With this increase, the salary in most of the country will go from 248.93 pesos (US$ 12.21) to 278.80 pesos per day (US$ 13.68).
The government of Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum announced on Wednesday morning a 12% increase in the minimum wage starting January 1, 2025, following an agreement with the labor and business sectors.
The Secretary of Labor, Marath Baruch Bolaños, reported that on December 3, the 12% increase in the minimum wage was approved, which will come into effect on January 1, 2025. With this increase, the salary in most of the country will go from 248.93 pesos (US$ 12.21) to 278.80 pesos per day (US$ 13.68); while for the free zone of the Northern Border it will go from 374.89 (US$ 18.4) to 419.88 pesos per day (US$ 20.61).
"(The increase) was unanimous and it shows that the basis of the well-being of a people is the vision of shared prosperity where there is a fair Mexico for all," said the official at the morning press conference on Wednesday, December 4.
It was explained that, with this increase, the government seeks to continue with the recovery of purchasing power, reaching an accumulated 135% in real terms since 2018. In addition, it is projected that by 2030 the minimum wage will cover 2.5 basic baskets, and will cover essential needs and housing rent.
The Secretary of Labor stressed that, compared to 2024, the increase will allow for the purchase of larger quantities of basic products:
- Beans: from 4.9 kg to 5.3 kg.
- Egg: 5.5 kg to 5.6 kg.
- Tortilla: from 11.9 kg to 13.2 kg.
“Furthermore, this has been a great policy to reduce the wage inequality between women and men and thus the gender pay gap has been reduced by 29% at a national level with the increases that I have already described, in addition to the fact that in the case of municipalities this reduction has been 66.2%; we are talking about the poorest municipalities in the country,” explained Bolaños López.
Claudia Sheinbaum, President of Mexico, said that this increase is part of one of the 100 points of her government plan, and that to achieve the goal of 2.5 basic baskets by 2030, annual increases of 12% will be required, always adjusted for inflation.
“As you know, during the entire neoliberal period, what Mexico boasted about abroad was cheap labor. That speaks of the dehumanization of those governments. You cannot go out and boast about starvation wages. Mexico is boasted about its productive capacity towards Mexicans, the best workers or the best workers in the world, our natural resources, our cultural wealth, but not cheap labor, as if that were competitiveness,” commented Sheinbaum Pardo.
For his part, Francisco Alberto Cervantes Díaz, president of the Business Coordinating Council (CCE), explained that, with this increase, the business sector was joining "in a supportive and convincing manner this strategy with a profound human meaning," and he also thanked the country's businessmen for their willingness and solidarity.
“Sharing prosperity implies distributing national wealth through concrete and effective actions to improve the standard of living of Mexicans, and that said priority and forceful action is the increase in salaries and in particular the minimum wage. With this sensitivity, Mexican businessmen support this increase announced today of 12% to the minimum wage for 2025 with the harmonious consensus of workers and governments,” said the president of the CCE.
