La Jornada: Consumption grew 0.4 percent in May, BBVA estimates

During May, private consumption by Mexican households grew 0.4 percent, driven by greater spending in the services sector, such as spending in restaurants, as well as online purchases, BBVA México announced this Monday.

When presenting the BBVA Research Big Data Consumption Indicator, made from the transactions and operations that are recorded in the bank – the one with the greatest presence in the country –, the financial firm said that this is the first growth since October of last year.

The indicator was presented in the month that coincides with the celebrations of May 10 and on the eve of the start of the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

According to BBVA, spending on services grew 2.4 percent compared to April, with a positive performance in the segments associated with tourism, such as restaurants, where the increase was 1.7 percent, while in hotels it was 0.8 percent.

For its part, entertainment spending contracted 8.6 percent in the same comparison, which meant “the biggest drop since December.

“If the May data is considered, spending on services reports an average interannual variation of 6.8 percent so far in 2026, 18 percentage points below that observed in the same period of the previous year,” the bank said.

Regarding the consumption of goods, he added, spending on food grew 1.3 percent compared to the immediately previous month, while the acquisition of health care goods grew 1.8 percent.

Regarding spending by type of establishment, online purchases grew 1.1 percent, which represented its third positive variation so far this year, while in physical stores it increased 0.9 percent. Gasoline consumption rose 0.3 percent compared to the immediately previous month.

BBVA estimated that, going forward, there could be a temporary improvement in family spending associated with the World Cup “although the weakness of domestic demand will persist, given the low growth of the real wage bill and the environment of prolonged uncertainty. We believe that, as the industrial sector is reactivated and the dynamics of job creation improve, more dynamism in consumption will be observed,” it concluded.