Mexico received $41 billion in foreign direct investment during 2025, $3 billion more than in 2024, and returned to tenth place globally for the first time since 2021, according to UNCTAD's World Investment Report 2026, published on July 9.
The report places the country below the United States ($277 billion), Singapore, Hong Kong, China, Brazil, the United Kingdom, Germany, Canada, and the United Arab Emirates. Mexico had ranked 11th between 2022 and 2024. Manufacturing (automotive, electronics, aerospace, and pharmaceutical) accounts for the largest share of FDI received by the country over the past 35 years, a flow sustained by supply chain relocation known as nearshoring. The report describes Mexico as the leading global beneficiary of nearshoring linked to manufacturing investment. For the binational community, the figure translates into more jobs at export plants that supply the North American market and support families on both sides of the border.
Gabriela Jiménez Godoy, Morena's deputy coordinator for Parliamentary Liaison, stated that the result reflects international confidence in the Mexican economy, attributing it to economic stability and certainty for investors. For their part, CEPAL and Coparmex note that tariff uncertainty and periodic USMCA reviews are moderating the pace of new investment announcements. US tariffs on steel, aluminum, and automobiles are among the main sources of that uncertainty. The UNCTAD report also documents a decline in green energy project announcements.
The return to the top 10, driven by export manufacturing, comes at a pivotal moment: the USMCA review scheduled for July 2026 will define North America's trade rules for the coming years and, with them, the pace of investment that sustains jobs along the border.
This article was written with artificial intelligence assistance based on verified sources and reviewed by a human editor before publication.