The United States led the main sources of FDI to Mexico in 2023, with 38% of the total flows captured by this Latin American country.
Foreign Direct Investment flows to Mexico reached 36,058 million dollars, an increase of 2.3% at a year-on-year rate.
However, if extraordinary investments from the Televisa–Univision merger and the restructuring of Aeromexico are not considered, the result is 27% higher than in 2022.
Of the total of these productive capitals, the other outstanding sources were: Spain (3.8%), Canada (3.5%), Japan (2.9%), Germany (2.4%), Argentina (2.2%), United Kingdom (0.9%), Netherlands (0.9%), Belgium (0.8%) and South Korea (0.5%).
FDI refers to the investment made by a foreign entity or individual in productive assets, such as companies, factories or property, in a country other than that of its origin.
This investment involves significant control or active participation in the management of the enterprise receiving the investment.
FDI
The 1993 Foreign Investment Law, last updated in March 2017, governs foreign investment in Mexico, including which business sectors are open to foreign investors and to what extent.
This Law provides national treatment, eliminates performance requirements for most foreign investment projects and liberalizes the criteria for automatic approval of foreign investment.
Mexico is also a party to several Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) agreements covering foreign investment, in particular the Codes on the Liberalization of Capital Movements and the National Treatment Instrument.
The Mexican government dissolved the former trade and investment promotion agency ProMéxico in 2019, and Mexico’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (SRE) assumed most of its responsibilities with the establishment of the Directorate General of Global Investment (GDGI) in June 2021.
The GDGI launched three specific projects: the California Economic Council; an interactive database to attract FDI called «Atlas Prospectivo»; and the U.S.-Mexico Working Group for Transportation Electrification.