ami, New
Orleans, New York, Nogales (Arizona), Phoenix, Sacramento, San
Antonio, San Diego, San Francisco, San Jose, San Juan (Puerto Rico)
chancery: 1911 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20006
telephone: [1] (202) 728-1600

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 with 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. Real GDP growth was a weak -0.3% in
2001, 0.9% in 2002, and 1.2% in 2003, with the US slowdown the
principal cause. Mexico implemented free trade agreements with
Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, and the European Free Trade Area
in 2001, 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 - $941.2 billion (2003 est.)

GDP - real growth rate:
1.3% (2003 est.)

GDP - per capita:
purchasing power parity - $9,000 (2003 est.)

GDP - composition by sector:
agriculture: 4%
industry: 26.4%
services: 69.6% (2003 est.)

Investment (gross fixed):
19.3% of GDP (2003)

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)

Inflat