173 municipalities concentrate half of the population in poverty: Coneval

In Mexico, 173 municipalities (of a total of 2,466) concentrate half of the population in poverty, in accordance with the National Council for Evaluation of Social Development Policy (Coneval).

Of those 173 demarcations, 117 belong to some metropolitan area, according to the most recent available data (of 2020), which show that less and fewer municipalities are in that condition, since in 2015 there were 185 and 199 in 2010.

The Coneval reported that the municipalities with the highest number of poor women are León, Guanajuato, with 411 thousand 170; Ecatepec, State of Mexico, where 405 thousand 816 inhabit; Iztapalapa, in Mexico City, which has 401 thousand 283, and Puebla, Puebla, with 345 thousand 360.

It emphasizes that 70.1 percent of indigenous language speakers live in economic disadvantage and 77.5 percent of them lack social security. Coneval’s data show that in nine out of 10 indigenous municipalities, more than 60 percent of the population lived in poverty in 2020.

Between 2015 and 2020, the highest poverty population increases were observed in 339 municipalities, among which Tulum, Quintana Roo; FORTIL, SONORA; Santa María Coyotepec, Oaxaca; Mazatecochco, Tlaxcala; Huixquilucan, State of Mexico, and Akil, Yucatán, with increases greater than 20 percentage points. On the other hand, the greatest decreases were given in 947 municipalities, among which Rosario and Huejotitán in Chihuahua, San Antonio Acu-Tla in Oaxaca and Cerralvo in Nuevo León, with decreases greater than 37 percentage points. Of the 947, 258 correspond to Oaxaca.

The mayorships with the poorest They are located in metropolitan areas and with high population density. In this list, the State of Mexico was the entity with the largest number of municipalitiesConeval said in an analysis.

The 15 municipalities with the highest percentage of poverty are in Oaxaca (8), Chiapas (6) and Guerrero (one) and share some characteristics, such as all are located in high and mountain areas of the south of the country. In addition, its population ranges between 312 and 47 thousand 837 inhabitants, and in 14 of those municipalities indigenous people live mainly dedicated to the activities of the primary sector.

The five municipalities that have remained in the group of entities with the highest percentage of poverty in the 2010-2020 decade were Aldama, Chanal, Chalchihuitán and San Juan Cancuc in Chiapas, as well as San Simón Zahuatlán in Oaxaca. They are indigenous locations with more than 98 percent of their population at economic disadvantage. On the other hand, of the 15 municipalities with the least percentage of precariousness, 11 belong to Nuevo León.