ill struggling to bail out a banking
sector burdened with bad debts. Mexico's international trade continues
to be highly dependent on the US market. The US/Mexico trade balance
has shifted over the last two years because of the peso's rapid
devaluation in late 1994, which made Mexican exports much more
attractive. In 1995 and 1996, the US ran trade deficits with Mexico, a
large turnaround from 1994's trade surplus of about $1.3 billion.

GDP: purchasing power parity - $777.3 billion (1996 est.)

GDP - real growth rate: 5.1% (1996 est.)

GDP - per capita: purchasing power parity - $8,100 (1996 est.)

GDP - composition by sector:
agriculture : 8%
industry: 28%
services: 63% (1995 est.)

Inflation rate - consumer price index: 28% (1996 est.)

Labor force:
total: 36.3 million (November 1996)
by occupation: services 31.7%, agriculture, forestry, hunting, and
fishing 28%, commerce 14.6%, manufacturing 11.1%, construction 8.4%,
transportation 4.7%, mining and quarrying 1.5%

Unemployment rate: 10% (1996 est.) plus considerable underemployment

Budget:
revenues: $73.8 billion
expenditures: $74 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (1996
est.)

Industries: food and beverages, tobacco, chemicals, iron and steel,
petroleum, mining, textiles, clothing, motor vehicles, consumer
durables, tourism

Industrial production growth rate: 11% (1996 est.)

Electricity - capacity: 40.502 million kW (1995)

Electricity - production: 142.344 billion kWh (1995)

Electricity - consumption per capita: 1,206 kWh (1995 est.)

Agriculture - products: corn, wheat, soybeans, rice, beans, cotton,
coffee, fruit, tomatoes; beef, poultry, dairy products; wood products

Exports:
total value: $95 billion (f.o.b., 1996 est.), includes in-bond
industries
commodities: crude oil, oil products, coffee, silver, engines, motor
vehicles, cotton, consumer electronics
partners: US 80%, Canada 5.2%, Japan 1.8% (1996 est.)

Imports:
total value : $88.5 billion (f.o.b., 1996 est.), includes in-bond
industries
commodities: metal-working machines, steel mill products, agricultural
machinery, electrical equipment, car parts for assembly, repair parts
for motor vehicles, aircraft, and aircraft parts
partners : US 74.8%, Japan 5.1%, Germany 3.65%, Canada 1.4%, France
1.1% (1996 est.)

Debt - external: $170 billion (1996 est.)

Economic aid:
recipient: ODA, $85 million (1993)
note : US commitments, (Emergency Stabilization Fund), $13.5