The Mexican government expects Mexico to continue to capture a larger market share in its exports of magnetic and optical equipment and medical devices to the United States by 2024.
For this forecast, the Ministry of Finance and Public Credit (SHCP) is based on the arrival of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) and the announcements of companies with the intention of locating in Mexican territory.
From January to November 2023, Mexican exports of optical and medical instruments and apparatuses amounted to 24.877 billion dollars, an inter-annual growth of 19.6%, according to data from the Bank of Mexico.
Among the products of this industry that Mexico sells most abroad are medical and veterinary devices, instruments for automatic regulation, orthopedic articles and devices, instruments for fluid control, and instruments and devices for physical and chemical analysis.
The Mexico Fund investment fund describes that the topic of nearshoring to Mexico has gained relevance; its geographic position and some strategic advantages present opportunities to gain market share from the reorganization of global trade, mainly from the United States.
Mexico’s GDP expanded 3.4% during the first three quarters of 2023 versus the same period in 2022, above expectations, driven by the external sector, resulting in strong manufacturing activity, while local consumption remains robust supported by record amounts of remittances and higher wages, with the minimum wage rising at an annual average of 19% since 2018.
Mexican exports
Additionally, SHCP expects economic activity in some states with high trade links to Mexico such as Texas, Illinois and Michigan to continue to grow, although possibly at a slower pace than in 2023.
For its part, its outlook is that industrial production will continue to contribute to the growth of Mexican import demand, particularly in those traditional sectors such as transportation equipment, electrical equipment, electronics and agricultural products where Mexico stands out as a major trading partner.
In the first 11 months of 2023, Mexican manufacturing exports grew at an annual rate of 4.3%, to 484.851 billion dollars.
Within this amount, 172.683 billion dollars corresponded to automotive exports (+14.4% year-on-year) and 312.168 billion dollars to non-automotive exports (-0.6%).