INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Private consumption in Mexico faced a troubling start to the fourth quarter of 2024, experiencing a 0.7% decline in October compared to
September.This marked the second consecutive month of decrease, following a 0.4% drop in September
The data was reported by the National Institute of Statistics and Geography (INEGI).The October decline exceeded expectations, as INEGI had
predicted only a minor reduction of 0.1% in its timely private consumption indicator
Year-over-year, private consumption remained positive with a growth of 0.5%.However, this figure was significantly lower than the 1.6%
increase seen in September and far from the peak of 6.2% recorded in March
The monthly decline reflected decreases in both domestic goods consumption and imported goods consumption.Domestic goods consumption fell by
1%, while imported goods consumption decreased by 0.5%
Expectations, Signals Weakness
(Photo Internet reproduction)Inflationary pressures contributed to this decline, as the annual variation of the National Consumer Price
Index reached 4.76% in October
This was an increase from 4.58% in September.Additionally, international remittances fell by 1.6%, totaling $5.723 billion, while formal
Trends and Economic OutlookDespite these challenges, INEGI reported an overall positive growth of 3.5% in private consumption from January
However, this was lower than the 4.3% growth observed during the same period in 2023.The slowdown is attributed mainly to diminished
momentum in service consumption, which has significantly decreased from a growth rate of 4.4% last year to just 2.2% this year.Looking
ahead, INEGI anticipates a slight recovery in private consumption for November and December
It projects a monthly increase of 0.6% for November and a marginal rise of 0.1% for December.Given that private consumption constitutes
about 70.4% of GDP as of September, its performance is crucial for economic stability
It will also play a key role in driving growth moving forward.
