Mexico held agency as one of the vital enticing nations for overseas buyers final yr, at the same time as world overseas direct funding (FDI) declined for a second consecutive yr
An annual report compiled by the U.N. Convention on Commerce and Growth (UNCTAD). confirmed that in 2024 Mexico acquired almost US $37 billion in overseas direct funding (FDI) — up from US $36 billion in 2023 — to rank eleventh on the planet. Regardless of the rise in FDI final yr, Mexico slipped out of the highest 10, falling two spots from the No. 9 place it held in 2023.
In distinction, on the world degree, FDI final yr was down 11% from 2023, reaching lower than US $1.5 trillion in 2024. The decline was pushed by losses in developed nations, significantly China and elements of Europe. World FDI in 2023 surpassed US $1.67 trillion, in response to UNCTAD.
The downward pattern confirms a deepening slowdown in productive capital flows, the UNCTAD report discovered.
UNCTAD stated shrinking funding funds pose acute challenges to creating nations, together with Mexico, whereas warning that uncertainty is affecting world funding. The report indicated that FDI in creating economies was nearly unchanged in 2024 in comparison with 2023.
“This isn’t only a downturn — it’s a sample,” UNCTAD Secretary-Normal Rebeca Grynspan stated Thursday.
Whereas overseas funding flows to Latin American and the Caribbean have been down 12% final yr, UNCTAD reported that “sectoral and country-level features sign underlying resilience and long-term potential.”
Mexico was second solely to Brazil (US $59 billion) in Latin America, due to funding in manufacturing and logistics, UNCTAD discovered.
Mexico was additionally sixth amongst creating economies by mission bulletins in digital economic system sectors, attracting US $29 billion over the previous 5 years.
In line with Mexico’s Economic system Ministry, FDI flows into Mexico have carried out favorably over the last 10 years, with a complete quantity of US $300 billion through the 2011-2021 interval.
The Economic system Ministry attributes Mexico’s success in attracting FDI to its strategic geographical place, aggressive prices, younger and gifted inhabitants, and the dimensions and energy of its inside market.
The UNCTAD report cautions that macroeconomic indicators level to a slowdown, nevertheless. World GDP development forecasts have been revised downward because the starting of the yr, whereas projections for capital formation and commerce — essential for worth chain-driven funding — have additionally weakened.
The report underscores that funding shortfalls are stalling jobs, infrastructure and sustainable improvement – particularly within the least developed and most weak economies.
“Too many economies are being left behind not for an absence of potential – however as a result of the system nonetheless sends capital the place it’s best, not the place it’s wanted,” Grynspan stated.
The report concludes that the funding panorama in 2024 was “formed by geopolitical tensions, commerce fragmentation and intensifying industrial coverage competitors.”
The slowdown in FDI flows can be being pushed by insurance policies limiting overseas funding. UNCTAD reported that previously decade, the variety of nations imposing FDI controls, citing nationwide safety, elevated from 21 to 46.
With studies from El Economista, Reforma and La Jornada
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