Mexico's Tourism-Related Economy Posts 7.3% Growth

Mexico's tourism-related economy grew by 7.3% annually in the first quarter of 2023 driven in particular by services and consumption by foreigners, the National Institute of Statistics and Geography (INEGI) reported Friday.

The increase in the indicator, which Inegi calls tourism gross domestic product (GDP), is the result of year-on-year rises of 1.5 % in tourism goods and 8.4 % in services, the autonomous institute detailed in its report based on original figures.

In addition, tourism consumption grew by 8 % annually from January to March, with increases of 6.4 % in domestic consumption and 13.7 % in receptive consumption by foreign tourists.

On the other hand, Inegi's quarterly indicators of tourism activity (ITAT) reported a quarterly increase of 0.1% in the tourism economy in the first three months of the year compared to the previous three months, according to seasonally adjusted figures.

This increase was due to quarterly gains of 0.6% in goods and 0.1% in services. Likewise, tourism consumption grew by 0.4 % quarter-on-quarter, with a 9.9 % increase in foreign tourists. However, domestic consumption fell by 1.8% in the quarter.

The figures reflect the recovery of the tourism sector after the covid-19 pandemic in Mexico, which had 38.3 million international tourists during 2022, up 20.3 % from 2021.

Foreign exchange earnings from international visitors in that year were $26,346.9 million, an annual rise of more than 42%. Mexico's tourism-related economy grew by 14.4% annually in 2022 driven in particular by consumption.

The country received 10.06 million international tourists in the first quarter of 2023, a year-on-year increase of 17.3%, which left revenues of US$8.338 billion, an increase of 23.1%.

Mexico was the third most visited country in the world in the midst of the pandemic in 2020, a temporary phenomenon attributed to flexible sanitary measures in the country's tourist areas.