Mexico’s Exports Reach a Record in the First Half of 2026

ByClara Zepeda

This article by Clara Zepeda originally appeared in the July 27, 2026 edition of La Jornada, Mexico’s premier left-wing daily newspaper.

Mexico broke export records in the first half of 2026, with a particularly strong performance in non-auto manufacturing, thanks to the technology rebound in the United States. In the first six months of the year, the value of Mexico’s total exports reached a record amount for a comparable period of 389,723 million dollars, which represented an annual growth of 24.6 percent, driven by a 25.6 percent increase in non-oil exports, but a 2.9 percent drop in oil exports, revealed figures from the National Institute of Statistics and Geography (Inegi).

Inegi specified that the value of manufacturing exports stood out, with an amount of 355,901.5 million dollars, 25.8 percent more than in the first half of 2025. This was supported by non-auto manufacturing (263,643.8 million), which surged 37.6 percent annually, due to the boom in demand for electronic products, data-processing machines, among others.

For their part, automotive foreign sales rose only 1 percent in the reference period, with an amount of 92,257.6 million dollars.

Amid a US trade policy moving toward greater protection and greater demands on its trading partners, within non-oil exports there were annual increases of 35.8 percent in those directed to the United States and of 25 percent in those channeled to the rest of the world.

Automotive exports directed to the United States fell 2.7 percent annually in January-June of this year.

Thus, 84.16 percent of non-oil exports in the first half of the year were directed to the United States, a share marginally higher than in the same period of 2025, of 84.14 percent.

Trade Balance Surplus

In the January-June period of 2026, the accumulated value of total imports was 379,866 million dollars, 22 percent higher than that observed in the same span of 2025. Within that, non-oil imports rose 22.8 percent and oil imports 12.1 percent, at an annual rate.

The structure of the value of imports was intermediate-use goods, 79.9 percent; consumer goods, 12.8 percent; and capital goods, 7.3 percent.

Thus, for the first six months of 2026, the trade balance posted a surplus of 9,857 million dollars. In the same period of 2025 it was 1,433 million.

For its part, the value of merchandise exports during June was 72,551 million dollars, an unprecedented figure since records have been kept, and it was an amount 34.4 percent higher than that of the same month of 2025.

In June 2026, the value of merchandise imports was 68,461 million dollars and represented an annual increase of 28 percent. According to Inegi, in June 2026, the preliminary foreign-trade data recorded a trade surplus of 4,090 million dollars.