Officially the United Mexican States, Mexico shares land borders with the United States of America to its north and Central American countries Guatemala and Belize to its south.

The North American country has a massive land area measuring 761,610 square miles (1,972,550 square kilometers). Mexico also benefits from coastlines along the Pacific Ocean, Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean Sea.

Mexico is home to 129 million residents as of April 2021 according to the International Monetary Fund.

Mexico has the most Spanish speakers of any country in the world. Outside of Spanish and indigenous languages, the most popular languages spoken by Mexicans include English, German and Chinese.

Mexico is the world’s 12th richest economy in terms of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) on a Purchasing Power Parity basis, generating US$2.614 trillion worth of products and services as of April 2021.

Mexico’s demand for imported goods represents a subtotal US$164 billion worth of Mexican spending on the 100 most valuable consumer products imported into the southern-most of North American countries during 2020.

That consumer-driven dollar amount approaches one half (42.8%) of the overall value of all goods imported into Mexico. Overall spending on all Mexican imports, including raw materials, intermediate products and semi-finished goods, totaled $383.3 billion in 2020.

Among Mexico’s most valuable consumer products in 2020 are: automotive parts or accessories; refined petroleum oils; phone devices including smartphones; computers; and computer parts or accessories.

Spending on all of Mexico’s imported goods dropped by -15.8% from 2019 to 2020. Mexico’s purchases focused on its top 100 consumer imports posted a stronger -18.3% decrease over the latest annual period.

The deceleration in Mexican spending for key imported consumer products eclipsed the global average from 2019 to 2020, which was an average drop of -8.2% for all importing countries around the world.

Among the top 100 consumer products imported by Mexico, 12 increased in total value from 2019 to 2020 whereas 88 declined. Changes in Mexican consumer demand for essential imports offer future opportunities for international suppliers who correctly anticipate which upward or downward trends will continue.

Consumer Products Defined

Economics educator BoyceWire defines a consumer product as a final good or end product that a business creates for consumers to buy. For example, consumers often purchase refined petroleum oil at the gas station while imported crude oil is an intermediate good subject to further processing before being sold to end users.

Although there may be a few wealthy individual buyers, products like turbojets are excluded from the consumer products targeted by this study. That is because turbojets are usually purchased by corporations. In contrast, it is common for a consumer to buy a motorcycle.

Types of Consumer Products

This article focuses on 3 distinct consumer product types.

Convenience Products are easy to access, non-durable, have relatively lower prices and therefore consumers frequently purchase them. Examples of convenience products are food, alcoholic or non-alcoholic drinks, and soap.

Shopping Products are not as easily available, involve more time to make a buying decision, are durable and are not bought as often as most convenience products. A great example of a shopping product is a mobile phone where buying the wrong model is a much more expensive mistake than buying a disappointing loaf of bread.

Speciality Products describe another consumer product type. This grey area includes infrequently purchased, expensive, durable and sometimes rare items. Consumers may consider the product’s brand image when making their purchase decisions. Some examples of speciality products are gold, silver, diamonds, jewelry, and branded refrigerators and dishwashers.

Mexico’s Most Valuable Imported Convenience Products

The list below showcases the most valuable imported convenience products on which buyers in Mexico spent the most. Items were selected at the four-digit Harmonized System tariff classification code level and are presented in descending order.

You can also peruse the greatest increases or decreases in product values from 2019 to 2020 by focusing on the percentages displayed to the right of each product name.

Processed petroleum oils: US$16,867,461,000 (down -43.1%)
Miscellaneous plastic items: $4,230,232,000 (down -13.5%)
Corn: $3,086,058,000 (down -3.3%)
Medications: $2,785,694,000 (up 1.8%)
Plastic packing goods, lids, caps: $2,715,880,000 (down -8.4%)
Soya beans: $1,508,940,000 (down -22.2%)
Swine meat: $1,306,238,000 (down -15.5%)
Poultry meat: $980,423,000 (down -19.4%)
Concentrated/sweetened milk: $779,058,000 (down -10.3%)
Other food preparations: $605,629,000 (down -13.9%)
Fresh or chilled beef: $601,536,000 (down -22.2%)
Cheese, curd: $478,886,000 (down -11.7%)
Rice: $434,072,000 (up 51%)
Other organic cleaning preparations: $379,552,000 (up 0.3%)
Sowing seeds, fruits, spores: $366,177,000 (down -20.7%)
Red meat offal: $347,585,000 (down -14.2%)
Bandages, gauze, dressings: $342,327,000 (up 10.7%)
Fish fillets, pieces: $325,096,000 (down -21.8%)
Miscellaneous preserved fruits: $316,709,000 (up 3.7%)
Bread, biscuits, cakes, pastries: $305,117,000 (down -9.2%)
Apples, pears (fresh): $299,359,000 (down -22.7%)
Sauces, mixed condiments, seasoning: $288,131,000 (down -7%)
Miscellaneous nuts: $283,700,000 (down -5.5%)
Palm oil: $272,322,000 (down -6.9%)
Soups, broths: $249,691,000 (down -0.5%)
Plastic wares (table/kitchen/toiletry): $240,269,000 (down -11.2%)
Malt extract, food preparations: $237,486,000 (down -8.2%)
Uncoated paper for writing/printing: $225,766,000 (down -46.4%)
Grapes (fresh or dried): $206,530,000 (up 5.8%)
Alcohol (including spirits, liqueurs): $203,195,000 (down -43.2%)
Wine: $199,419,000 (down -26.5%)
Animal guts, bladders, stomachs: $196,660,000 (down -27.8%)

Convenience products led by the products listed above represent the country’s second-most popular import product type attracting Mexico’s international spending behind shopping products but ahead of speciality goods.

Non-durable consumer products are goods that are not re-used once consumed. Alcoholic beverages and bananas are examples of non-durable goods. Convenience products are uniquely non-durable consumer products.

Mexico’s Most Valuable Imported Shopping Products

Below, the list highlights the most valuable imported shopping products on which buyers in Mexico spent the greatest amounts. Items were selected at the four-digit Harmonized System tariff classification code level and are presented from highest to lowest total amounts.

The percentages displayed to the right of each product name reveal the highest increases or decreases in Spanish spending on that specific type of shopping product from 2019 to 2020.

Automobile parts/accessories: US$21,933,200,000 (down -19.3%)
Phones: $11,703,795,000 (down -14.2%)
Computers, optical readers: $9,708,761,000 (down -4.2%)
Computer parts, accessories: $9,329,723,000 (down -0.8%)
Cars: $5,788,132,000 (down -41.3%)
Lower-voltage switches, fuses: $5,640,103,000 (down -13.4%)
Insulated wire/cable: $4,700,258,000 (down -11.9%)
Electrical converters/power units: $3,778,270,000 (down -5.5%)
Unrecorded sound media: $2,687,566,000 (up 44.4%)
Miscellaneous iron or steel items: $2,649,064,000 (down -10.5%)
Screws, bolts, washers, hooks, pins: $2,488,118,000 (down -17.8%)
Rubber tires (new): $2,476,187,000 (down -21.7%)
Seats (not barber/dentist chairs): $1,615,193,000 (down -21.1%)
Vulcanized rubber items: $1,405,912,000 (down -15.8%)
Microphones/headphones/amps: $1,321,871,000 (down -11.6%)
Printing machinery: $1,320,697,000 (down -28.1%)
Hot-roll iron/non-alloy steel items: $1,302,494,000 (down -13%)
Paper containers/cellulose wadding: $1,059,128,000 (down -8.9%)
Trucks: $1,042,265,000 (down -50.1%)
Packaged insecticides, herbicides: $839,320,000 (up 5.6%)
Miscellaneous textile items: $832,594,000 (up 80%)
Miscellaneous toys: $696,686,000 (down -29.7%)
Locks, lock-keys: $669,641,000 (down -7.3%)
Trailers: $637,820,000 (down -33.4%)
Miscellaneous aluminum items: $620,101,000 (down -9.9%)
Miscellaneous furniture: $540,108,000 (down -22.3%)
Sports equipment: $534,272,000 (down -10.4%)
Video console games, table games: $531,374,000 (down -20.3%)
Cases, handbags, wallets: $523,346,000 (down -30.9%)
T-shirts, vests (knit or crochet): $488,931,000 (down -13.7%)
Aluminum foil: $463,065,000 (down -10.4%)
Paints, varnishes: $404,687,000 (down -14.7%)
Footwear (textile): $398,430,000 (down -32.5%)
Prepared glues, adhesives: $397,861,000 (down -12.3%)
Motorcycle parts/accessories: $384,920,000 (down -5.1%)
Orthopedic appliances: $363,750,000 (down -23.7%)
Jerseys, pullovers (knit or crochet): $315,833,000 (down -25.9%)
Lubricant/anti-rust preparations: $309,623,000 (down -17.1%)
Women’s clothing (not knit/crochet): $275,195,000 (down -31.2%)
Motorcycles: $269,201,000 (down -21.4%)
Tractors: $262,207,000 (down -41.3%)
Printed books, brochures: $257,033,000 (down -24.8%)
Primary batteries/cells: $248,968,000 (down -8.2%)
Ball-point/felt-tipped pens, markers: $242,203,000 (down -23.6%)
Footwear (rubber or plastic): $232,479,000 (down -28.3%)
Synthetic paints, varnishes, enamels: $227,075,000 (down -12.4%)
Footwear (leather): $214,405,000 (down -30%)
Glass mirrors: $201,493,000 (down -17.4%)
Electric lamps: $201,145,000 (down -27%)

Focusing on the scope of this analysis, shopping products is Mexico’s most popular category ahead of both convenience products and speciality items.

Shopping products equal almost half (49) of the overall top 100 Mexican imported consumer goods.

Durable consumer products are goods like cars, refrigerators and furniture that last a relatively long time. Consumers can put durable products to use again and again. Note that shopping products and speciality products are considered as durable consumer products.

Mexico’s Most Valuable Imported Speciality Products

Speciality products represent the category with the fewest entries among Mexico’s imports that attracted the country’s spending on imported consumer goods during 2020.

Selected at the four-digit Harmonized System tariff classification code level, the most valuable speciality items are listed in descending order below.

The percentage to the right of each product name reveal highest increases or decreases in 2020 compared to 2019.

Liquid crystal/laser/optical tools: US$4,641,480,000 (up 20.7%)
Liquid pumps: $2,103,027,000 (down -11.9%)
Electric storage batteries: $1,452,012,000 (up 10%)
Household base metal mountings: $1,242,398,000 (down -15.8%)
Air conditioners: $1,026,597,000 (down -16.7%)
Special hand/machine tools: $1,011,298,000 (down -17.3%)
Temperature-change machines: $923,211,000 (down -7.1%)
Refrigerators, freezers: $748,863,000 (down -19.1%)
Electric water heaters, hair dryers: $676,138,000 (down -9.1%)
Dishwash, clean/dry/fill machines: $657,338,000 (up 2.6%)
Nitrogenous fertilizers: $596,577,000 (down -10.9%)
Beauty/makeup/skin care: $479,306,000 (down -22.3%)
Fertilizer mixes: $438,294,000 (down -15.8%)
Electric generating sets, converters: $364,644,000 (down -52%)
Magnets including electro-magnets: $356,884,000 (down -14.2%)
Speed/distance meters: $304,219,000 (down -24.1%)
Jewelry: $256,087,000 (down -44.6%)
Washing machines: $247,210,000 (down -3.8%)
Other printed pictures, photos: $230,288,000 (down -16.3%)

Like shopping products, speciality products are considered as durable consumer products.

Based on the product types identified in the sections above, 68 of Mexico’s 100 highest-value consumer shopper plus speciality products are durable while the remaining 32 convenience products are classified as non-durable.

Mexico’s Overall Fastest-Growing Consumer Imports

Listed below are the top 10 consumer products imported into Mexico that experienced the highest percentage increases in spending from 2019 to 2020.

Miscellaneous textile items: Up 80% (US$832.6 million)
Rice: Up 51% ($434.1 million)
Unrecorded sound media: Up 44.4% ($2.7 billion)
Liquid crystal/laser/optical tools: Up 20.7% ($4.6 billion)
Bandages, gauze, dressings: Up 10.7% ($342.3 million)
Electric storage batteries: Up 10% ($1.5 billion)
Fresh or dried grapes: Up 5.8% ($206.5 million)
Packaged insecticides, herbicides: Up 5.6% ($839.3 million)
Miscellaneous preserved fruits: Up 3.7% ($316.7 million)
Dishwashers, other clean/dry/filling machines: Up 2.6% ($657.3 million)

Three among the above top 10 gainers are speciality products and therefore also durable goods that consumers can re-use over time. This trio of fastest-growing speciality products in demand by importers in Mexico is comprised of liquid crystal, laser or optical tools; electric storage batteries; and dishwashers or similar cleaning, drying and filling machines.

The 3 fastest-growing shopping products are: miscellaneous textile items; unrecorded sound media; and packaged insecticides or herbicides.

The 4 fastest growers among the non-durable imported consumer products are rice; bandages, gauze and dressings; fresh or dried grapes; and miscellaneous preserved fruits.

Mexico’s Overall Worst-Declining Consumer Imports

Spending by import buyers in Mexico on the following 10 items decreased in value by the highest percentages from 2019 to 2020.

Electric generating sets, converters: Down -52% ($364.6 million)
Trucks: Down -50.1% ($1.04 billion)
Uncoated paper for writing/printing: Down -46.4% ($225.8 million)
Jewelry: Down -44.6% ($256.1 million)
Alcohol (including spirits, liqueurs): Down -43.2% ($203s.2 million)
Processed petroleum oils: Down -43.1% ($16.9 billion)
Tractors: Down -41.3% ($262.2 million)
Cars: Down -41.3% ($5.8 billion)
Trailers: Down -33.4% ($637.8 million)
Textile footwear: Down -32.5% ($398.4 million)

Five categories among Mexican top 10 severest decliners are durable shopping products used over a period of time. The worst slippage among those categories was for Mexico’s imported trucks, tractors, cars and trailers.

The strongest decline for the 2 durable speciality goods belongs to electric generating sets or converters, and jewelry.

There were 3 non-durable consumer products among Mexico’s 10 major import decliners from 2019 to 2020, namely uncoated paper for writing or printing, alcohol including spirits or liqueurs, and processed petroleum oils.

Key Suppliers by Country

This analysis reveals competitive suppliers that target demand for 5 of Mexico’s top consumer import products.

Mexico’s biggest imported consumer product by value is automobile parts or accessories. The other 4 leading consumer goods imported into Mexico are processed petroleum oils, phone devices including smartphones, computers and computer parts or accessories.

Below, you will find major supplying countries for Mexico’s imported:

Automobile parts or accessories: United States (55.2% of total), China (9.6%), Germany (7.8%), Japan (7.1%), Canada (5.2%), South Korea (4.8%), Italy (1.7%), India (1.0%), Thailand (0.8%), and Spain (0.7%).

Processed petroleum oils: United States (92% of total), Netherlands (4.2%) and China (2.2%), South Korea (0.4%), Canada (0.4%), Belgium (0.2%), Japan (0.2%), Germany (0.2%) and Finland (0.1%).

Phone devices including smartphones: China (59.7% of total), United States (10%), Malaysia (7.6%), Vietnam (6.6%), Thailand (4%), Taiwan (2.9%), Czech Republic (2.8%), Canada (0.9%), South Korea (0.8%), and Japan (0.7%).

Computers: China (40.8% of total), Thailand (17.3%), South Korea (10.4%), United States (10.3%), Philippines (6.3%), Taiwan (4.9%), Malaysia (3.9%), Singapore (3.5%), Vietnam (0.6%), and Germany (0.4%).

Computer parts or accessories: China (55.6% of total), South Korea (18.9%), Taiwan (12.5%), United States (3.3%), Malaysia (2.5%), Philippines (2.1%), Vietnam (2.0%), India (0.6%), Thailand (0.6%), and Singapore (0.5%).

References

Independent insights and analysis presented in this article are based on researched facts and statistics sourced from the following educational portals.

BoyceWire, Consumer Goods Definition.

Central Intelligence Agency, The World Factbook: Mexico Economy.

International Trade Centre, Trade Map.

Investopedia, Consumer Goods, Consumer Staples Definition, Fast-Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG).

Richest Country Reports, Top 100 Richest Countries by GDP.

Trading Economics, Mexico Consumer Spending.

Wikipedia, List of largest consumer markets.

Wikipedia, Mexico, Geography of Mexico, Languages of Mexico.

World’s Top Exports, Mexico’s Top 10 Imports.