Mexico‘s processed food exports broke records in 2022, growing 23.7% year-on-year and totaling 15.598 billion dollars, according to Inegi data.

Compared to a decade ago, 2012, these foreign sales grew 134%, from 6,677 million dollars.

Mexico is competitive in the food industry because it has a broad and diversified production base of agricultural raw materials, because of its domestic market of 130 million inhabitants and because of its export profile, which benefits from its proximity to the United States.

In 2022, food industry exports represented 4% of Mexico’s total foreign sales in the manufacturing sector.

Exports of these products to the United States reached 12.737 billion dollars last year. From January to May of this year, exports totaled 5.758 billion dollars. In both cases, these figures marked an all-time high.

Mexico is the second-largest source of U.S. imports of processed foods. Canada ranks first, with imports of 12.277 billion dollars in the first five months of this year.

From around the world, U.S. food industry imports totaled $43.334 billion from January through May 2023, up 1% from the same period a year earlier, according to Commerce Department figures.

Food exports

In the subsector, Mexican exports of fruits, vegetables, stews, and other prepared food preservation products to the United States rose by 3.2% in the first five months of 2023. The total reached 1.383 billion dollars.

Meanwhile, exports from the sugar, chocolate, candy, and similar products manufacturing industry amounted to 1.27 billion dollars. This represented an annual increase of 11.6%.

In contrast, foreign sales of slaughtering, packaging, and processing livestock, poultry, and other edible animals fell by 17.1% annually. These exports totaled 892 million dollars.

Another significant item was bakery and tortilla products. Exports in this category reached 841 million dollars, marking a 22% year-on-year increase.

Additionally, the following results were reported: grain and seed milling and obtaining oils and fats (425 million dollars, +16.5%), dairy product processing (129 million dollars, +28.7%), preparation and packaging of fish and seafood (42 million dollars, +9.1%), and animal food processing (35 million dollars, -3%).