in Mexico has improved considerably in recent times.
Today’s mañanera was also significant as Sheinbaum revealed that she doesn’t believe that U.S. President Donald Trump is behind a push for the United States to take more forceful action against Mexican cartels, six of which were designated as foreign terrorist organizations by the U.S. government last year. Rather, a small number of presidential advisors are the proponents of such action, she said.
Mexico Peace Index shows peacefulness improved 5.1% in 2025
Sheinbaum highlighted that the recently released Mexico Peace Index 2026 report states that peacefulness in Mexico improved 5.1% in 2025.
(IEP)
She noted that the report states that the improvement in peacefulness in Mexico last year was the most significant in at least a decade.
Prepared annually by the Institute for Economics & Peace, a think tank based in Sydney, Australia, the report says that “the national improvement in peacefulness” in 2025 “was driven by a sharp reduction in homicides.”
“The homicide rate fell by 22.7 percent in 2025, representing nearly 7,000 fewer deaths compared to the previous year, the largest single-year decline on record,” the report states.
However, it also says that “despite this improvement, violence remains elevated relative to historical levels.”
“Mexico’s peace score is still worse than it was a decade ago, and long-term increases in firearms crime, organized crime, and gender-based violence continue to shape the country’s security landscape,” the report states.
The Mexico Peace Index is based on the Global Peace Index and includes 12 sub-indicators grouped into five major indicators: homicide; firearms crime; violent crime; organized crime; and fear of violence.
Sheinbaum: Construction of peace began when AMLO became president
Later in her press conference, Sheinbaum said that the Mexico Peace Index report acknowledges that the trend of deteriorating peacefulness in Mexico changed after former President Andrés Manuel López Obrador took office in late 2018.
“[After] all the previous years of deterioration of peace in Mexico, peace began to be built from the arrival of President López Obrador,” she said.
AMLO shows a chart of official homicide statistics at one of his mañaneras in 2023. (Rogelio Morales/Cuartoscuro)
AMLO, as the former president is commonly known, implemented a so-called “hugs, not bullets” security strategy that prioritized addressing the root causes of crime over combating criminal groups with head-on force. While López Obrador’s six-year term was the most violent on record in Mexico in terms of homicides, murders did decline after reaching record highs early in AMLO’s presidency.
Sheinbaum highlighted that in her first full year in office, peacefulness in Mexico — as measured by the Mexico Peace Index — improved more than ever before.
“What does that mean? That there are results,” she said.
The Mexico Peace Index 2026 report states that “early indications suggest that Mexico’s evolving security strategy may be contributing to recent gains [in peacefulness].”
“Since taking office in October 2024, the administration of Claudia Sheinbaum and its security leadership have placed a renewed emphasis on intelligence-led policing, institutional coordination, and targeted enforcement,” it says.
“There has also been a marked increase in arrests and detentions, reflected in a sharp rise in the incarcerated population during 2025. While these developments appear to have supported short-term reductions in high-impact crimes, their long-term effectiveness will depend on judicial capacity, due process, and broader institutional strengthening,” the report states.
Sheinbaum: Trump doesn’t want to intervene in Mexico
Rather, “some people” who advise Trump are pushing for U.S. action in Mexico, she opined.
Given that midterm elections will take place in the United States in November, “they want to put Mexico in their elections,” Sheinbaum said.
“[It’s] a very electoral view of a few people [in Trump’s circle],” she said.
“No,” Sheinbaum continued, rejecting any attempt to use Mexico as a political issue in the U.S.
Sharpening her tone, the president added: “Mexico isn’t anyone’s piñata, and they’re not going to intervene in … [Mexico’s] elections in 2027 either. Mexicans decide here. That’s why I say today that the essence of what we’re living through today is the defense of sovereignty.”
By Mexico News Daily chief staff writer Peter Davies (peter.davies@mexiconewsdaily.com)
Greenpeace and other advocates are hailing the decision as a victory for public pressure and a model for tougher coastal protection. (Elizabeth Ruiz/Cuartoscuro)
Mexico’s Environment Ministry has killed Royal Caribbean’s Perfect Day Mexico megaproject in Mahahual, Quintana Roo, ending a plan that environmental groups said would have scarred mangroves, reefs and the region’s fragile aquifer.
Greenpeace and other advocates are hailing the decision as a victory for public pressure and a model for tougher coastal protection.
The cancellation late Tuesday came one day after President Claudia Sheinbaum ordered a fresh environmental review of the private cruise-ship playground on Mexico’s Caribbean coast.
Mahahual, home to fewer than 3,000 people, is known for its clear, warm waters and its proximity to the Mesoamerican Reef, the largest reef in the Western Hemisphere. Turtles nest along the coast, which gives way to dense mangrove forests and tropical jungle that are home to jaguars.
There had been months of backlash over the project, which Royal Caribbean touted as including more than 30 waterslides, the world’s longest “lazy river,” and roughly 12 eateries and 24 bars — including the Tipsy Sombrero Bar, a standalone structure topped by the “world’s largest sombrero.”
Opposition was coming from many angles, including fans of K‑pop group BTS and singer Taylor Swift launching social media campaigns and Change.org petitions, including one that drew more than 4.8 million signatures.
“It is very sad to see that the fate of a community that has been forgotten for so many years is being decided on social media thousands of kilometers away when the people attacking the project don’t even know it,” said Ari Adler Brotman, president of Royal Caribbean Mexico. “Many of them, I think, couldn’t even point to Majahual on a map.”
Critics said the property would have spread across about 90 hectares of jungle and mangrove, with deep foundations, heavy construction and even more strain on an ecosystem already under pressure. Hundreds of cruise ships, including Royal Caribbean Icon-class ships that can carry 7,600 passengers, annually berth at one of Mahahual’s three piers.
Royal Caribbean said Perfect Day Mexico would be able to receive as many 20,000 to 21,000 cruise visitors a day.
Alicia Bárcena, head of the Environment Ministry (Semarnat), said Tuesday the project “will not be approved,” adding that the company was also moving to withdraw it.
Semarnat had previously said the project remained under environmental review and did not have authorization for development, construction or operation, even as Royal Caribbean marched forward with plans and on-the-ground work.
Greenpeace said the outcome should be written into formal rejection of the environmental impact statement and argued that Mahahual’s mangroves, reef system and local community all stood to benefit.
The group also urged the federal government and Yucatán Peninsula states to protect the Maya jungle and its aquifer.
Royal Caribbean, which operates a similar property in the Bahamas called Perfect Day at CocoCay, said it regretted the decision but respected Mexico’s environmental authorities.
The company said it still believes in investing in Mexico and wants talks in coming weeks about jobs, environmental infrastructure and community programs.
