La Jornada: Exports are on the rise for 5 months: Inegi

Mexico’s exports totaled 69,544 million dollars in May, which represents an advance of 25.4 percent compared to the same period in 2025, the National Institute of Statistics and Geography (Inegi) reported yesterday.

Thus, exports have added five consecutive periods of increase so far this year, although the most recent data observed lower growth compared to April.

The foreign trade balance registers a surplus of 2,259 million dollars, which was lower than that reported in the fourth month, which was 4,550 million dollars.

The trade surplus decreased from April to May due to a reduction in the non-oil product balance surplus.

In the first five months of 2026, the trade balance registers a surplus of 5,767 million dollars, an amount higher than the 918 million dollars reported in the same period of 2025.

“The trade balance confirms the solidity of the Mexican external sector, supported by non-oil and manufacturing exports. Although the monthly surplus moderated compared to April, the accumulated outlook for the year shows a significant structural improvement compared to 2025, driven by the dynamism of shipments to the United States and a growing diversification towards other markets,” Valmex analysts highlighted.

The value of exports grew 25.4 percent in the reference period due to the advance in the commercialization of non-oil and oil merchandise. The former totaled 67,121 million dollars, an amount that showed an increase at an annual rate of 25.6 percent, while the value of the latter was 2,423 million dollars, which represented an increase of 18.0 percent compared to May 2025.

In non-oil exports there were annual increases of 27.2 percent in those directed to the United States and 17.7 percent in those sold to the rest of the world. Both figures showed less dynamism compared to April, when they grew 34.5 and 26.7 percent respectively.

So far this year, performance has moderated on a monthly basis, particularly the data referring to the rest of the world.

The United States concentrated 83.9 percent of them and registered an advance of 23.5 percent in the accumulated January-May period, driven by non-automotive shipments.

The most notable increases in May were recorded in non-petroleum exports of machinery and special equipment for various industries with a growth of 98.1 percent, followed by mining and metallurgy products with an increase of 47.2 percent.

In contrast, automotive products had an annual decrease of 2.2 percent, due to a 3.5 percent reduction in sales to the United States and a 5.7 percent increase in exports to other markets.

In the reference month, the value of oil exports was 2,423 million dollars, an amount that was made up of 1,936 million dollars of crude oil sales and 488 million dollars of other oil products.

The value of merchandise imports was 67,285 million dollars, which represented an annual increase of 24.0 percent.

Those of consumer goods reached 8,305 million dollars, which represented an annual increase of 6.5 percent. Those of intermediate use goods totaled 54,314 million dollars, with an increase of 29.8 percent compared to May 2025.

Purchases of capital goods reached 4,667 million dollars, which implies an annual increase of 1.6 percent.

From January to May 2026, the accumulated value of total imports was 311,405 million dollars, which translated into an increase of 20.8 percent compared to the same period in 2025, according to the Inegi report.