Mexico, first place in Latin America for the proportion of revenue allocated to debt: UN

Among the main economies of Latin America and the Caribbean, Mexico is the one that allocates the largest proportion of its tax revenues only to interest on public debt, compared the United Nations (UN). According to its most recent report on the World Economic Situation, in the first half of the decade the region saw an increase in the interest burden on public debt as a proportion of what it receives via contributions.

By the end of 2025, the interest burden was close to 18 percent on the average for Latin America and the Caribbean, almost five percentage points above what was reported in 2020, the year in which the economic crisis occurred as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. In the case of Mexico, it went from being below 19 percent to close to 25, according to the document published by the UN.

Among the large economies of Latin America, compared by the organization, Mexico is the one that has seen its fiscal framework cut the most due to the payment of the financial cost of the debt. Above are Brazil, Argentina, Colombia and Chile.

According to the data so far released by the Ministry of Finance and Public Credit, as of November the country spent one billion 71 thousand 671.5 pesos only on interest, commissions and other expenses related to the public debt, an amount that is equivalent to 21.8 percent of what it collected through tax collection during the same period.

The burden of the financial cost of debt has been growing year after year. Until November 2025, it reported a cumulative increase of 11.2 percent, greater than the 4.3 percent registered in the first eleven months of 2024.

According to Treasury data, interest payments on external debt increased by 9.2 percent, but above all on internal debt, by 11.9 percent, due to the effects of the increase in the Bank of Mexico’s reference rate and the commitment to seek more financing in the peso market.

The agency shows that until the eleventh month of 2025, the financial cost of the debt that skyrocketed the most was that of organizations and companies – including Petróleos Mexicanos and the Federal Electricity Commission –, with a rebound of 73.6 percent, while that of the federal government advanced 3.3 percent.