Mexico’s GDP up 2.4% during first quarter, preliminary figures show

3 May, 2018

Warning: foreach() argument must be of type array|object, bool given in /home/mexiconow/public_html/sites/mexiconow/wp-content/themes/mexiconowwpnew/single.php on line 253

Despite the uncertainty caused by the presidential election and the renegotiation of NAFTA, the Mexican economy expanded by 2.4% in the first quarter of the year, compared to the same period of 2017 and higher than the 1.5% growth seen in the fourth quarter of 2017, according to timely (preliminary) data from the National Institute of Statistic and Geography (Inegi).

By economic activity, the primary sector grew 5.1% and the tertiary sector advanced 3.1%, while the secondary sector did not show significant variation.

If compared with the fourth quarter of 2017, data released by state statistics office showed, the economy accelerated 1.1%, well above the range of 0.5 to 0.9% expected by the market.

In that sense, the services sector showed an increase of 1.2% compared to the previous quarter, its best growth since the first quarter of 2017.

Primary activities (agriculture, fishing, livestock and hunting) showed a slowdown, growing 0.8% compared to the previous quarter.

Secondary activities, which include the manufacturing industry, showed a quarterly increase of 0.7%, which broke the three consecutive quarters in negative ground.

The Government estimates that in all 2018, the GDP will grow in the range of 2.0-3.0%. The Inegi indicated that revised figures will be published on May 23, 2018.

MexicoNow

- Auto exports to Latin America hike 38% during first quarter

- Mexico’s industrial activity saw its best performance in 15 months during February