A new sector accounts for virtually all Mexico’s manufacturing growth

Mexican industry is evolving in real time—the stats can’t keep up.

It’s been a tough year for Mexican industry. Post-Trump tariff exports and domestic consumption have conspired to fall, dragging down manufacturing output with them. Mexico’s economy is now in negative territory this quarter and barely expected to grow in 2025. Those bad tidings hide even worse news for specific manufacturing sectors.

Tariffs and uncertainty about the US-Mexico trade relation have auto manufacturing down 11.7% in 2025. Civil engineering projects have taken a hit, down by 26.6%, as president Claudia Sheinbaum’s austerity agenda bites—especially in contrast with the pre-election construction boom of her predecessor last year. Clothing, textiles, electronics and furniture have fallen between 5–10%, likely battered by Chinese competition.

Because virtually all sectors are down, the spectacular growth of one segment of the Mexican economy’s really stands out. That segment is… “Other industries,” which so far this year has ballooned by 22%. This statistical category is reserved by Mexico’s national statistics agency, INEGI, for industries that are important but whose total output is overshadowed by the country’s main sectors.

That may soon change, as one sector in particular looks set to break out of “Other industries” and into the big manufacturing leagues. It is the story of a Mexican economy evolving in real-time; adapting to an uncertain and fast-changing times.