Overview of Mexico’s Manufacturing Sector
Mexico’s secondary activities, which include manufacturing, accounted for 34.3% of the nation’s production value in 2023, with significant growth in the Norte and Bajío corridors. Nuevo León played a crucial role, contributing 11.64% to the national manufacturing industry, equivalent to 627,266 million pesos, according to the 2024 National Economic Census by Mexico’s National Institute of Statistics and Geography (Inegi).
Manufacturing’s Growing Importance
Between 2018 and 2023, manufacturing activities increased their contribution to the Censal Added Value (VACB) by 6.4 percentage points, rising from 27.9% to 34.3%. The VACB measures the real wealth generated by businesses.
Graciela Márquez Colín, Inegi’s president, explained that this growth is linked to the expansion of the automotive industry in Mexico, with deeper integration into supply chains and the auto parts subsector.
Regional Manufacturing Leaders
In 2023, Coahuila moved from fourth to second place nationally with a 10.95% contribution, while Guanajuato jumped from fifth to third with 10.05%. Jalisco maintained its fifth position with 7.08%.
The State of Mexico dropped from first to fourth place with 9.80%, and the City of Mexico fell from third to fifth with 3.72%. These changes are attributed to various public, private, and gremial association programs that encourage productive and regional integration.
The Norte corridor (including Nuevo León, Coahuila, Chihuahua, and Baja California) along with the Bajío states (Guanajuato, Querétaro, and San Luis Potosí) account for 51.02% of Mexico’s manufacturing value.
Manufacturing Employment
In 2023, the manufacturing sector reported 634,248 establishments employing 7.2 million people. The Estado de México, Nuevo León, Guanajuato, and Chihuahua led in terms of employment with 9.6%, 9.1%, 7.7%, and 7.2% of the national total, respectively.
Gender Gap in Manufacturing
Despite the growth in the secondary sector, gender equality remained elusive. Women held 39.5% of the total national jobs, while men occupied 60.5%. Over five years, the gender gap only narrowed by 2.52 percentage points.
Nuevo León (32.9%), Estado de México (36.3%), Coahuila (37.1%), and Guanajuato (38.8%) had the highest female participation among states with significant value generation, while Oaxaca (54.1%) and Guerrero (51.9%) led in female participation but contributed less than 1% to the national value.
Chihuahua stands out as an exception, ranking sixth in manufacturing contribution (5.07%) and fifth in female participation (44.8%).
The textile industry has the highest female participation nationally, with 68.9% in other textile product manufacturing, 59.6% in clothing and apparel sewing and knitting, and 59.6% in yarn production.