Mexico’s record exports drive trade surplus

In October 2024, the value of Mexico’s merchandise exports reached a record and allowed it to obtain a surplus in the trade balance before the November elections in the United States, figures from the National Institute of Statistics and Geography (Inegi) revealed.

According to the timely information on Mexico’s merchandise trade balance released this Wednesday by Inegi, the value of exports amounted to 57,671.15 million dollars, an unprecedented figure since records were recorded in 1991. Sales abroad were made up of 55,288 million dollars of non-oil exports and 2,383 million dollars of oil exports.

Thus, total exports reported an annual growth of 11.2 percent, which resulted from a 13.5 percent increase in non-oil exports and a 24.2 percent reduction in oil exports. Of non-oil exports, those directed to the United States advanced 13.9 percent at an annual rate and those channeled to the rest of the world, 11.6 percent.

With original figures, it is worth highlighting the annual advance of manufacturing of 13.2 percent, to reach 52 thousand 495.4 million dollars at the end of October of this year, while automotive and non-automotive manufacturing increased 6.1 and 17.6 percent, respectively. Thus, cars and oil boosted sales abroad.

In the tenth month of 2024, with seasonally adjusted figures, total merchandise exports registered a monthly growth of 3.55 percent, which originated from increases of 2.84 percent in non-oil exports and 22.6 percent in oil exports.

For its part, the value of merchandise imports was 57.3 billion dollars, an amount that implied an annual increase of 9.7 percent, and a record level, according to data from Inegi.

The above was a reflection of the combination of a 12 percent increase in non-oil imports and a 18.3 percent drop in oil imports. When considering imports by type of good, there were increases of 3.1 percent in imports of consumer goods, 11.6 percent in those of intermediate use goods and 5.8 percent in those of capital goods.

With seasonally adjusted data, total imports showed an increase of 2.56 percent, product of the combination of an advance of 2.74 percent in non-oil imports and a decline of 0.24 percent in oil imports. By type of good, there were monthly increases of 3.71 percent in imports of intermediate use goods and 1.1 percent in capital goods. Imports of consumer goods decreased 2.37 percent.

Thus, Mexico’s foreign trade presented a trade surplus of 371 million dollars during October, a balance that is compared to the deficit of 369 million dollars in the same month of 2023.

In the first 10 months of 2024, the trade balance presented a deficit of 10,646 million dollars. In the same period of 2023, the deficit was 10,295 million dollars.