Mexico. Mexico has an important position among the economies that export goods associated with new technologies; however, there are aspects that, if addressed, would consolidate this position and allow the country to generate greater added value in the trade of this type of goods.
In 2016, Mexican exports of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) amounted to $60.36 billion. This means a decrease of 1% compared to 2015[1]. This level placed Mexico as the eighth economy with the highest sales abroad in this category of goods just between Germany and Malaysia, with a share of 3.2% of the world's total ICT exports.
In 2016, of the total ICT exports, 33.7% corresponded to consumer electronic equipment, 32.3% to computers and peripheral goods, 26.3% to communication equipment and 5.5% to electronic components.
In 2015, these indicators were 33.9%, 33.5%, 26.5% and 5.5% respectively, showing that the composition of these exports remained stable from one year to the next.
Destination of Exports
The United States is the main destination country for Mexican ICT exports, since, in 2016, these were equivalent to $51,480 million dollars and represented 85.3% of the total value, followed by Canada with 2.1%, China with 1.3% and France with 1.1%, thus showing a zero diversification in terms of its destination.
In 2000, Mexican exports of ICT goods accounted for 21% of total trade. In 2016, this share was 16%. In this sense, it is essential to propose schemes that allow to promote the export sector of new technologies.
To this end, two aspects must be taken into account that would consolidate and improve Mexico's position as an exporting economy for the aforementioned goods. On the one hand, the diversification of our trading partners that allows a lower dependence on the demand of the northern neighbor and, on the other, to improve the conditions of productivity of human capital, as well as the promotion of a system of protection of intellectual property that encourages design and innovation.
Text written by Marissa Manzanilla of The Social Intelligence Unit, SIU.
