Hidalgo Leads Industrial Growth

Hidalgo has emerged as the state with the largest increase in industrial activity during the first half of the year, which was 18.1% higher than in the same period of 2025, according to data from the National Institute of Statistics and Geography (Inegi).

The state’s performance was driven “by both construction and manufacturing.” In February, these two sectors grew by 26.5% and 20.4% year-over-year, respectively, while in May, construction grew by 67.7% and manufacturing by 5.8%, “which shows a particularly strong surge in construction activity that month,” noted economic analyst Héctor Magaña.

Colima ranked second in growth at 7.1%; followed by Tamaulipas at 6.2%, Sinaloa at 5.4%, and Veracruz at 5.0%, with the construction sector serving as the main driver for these states; in April, construction grew by 21.2% in Colima and 24.9% in Sinaloa. Meanwhile, “Veracruz saw increases in its four major industrial sectors.”

Industrial activity across the states showed varying trends between January and May 2026, with 14 states posting year-over-year increases and 18 states experiencing declines. “Some states are finding momentum in construction and other sectors, while others are facing weakness in manufacturing. These results reflect differences in the drivers of economic growth in each state, within a national context of sluggish growth.”

In the first half of the year, “national industrial activity showed a cumulative change of 0.0% based on raw data; construction increased by 2.1% and mining by 3.8%, but manufacturing fell to 1.1%”; the strong performance of some sectors “barely offset the weakness of others; this context helps explain why high state-level growth rates can coexist with a national industry that is practically stagnant.”