Which Mexican region is most competitive? New index has the answer

Mexico’s northeast — made up of the states of Coahuila, Nuevo León, San Luis Potosí and Tamaulipas — is the country’s astir competitory region, according to the Mexican Institute for Competitiveness (IMCO).

On Monday, IMCO, a Mexico City-based deliberation tank, published its archetypal Regional Competitiveness Index (ICR), which ranks six regions of Mexico based connected their capableness to pull and clasp concern and pull and clasp talent.

In a statement, IMCO said that the scale “understands competitiveness arsenic a determination phenomenon, wherever the show of 1 authorities influences its neighbors.”

“… The scale results corroborate that competitiveness is not an isolated phenomenon: advances — oregon setbacks — successful 1 entity tin person spillover effects connected its neighbors.”

IMCO utilized a scope of information to measure the six regions’ show connected 40 variables crossed 4 sub-indexes: attraction of investment, attraction of talent, retention of concern and retention of talent. It consequently determined that Mexico’s astir competitory portion is the northeast, followed by the northwest.

The Bajío portion ranks third, followed by cardinal Mexico, the Maya portion and the Isthmus region.

IMCO’s work of its inaugural ICR successful aboriginal 2026 comes aft economical maturation successful Mexico slowed importantly successful 2025.

The scale serves arsenic further grounds that economical and societal improvement is importantly much precocious successful bluish Mexico than successful the country’s south. The erstwhile national government, and the existent one, person been seeking to remedy that situation, including by gathering large-scale infrastructure projects successful confederate and southeastern Mexico, specified arsenic the Maya Train railroad and the Olmeca Refinery connected the Tabasco coast.

However, IMCO’s ICR and different indicators, specified arsenic information connected poorness simplification crossed Mexico, amusement that determination is plentifulness of enactment inactive to beryllium done.

1. The northeast

The northeast ranked archetypal among the six regions successful 3 of the 4 sub-indexes, taking the apical spot successful attraction of investment; attraction of talent; and retention of talent.

Its ICR people was 68.18 retired of 100, which equates to “high competitiveness,” according to IMCO.

“This show reflects an integrated ecosystem, wherever [the northeast region’s] infrastructure, labour market, operational certainty, and productivity reenforce each different and make a competitory environment,” IMCO said.

Valeria Moy, the deliberation tank’s director, said that the states of the northeast don’t vie with each different oregon relation successful an “isolated” way, but alternatively collaborate.

She said that the northeast region’s ranking connected the ICR positions it arsenic “the astir charismatic [region] for the establishment, operation, and enlargement of companies,” and the astir charismatic portion for “qualified quality capital.”

According to IMCO’s appraisal of the 40 variables crossed the 4 sub-indexes, the northeast ranks archetypal among the six regions successful 17 of them. They include:

• Economic diversification.
• The publication of exports to determination GDP.
• Industrial parks.
• GDP per capita.
• Homes with moving water.
• Formal assemblage occupation growth.
• Investment successful h2o infrastructure.
• Perceptions of corruption (i.e. it is perceived to person the lowest levels of corruption).
• Perceptions of security.
• Access to wellness care.
• Labor productivity.
• Highway robberies (i.e. the northeast has the lowest rate).
• Employment informality (i.e. the northeast has the lowest percent of informal assemblage workers).

The northeast didn’t fertile past among the six regions successful immoderate of the 40 variables.

2. The northwest 

The northwest portion is made up of the states of Baja California, Baja California Sur, Chihuahua, Durango, Sinaloa, Sonora and Zacatecas. It ranked 2nd successful the attraction of concern and retention of talent, and 3rd successful the different 2 sub-indexes.

Its ICR people was 62.33, which equates to “medium-high competitiveness.”

The northwest ranked archetypal connected 3 of the 40 variables assessed by IMCO, taking the apical spot for energy prices, and earthy state prices, and for having the lowest percent of residents with incomes beneath the poorness line.

The northwest ranked past among the six regions for expenditure by companies connected security; vigor strength (electricity use-to-GDP ratio); homicides (i.e., it has the highest rate); respiratory morbidity; and changes (i.e., increases) to lodging prices.

3. The Bajío 

In IMCO’s ICR, the Bajío portion is made up of the states of Aguascalientes, Colima, Guanajuato, Jalisco, Querétaro, Michoacán and Nayarit.

It ranked archetypal successful the retention of concern sub-index, 3rd successful attraction of concern and 4th successful some attraction of endowment and retention of talent.

Its ICR people was 54.22, which equates to “medium-high competitiveness.”

The Bajío ranked archetypal connected 3 of the 40 variables, taking the apical spot for per capita applications for patents; its unreported transgression rate; and for respiratory morbidity (i.e., it has the lowest per capita complaint of respiratory diseases).

The Bajío ranked past connected conscionable 1 adaptable — “income spread by gender.”

4. Central Mexico 

The “Centro,” oregon Central Mexico, portion is made up of Mexico City, México state, Hidalgo and Morelos. It ranked 2nd for attraction of talent, 3rd for retention of talent, 4th for attraction of concern and sixth (last) for retention of investment.

Its ICR people was 49.11, which equates to “medium-low competitiveness.”

Although it lone ranked 4th among the six regions, Central Mexico took apical spot successful 8 of the 40 variables.

Centro ranked archetypal for:

• Foreign nonstop investment.
• Educational attainment.
• Educational coverage.
• The percent of the colonisation with higher acquisition qualifications.
• Skilled labor.
• Energy intensity.
• Homicides (i.e. it has the lowest rate, according to IMCO, adjacent though México authorities and Morelos are among Mexico’s 10 astir convulsive states successful presumption of full murders).
• Changes to lodging prices.

5. The Maya region 

The Maya portion is made up of the states of Campeche, Chiapas, Quintana Roo, Tabasco and Yucatán. It ranked 4th for retention of concern and 5th successful each of the 3 different sub-indexes.

Its ICR people was 34.19, which equates to “medium-low competitiveness.”

The Maya portion ranked archetypal for “average age” (i.e. its residents are the youngest); strikes (i.e. it has the fewest); sex income gap; transgression (i.e. it has the lowest rate); sum of childcare centers; and babe mortality (i.e. it has the lowest rate).

It ranked past for economical diversification; concern parks; patents; ceremonial assemblage occupation growth; economical participation; energy prices; incoming colonisation flows; and the percent of residents with incomes beneath the poorness enactment (i.e. it has the highest rate).

6. The Isthmus region 

For IMCO’s ICR, the Istmo, oregon Isthmus, portion (named aft the Isthmus of Tehuantepec) is made up of the states of Guerrero, Oaxaca, Puebla, Tlaxcala and Veracruz. It ranked 5th for retention of concern and sixth successful the 3 different sub-indexes.

Its ICR people was 26.66, which equates to “low competitiveness.”

The Isthmus portion ranked archetypal for maturation successful the fig of “economic units” with much than 50 employees; kilometers of highways per 1 cardinal pesos of GDP; and expenditure connected information by companies.

It ranked past successful 15 variables, including:

• Foreign nonstop investment.
• GDP per capita.
• Homes with moving water.
• Educational attainment.
• Skilled labor.
• Investment successful h2o infrastructure.
• Labor productivity.

Observations and proposals from IMCO 

IMCO identified a fig of “obstacles” that hinder determination competitiveness, including precocious levels of employment informality (more than fractional of Mexico’s workers are employed successful the informal sector), insecurity and “high wage inequality,” which has a antagonistic interaction connected endowment retention.

IMCO described its Regional Competitiveness Index arsenic a “key instrumentality for guiding nationalist policy, strengthening determination cooperation, and unlocking the corporate worth of the country’s regions.”

In that context, it offered proposals to the backstage sector, to authorities governments, and to the national government.

For the backstage sector:

• Establish “regional grooming hubs” for the grooming of workers astatine a “regional scale.” Such hubs, IMCO said, could beryllium established by consortia of companies and concern parks. The constitution of the hubs would “strengthen endowment retention done coordinated concern successful quality capital,” and let grooming costs to beryllium shared, the deliberation vessel said.
• Design operational strategies with a “regional focus,” including by “structuring proviso chains, the determination of suppliers and concern decisions” successful a mode that considers the portion arsenic “one azygous ecosystem.”
• Maximizing the instrumentality connected superior invested by “diversifying toward emerging sub-sectors” that are experiencing “rapid growth.” In addition, IMCO said that backstage companies should “align” their concern portfolios with the national government’s Plan México inaugural successful bid to instrumentality vantage of national incentives and “co-investment mechanisms successful strategical sectors specified arsenic vigor and logistics.”

For authorities governments: 

• State governments successful each portion should “align agendas” successful bid to “compete arsenic a region,” alternatively than arsenic “isolated” entities, IMCO said.
• They should “consolidate communal priorities,” specified arsenic reducing informality, improving entree to wellness attraction and guaranteeing h2o proviso successful municipality areas.
• They should question to trim dependence connected national enactment and “strengthen determination resilience.”

For the national government: 

• The national authorities should “orient programs and incentives” toward the improvement of determination projects.
• Federal enactment for “nearshoring, logistics and method grooming should prioritize projects that link starring states [in competitiveness] with lagging entities.”

As portion of Plan México, the national authorities is already processing caller “Economic Development Hubs For Well-Being, located wrong larger concern corridors focused connected circumstantial sectors. Each of the corridors stretches crossed 3 oregon much states, and each absorption connected sectors including renewable energy, manufacturing, logistics, agriculture and tourism.