Mexico economic growth and rule of law, Digi Mart USA News (Mexico): According to a column published in La Razón, Mexico’s economy is growing faster, with year-over-year growth of 0.5% in the first quarter, 1.9% in the second quarter and 3.2% in the third quarter. The author notes that growth could be even stronger if the country put its house in order.
The column explains that economic output depends on direct investment, which in turn depends on business confidence. That confidence, the author argues, depends largely on the rule of law, meaning just laws that are respected by people and governments and enforced fairly, protecting the freedom to produce, sell and own private property.
Citing the World Justice Project’s Rule of Law Index, the column says Mexico scored 0.4 on a scale of 0 to 1 in 2025, ranking 121st among 143 countries. In 2018, before the current administration began, the score was 0.46 and the ranking was 92nd among 113 nations.
The author concludes that rule of law in Mexico has worsened.
The column argues that restoring the rule of law would require reversing reforms that dismantled autonomous agencies such as the Inai, Cofece, IFT, Coneval, CRE and CNH, and reconsidering the democratic election of judges, magistrates and justices, which the author says weakens the separation of powers. The author states that these changes have produced less state and more government, with greater power for the executive branch.
The author concludes that the current conditions point to continued weak institutions and possibly further decline. Yet the column notes that the economy is still growing, and says the reason for this will be addressed in a forthcoming installment of the series.
