Mexico’s competitiveness ranking has fallen by 12 positions over the past eight years, according to the World Competitiveness Ranking compiled by the Institute for Management Development (IMD), based in Switzerland.
In the 2026 edition, Mexico fell seven places, from 55th to 62nd. It has lost another five places since 2019, when the country ranked 50th.
The 2026 IMD World Competitiveness Ranking is based on more than 250 indicators, which are divided into four key pillars: economic performance, government efficiency, business efficiency, and infrastructure. To measure these, the model combines objective statistics with opinion surveys of executives. In this regard, several of these indicators directly assess aspects related to the rule of law.
Trends in Mexico’s Competitiveness
Mexico saw declines across all four major pillars. It fell from 39th to 41st in economic performance. In government efficiency, it dropped from 62nd to 67th. In business efficiency, it slipped from 54th to 57th. And in infrastructure, it fell from 61st to 64th.
The trend in Mexico’s competitiveness is described below:
- 2019: 50.
- 2020: 53.
- 2021: 55.
- 2022: 55.
- 2023: 56.
- 2024: 56.
- 2025: 55.
- 2026: 62.
Areas for Improvement
According to the Center for Strategic Studies on Competitiveness, S.C. (CEEC), Mexico needs to strengthen coordination between the federal and state levels and the private sector to improve the implementation of strategic initiatives.
The country also needs to strengthen the business environment, the rule of law, and legal certainty to boost investor confidence.
The CEEC suggested that Mexico needs to promote a productive economy through innovation, operational excellence, performance measurement, and strong local and national markets.
Two other actions involve better aligning talent development with the technical and managerial skills required by the private sector, and strengthening national value chains and key infrastructure in the energy, logistics, and digitalization sectors.
Pros and Cons
Employment in Mexico stands out as one of the country’s most notable competitive strengths within the index, ranking 12th globally.
This momentum is reflected in three key indicators:
- Overall unemployment rate: It stands at a low 2.39%, placing the country 7th globally.
- Long-term unemployment: It is virtually nonexistent, at just 0.05%, placing the country 3rd globally.
- Youth unemployment: It stands at 5.64%, a figure that places the nation 9th in the ranking.
In contrast, government efficiency in Mexico emerged as one of its main weaknesses, falling to 67th place—a drop of five positions.
This decline was exacerbated by two critical factors:
- Deterioration of public finances: The country fell 13 positions to 65th place.
- Fiscal pressure: The fiscal deficit reached -4.72% of GDP, while interest payments now account for 15.67% of total public spending.
Meanwhile, the institutional framework shows a severe lag. The rule of law plummeted to 69th place, a crisis that aligns with the lag in the fight against bribery and corruption (68th place) and failures in transparency (68th place).
Finally, business regulations also lost ground in competitiveness, falling seven spots to 69th place. This pillar is being stifled on three fronts: public sector contracts (69th), the shadow economy—which ranks near the bottom globally at 69th—and labor regulations, which suffered a sharp decline, falling 12 spots to 63rd.