Mexico’s agricultural and agro-industrial exports grew 4.5% year-on-year in the first half of 2024.
With this, the value amounted to 28,607 million dollars, according to Inegi data.
Among the products that comprise these foreign sales are beer, tomatoes, tequila, avocados, cucumbers, onions, strawberries, blueberries, nuts, citrus fruits, sugar and chocolate.
Mexico’s external agri-food sales
On the one hand, exports of agricultural and fishery products increased 6.6% in the first half of 2024, to 12.997 billion dollars.
In 2023, Mexico ranked ninth among the world’s largest exporters of agricultural products, with external sales of US$50 billion.
On the other hand, Mexican foreign sales of agro-industrial products were 15.610 billion dollars from January to June 2024, an increase of 2.8% over the same period in 2023.
This latter set of products is subdivided as follows, in millions of dollars:
- Food, beverages and tobacco: 15,404 (2.7% y-o-y).
- Chemical products: 198 (16.8 percent).
- Textile and leather products: 7 (-53.8 percent).
- Other manufacturing: 2 (13.8 percent).
Agricultural and Agro-industrial Exports
In 2023, the Mexican economy was the seventh largest food exporter in the world.
Mexico stands out for its production of fruits, vegetables, beverages and certain foods and has advantages such as its climate and soil types for cultivation, with different characteristics from those of the United States and Canada.
This allows Mexico to compete better with the rest of North American production, as in the case of avocados, or to provide complementary production, as in the case of sugar.
Production in North America
U.S. agriculture has factors that make it a global power in the production of grains, soybeans, meats, dairy products, prepared foods and nuts, among many others.
Meanwhile, Canada exports mostly grains, oilseeds and oilseeds, lentils, fish, cocoa, live animals and certain food preparations.
In general, North America excels in agricultural and agro-industrial exports and has a high degree of complementarity among its countries in this sector.