Mexico City retains top spot as most competitive state, Chiapas ranks last

Mexico City remains Mexico’s astir competitory authorities for business, portion Chiapas is the slightest competitive, according to an investigation by a starring Mexican deliberation tank.

The Mexican Institute for Competitiveness (IMCO) has published its 2025 State Competitiveness Index (ICE), successful which it ranks each 32 national entities based connected their show crossed 53 antithetic indicators successful six categories called “sub-indexes.”

The sub-indexes are innovation and economy; infrastructure; labour market; nine and environment; law; and governmental strategy and governments.

Among the 53 indicators are ones that look astatine GDP maturation rates successful the 32 states, levels of informality among workers, authorities authorities debt, infirmary beds per capita, entree to the net and transgression rates.

According to IMCO, the ICE “measures the quality of the country’s states to generate, attract, and clasp endowment and investment.”

“A competitory authorities is 1 that makes businesslike usage of its capabilities to foster a favorable situation that contributes to improving its improvement and, consequently, the well-being of its inhabitants,” the deliberation vessel said successful its scale report.

IMCO besides said that “in an epoch successful which the planetary rules-based strategy is being questioned, the champion strategy for Mexico is to stake connected competitiveness.”

“The existent geopolitical situation presents opportunities for the country, arsenic agelong arsenic it manages to support its comparative vantage successful entree to the U.S. market. To capitalize connected this situation, Mexico indispensable beforehand its economical development,” it said.

Mexico City is the lone entity successful the state deemed to person a “very high” level of competitiveness. (Presidencia)

CDMX comes retired connected apical erstwhile again 

Mexico City is the lone entity successful the state deemed to person a “very high” level of competitiveness. The superior — Mexico’s top recipient of overseas concern and a magnet for workers from each implicit the state — retained its 2024 presumption astatine the apical of the IMCO index.

“Mexico City positioned itself arsenic the astir competitory state, … taking archetypal spot successful 4 retired of the six sub-indexes assessed. It stood retired successful the system and innovation sphere by registering the highest GDP per capita excluding the mining assemblage (541,916 pesos [US $28,750] per person), a precocious level of economical diversification (943 sectors), and the 2nd highest patent complaint (4.71 per 100,000 economically progressive people),” IMCO said.

Mexico City besides ranked archetypal successful the sub-indexes for infrastructure; nine and environment; and governmental strategy and governments.

A ample fig of large Mexican and overseas companies person offices successful the capital, portion the national authorities and astir of its agencies and departments, arsenic good arsenic immoderate of the nation’s starring healthcare and acquisition facilities, are based successful the city. This helps Mexico City pull highly educated workers from astir the state and abroad.

Mexico’s adjacent astir competitory states  

IMCO determined that 3 states person a “high” level of competitiveness, allowing them to inhabit positions 2, 3 and 4 connected the ICE. They are:

2. Baja California Sur (BCS): a authorities that occupies the confederate information of the Baja California Peninsula. It is champion known for the duplicate edifice cities of Cabo San Lucas and San José del Cabo. A tourism powerhouse, BCS besides ranked arsenic Mexico’s 2nd astir competitory authorities past year.

3. Nuevo León: a heavy industrialized bluish borderline authorities whose superior is Monterrey. The authorities moved up 1 spot connected the ICE.

4. Jalisco: a occidental Mexico and Bajío portion authorities that is location to the large metropolis of Guadalajara. The superior is sometimes referred to arsenic “the Silicon Valley of Mexico” owed to the beingness of a important fig of tech companies. Jalisco moved up six spots connected the ICE.

Guadalajara edifice country leads the state successful normal and concern tourism

Baja California Sur was the apical authorities connected the “labor market” sub-index.

According to IMCO, that subindex “measures the ratio of the main origin for production: quality capital.”

IMCO determined that 12 states person a “medium-high” level of competitiveness. They occupied positions 5 to 16 connected the ICE.

5. Aguascalientes: up 1 presumption compared to 24.

6. Querétaro: down 1 position.

7. Coahuila: down 4 positions.

8. Chihuahua: up 1 position.

9. Sonora: down 2 positions.

10. Yucatán: down 2 positions.

11. Baja California: up 3 positions.

12. San Luis Potosí: up six positions.

13. Guanajuato: up 9 positions.

14. Hidalgo: up 11 positions.

15. Tamaulipas: down 3 positions.

16. Sinaloa: down 3 positions.

Twelve different states are deemed to to person a “medium-low” level of competitiveness. They are Tlaxcala, Colima, Campeche, Durango, Quintana Roo, Nayarit, México state, Puebla, Tabasco, Veracruz, Morelos and Zacatecas.

Those states occupied positions 17 to 28 connected the ICE.

Mexico’s slightest competitory states 

Chiapas fell 2 places compared to the 2024 ICE to inhabit the 32nd and last presumption connected this year’s State Competitiveness Index. It is the lone authorities deemed to person a “very low” level of competitiveness.

Chiapas ranked past connected the scale with mediocre results connected the sub-indexes for nine and environment; infrastructure; and labour market, IMCO said.

Among a scope of mediocre results, the deliberation vessel noted that Chiapas had the lowest mean income among full-time workers (7,059 pesos oregon US $375 per month), the lowest mean level of schooling among radical aged 25 oregon older (7.56 years), and the 2nd lowest proportionality of radical with method oregon higher acquisition (16%).

Rural Chiapas state, known for its java and effect exports, dropped 2 places connected IMCO’s competitiveness index. (Isabel Mateos/Cuartoscuro)

IMCO determined that 3 states had a “low” level of competitiveness. They occupied positions 29 to 31 connected the ICE.

29. Michoacán: nary alteration connected the scale compared to past year.

30. Oaxaca: up 2 positions.

31. Guerrero: nary change.

Mexico’s 3 slightest competitory states are each located successful confederate Mexico, a disadvantaged portion of the state that has been historically neglected.

Oaxaca ranked arsenic Mexico’s slightest competitory authorities past year.

The State Competitiveness Index and Plan México 

The work of IMCO’s latest State Competitiveness Index comes 5 months aft President Claudia Sheinbaum presented Plan México, an ambitious economical inaugural whose goals see making Mexico the 10th largest system successful the world, reducing reliance connected imports from China and different Asian countries and creating 1.5 cardinal caller jobs.

IMCO said that the occurrence of the program “needs section strategies,” and asserted that “the ICE is simply a instrumentality that allows national entities to recognize their competitory advantages and make collaborative strategies that assistance them to exploit their imaginable and payment from this concern policy.”

IMCO outlined “strengths and challenges” of 12 “economic well-being corridors” identified successful Plan Mexico.

The challenges included combating insecurity successful assorted parts of the country, expanding economical diversification successful respective economical corridors and lifting overseas concern successful confederate states.

IMCO emphasized the value of security, the regularisation of instrumentality and ineligible certainty successful attracting concern to the country’s confederate improvement corridors. (Daniel Augusto/Cuartoscuro)

In its scale report, IMCO said that states volition “play a cardinal relation successful the occurrence of concern argumentation and indispensable beryllium prepared to instrumentality vantage of Plan México to spur productive concern and rise the prime of beingness of their citizens.”

“To execute this, they necessitate logistical excellence, abundant energy, a capableness for innovation, endowment and a coagulated regularisation of law,” the deliberation vessel said.

Proposals to enactment Plan México  

IMCO acceptable retired proposals successful 5 antithetic areas that are aimed astatine supporting Plan Mexico execute its purpose of “transforming the economical conditions successful the country.”

The deliberation vessel proposed:

1. Promoting innovation and economical diversification, including by supporting the adoption of technologies specified arsenic artificial quality (AI).
2. Developing logistical infrastructure, including by investing successful infrastructure successful states with “high aerial cargo capacity” specified arsenic México state, wherever the Felipe Ángeles International Airport is located.
3. Strengthening security, the regularisation of instrumentality and ineligible certainty, including by bolstering authorities constabulary forces.
4. Developing quality capital, including by supporting grooming centers focused connected integer skills.
5. Promoting biology sustainability, including by processing state-based vigor ratio programs.

* IMCO’s 2025 State Competitiveness Index study (Spanish), which runs to much than 100 pages and includes scorecards for each of Mexico’s 32 national entities, tin beryllium downloaded by clicking the “libro” tab astatine the apical of this page.

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