Mexico: Merchandise exports increase in December
Merchandise exports rose 3.4% over the same month last year in December (November: +8.0% year-on-year). Decembers result marked the softest expansion since October 2021. Non-oil exports growth moderated to 3.5% amid slowing manufacturing export growth. This more than offset a rebound in oil exports, which expanded 1.5%. Meanwhile, merchandise imports expanded 2.6% on an annual basis in December (November: +8.1% yoy), marking the weakest growth since February 2021.
As a result, the merchandise trade balance improved from the previous month, recoding a USD 1.0 billion surplus in December (November 2022: USD 0.1 billion deficit; December 2021: USD 0.6 billion surplus). Lastly, the trend improved slightly, with the 12-month trailing merchandise trade balance recording a USD 26.4 billion deficit in December, compared to the USD 26.8 billion deficit in November.
Panelists surveyed for this months LatinFocus report project merchandise exports to rise 3.3% in 2023 and merchandise imports to grow 2.2%, pushing the trade balance to USD 18.19 billion. For 2024, our panel sees merchandise exports increasing 5.5% and merchandise imports rising 6.1%, with a trade balance of USD 22.47 billion.