e City, San Bernardino, Santa Ana (California), Seattle, Tucson,
Yuma (Arizona)

Diplomatic representation from the US:
chief of mission: Ambassador Antonio O. GARZA
embassy: Paseo de la Reforma 305, Colonia Cuauhtemoc, 06500 Mexico,
Distrito Federal
mailing address: P. O. Box 9000, Brownsville, TX 78520-0900
telephone: [52] (55) 5080-2000
FAX: [52] (55) 5525-5040
consulate(s) general: Ciudad Juarez, Guadalajara, Monterrey, Tijuana
consulate(s): Hermosillo, Matamoros, Merida, Nogales, Nuevo, Laredo

Flag description:
three equal vertical bands of green (hoist side), white, and red;
the coat of arms (an eagle perched on a cactus with a snake in its
beak) is centered in the white band

Economy Mexico

Economy - overview:
Mexico has a free market economy that recently entered the trillion
dollar class. It contains a mixture of modern and outmoded industry
and agriculture, increasingly dominated by the private sector.
Recent administrations have expanded competition in seaports,
railroads, telecommunications, electricity generation, natural gas
distribution, and airports. Per capita income is one-fourth that of
the US; income distribution remains highly unequal. Trade with the
US and Canada has tripled since the implementation of NAFTA in 1994.
Mexico has 12 free trade agreements with over 40 countries
including, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, the European Free Trade
Area, and Japan, putting more than 90% of trade under free trade
agreements. The government is cognizant of the need to upgrade
infrastructure, modernize the tax system and labor laws, and provide
incentives to invest in the energy sector, but progress is slow.

GDP (purchasing power parity):
$1.006 trillion (2004 est.)

GDP - real growth rate:
4.1% (2004 est.)

GDP - per capita:
purchasing power parity - $9,600 (2004 est.)

GDP - composition by sector:
agriculture: 4%
industry: 27.2%
services: 68.9% (2004 est.)

Labor force:
34.73 million (2004 est.)

Labor force - by occupation:
agriculture 18%, industry 24%, services 58% (2003)

Unemployment rate:
3.2% plus underemployment of perhaps 25% (2004 est.)

Population below poverty line:
40% (2003 est.)

Household income or consumption by percentage share:
lowest 10%: 1.6%
highest 10%: 35.6% (2002)

Distribution of family income - Gini index:
53.1 (1998)

Inflation rate (consumer prices):
5.4% (2004