Mexico

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Country summary

Capital

Mexico City (Distrito Federal)

Borders

Belize 250 km, Guatemala 962 km, US 3,141 km

Government type

federal republic

Population

111,211,789 (July 2010 est.)[1]

Population growth %

1.13 (2010 est.)[1]

Life expectancy

76.06 years[1]

Unemployment

5.5% (2009 est.)[1]

Index of Economic Freedom

41[2]

Corruption Perceptions Index

89[3]

Doing Business ranking

51[4]


The site of advanced Amerindian civilizations, Mexico came under Spanish rule for three centuries before achieving independence early in the 19th century. A devaluation of the peso in late 1994 threw Mexico into economic turmoil, triggering the worst recession in over half a century. The nation had been making an impressive recovery until the global financial crisis hit in late 2008. Ongoing economic and social concerns include low real wages, underemployment for a large segment of the population, inequitable income distribution, and few advancement opportunities for the largely Amerindian population in the impoverished southern states. The elections held in 2000 marked the first time since the 1910 Mexican Revolution that an opposition candidate - Vicente FOX of the National Action Party (PAN) - defeated the party in government, the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI). He was succeeded in 2006 by another PAN candidate Felipe CALDERON. In January 2009, Mexico assumed a nonpermanent seat on the UN Security Council for the 2009-10 term.[1]

Economical characteristics

  • Currency: Peso (ISO code: MXN)
  • Central bank discount rate: NA%[1]
  • Commercial banks lending rate: 4.9% (31 December 2009)[1]
  • Stock of money (M1): $115.9 billion (31 December 2009 est.)[1]
  • Quasi money (with M1 makes M2): $146.8 billion (31 December 2009 est.)[1]

Notable events:

  • Banking crisis: 1883, 1893, February 1908, 1929, 1981-1982, 1982-1991, October 1992, 1994-1997[5]
  • Years in inflation: 11.1% (share of years 1821-2009 with annual inflation above 20 per cent per annum)
  • Public default: 1828-1830, 1833-1841, 1844-1850, 1854-1864, 1866-1885, 1914-1922, 1928-1942, 1982-1990 (external), 1850, 1928-1932, 1982 (domestic)[6]

Statistics

Statistic / Year 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008
GDP (million USD)[7] 481 202 581 426 622 093 649 076 700 325 759 422 846 990 948 865 1 022 820 1 088 130
Govt. debt (% of GDP)[8] 25.552 23.218
Govt. revenue (% of GDP)[9] 13.782 14.745
Govt. expenses (% of GDP)[10] 14.922 15.438
Debt to revenue (years) 1.854 1.575

References

Note: statistical data was rounded. Different sources may use different methodologies for their estimates. Debt to revenue is calculated by dividing the two variables from their original ('unrounded') values. It represents how long it would a government take to repay its entire debt if it used its whole revenue for this purpose.

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 CIA - The World Factbook. "Mexico", from The World Factbook. Referenced 2010-09-21.
  2. Heritage Foundation. "Mexico", Economic Freedom Score. A lower ranking is better; but please be careful when comparing between different countries or years. Referenced 2010-09-21.
  3. Transparency International. "Mexico", Corruption Perceptions Index 2009. A lower ranking is better; but please note that the numbers cannot be compared between countries or years due to different methodology. Referenced 2010-09-21.
  4. Doing Business. "Mexico", Doing Business 2010 (part of The World Bank Group). A lower ranking is better; but please be careful when comparing between different countries or years. Referenced 2010-09-21.
  5. Carmen M. Reinhart and Kenneth S. Rogoff. "This Time is Different", Princeton University Press, ISBN 978-0-691-14216-6, p. 373-375. (The list does not claim to be complete.) Referenced 2011-07-20.
  6. Carmen M. Reinhart. "This Time is Different Chartbook: Country Histories on Debt, Default, and Financial Crises" (pdf), March 3, 2010, p. 76. (The list does not claim to be complete.) Referenced 2011-07-20.
  7. World Bank. "Mexico: GDP", from World Bank Data. Referenced 2010-09-21.
  8. World Bank. "Mexico: government debt", from World Bank Data. Referenced 2010-09-21.
  9. World Bank. "Mexico: government revenue", from World Bank Data. Referenced 2010-09-21.
  10. World Bank. "Mexico: government expenses", from World Bank Data. Referenced 2010-09-21.

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