The country reached 18th place in 2023 in the ranking of WTO members. The value of these external sales amounted to US$52 billion, an interannual growth of 9%.
Mexico rose from 23rd position in 2022 to 18th in 2023 among the largest exporters of commercial services on a global scale, excluding intra-European Union trade, reported the World Trade Organization (WTO).
The progress was achieved when Mexico grew at an interannual rate of 9% in this indicator, to US$52 billion.
These services can cover a wide range of activities, such as transportation, financial services, tourism, consulting, engineering, information technology, education and environmental services.
Mexico also advanced from 19th place in 2022 to 17th in 2023 among the main importers of services, with a growth of 10%, to US$69 billion. Although the ranking evaluates all 164 WTO members, it shows the results of only the top 30 positions.
The WTO said that trade in services was boosted by the recovery of international travel and the increase in services provided digitally.
The US dollar value of global merchandise trade fell 5% in 2023, to US$24.01 trillion; but this decline was largely offset by a 9% increase in services trade, to US$7.54 trillion. The European Union, the United States, China and the United Kingdom were both the largest exporters and the main importers of services.
The WTO confirmed that Mexico rose from thirteenth position in 2022 to ninth in 2023 among the largest exporters of products in the world, growing at an annual rate of 2.6% in 2023, to US$593,012 million.
If intra-European Union trade is excluded, Mexico ranked sixth in that same classification, surpassed by China, the European Union, the United States, Japan and South Korea.
On the contrary, Mexico remained in the twelfth position among the largest importers of products on the planet, considering the members of the European Union separately. And if intra-European Union trade is excluded, Mexico rises to ninth place.
Mexican imports were US$621 billion, which implies a drop of 1% year-on-year. The drop in exports was led by Russia, whose external sales plunged 28%, as well as manufacturing-oriented Asian economies, including China (-5%), Japan (-4%) and the Republic of Korea (- 8%).
Other major economies saw smaller declines or even modest increases, including the United States (-2%), Germany (+1%) and Mexico (+3%).
Overall, European Union exports to the rest of the world increased by 2%, while trade within the European Union decreased by 1%, leaving total exports stable in US dollar terms.
While merchandise imports to the United States decreased 6% in 2023, shipments to that market from China fell 22%, partly as a result of the overall appreciation of the US dollar.
US imports from most of its trading partners also declined, with notable exceptions such as the European Union (4%), Mexico (5%) and Singapore (27%).
Mexico was the largest supplier of goods to the United States in 2023, or second when the European Union is counted as a single trader. U.S. imports from China declined in many product categories, including telecommunications equipment (-14%) and data processing machines (-29%).
