Environment at a Glance Indicators

Mexico

This country profile features selected environmental indicators from the OECD Core Set, building on harmonised datasets available on OECD Data Explorer. The indicators reflect major environmental issues, including climate, air quality, freshwater resources, waste and the circular economy, and biodiversity. Differences with national data sources can occur due to delays in data treatment and publication, or due to different national definitions and measurement methods. The OECD is working with countries and other international organisations to further improve the indicators and the underlying data.

Context

Mexico is among the most populated and largest economies in the OECD. It covers an area of almost 2 000 million km² (including around 5 000 km² of islands) in North America. The gap in living standards between Mexico and the rest of the OECD remains. The informal sector continues to play an important role and regional disparities are high. International trade plays an important role in the economy. While medium-technology exports still dominate goods exports, the share of high technology and more complex goods has been increasing. Population density is relatively high, in particular in central states.

The western and eastern Sierra Madre define the topography of northern Mexico. Between these two ranges lies the Mexican high plateau (altiplano). On the southern altiplano numerous valleys have been formed by ancient lakes. Geophysical factors are reflected in a wide range of vegetation types. Almost one-third of the territory is wooded (half temperate, half tropical). Mexico is home to 10-12% of the world's biodiversity: it is one of several “mega-diverse” countries in the world. Exploitation of natural resources – forests, soil, water and fisheries – has had a very important role in Mexico’s economic development. Mexico is endowed with abundant energy resources, both fossil and renewable, and is still a net exporter of crude oil.

Climate change

Energy mix

Air quality

Freshwater resources

Intensity of use of freshwater resources

Waste, materials and circular economy

Municipal waste

Material consumption

Biodiversity

Protected areas

References and further reading

OECD (2013), OECD Environmental Performance Reviews: Mexico 2013, OECD Environmental Performance Reviews, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/9789264180109-en.