💻 Services & Tech

Welcome to Latinometrics. We bring you Latin American insights and trends through concise, thought-provoking data visualizations.

Services & Tech 🖥

Just a few centuries after the Viceroyalty of New Spain powered the economy of the Spanish Empire with its massive silver mines, mining remains quite important to its modern-day successor state of Mexico. The industry contributes some $50B to the Mexican economy each fiscal quarter, representing over 2% of the country’s highly diversified gross domestic product.

Even though silver’s importance has gone down since the introduction of paper money, Mexico remains the world’s largest producer. It’s also become a major player in gold, zinc, and copper production, while lithium will surely grow in significance in the coming years. Grupo México, a mining conglomerate, is the country’s 4th largest company by market cap.

But while mining may add over $3B to government coffers annually through tax revenue and exports, it’s also a fickle, dangerous industry featuring some historically shady politics. Let’s contrast that with Mexico’s growing service industry, which, at $40B per quarter, is rapidly approaching mining’s economic importance.

The local services industry has boomed since the pandemic, doubling in value between mid-2020 and mid-2024. People have moved in droves from manufacturing or agricultural jobs to more service-based careers as Uber drivers, hospitality workers, restaurant staff, or tech support.

This growth in the services sector has had developmental implications for Mexico, including better wages, increased worker safety, and more stable income. Both white-collar and blue-collar jobs tend to be less dangerous and more sustainable than, say, working down in a gold mine.

Notably, one service sector that’s booming is the tech sphere. Companies ranging from multinational corporations to local startups are competing to hire Mexicans and other Latin Americans for roles such as tech support, customer service representatives, and computer engineers, taking advantage of the region’s favorable time zone.

And as you can see below, the economic results have been impressive.

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