Mexico | Labor poverty rebounds to 31.9% in Q2 2026

Summary

In the second quarter of 2026, labor poverty in Mexico rebounded to 31.9%, 1.2 points above the historic low of the previous quarter. This increase is associated with a rise in labor informality, with the occupation rate reaching 30.2%, its highest level in more than 20 years.

Key points

• Key points:
• Between Q1 and Q2 2026, Nayarit (+5.7 pp), Michoacán (+5.2 pp), and Guerrero (+4.5 pp) had the largest increases in labor poverty, while Sonora (-2.0 pp) and Chihuahua (-1.7 pp) recorded the largest reductions.
• Labor poverty increased among the urban population, where it reached 28.3% (+1.4 pp). In rural areas, the indicator stood at 44.7% (+0.5 pp), maintaining a 16.4 percentage point gap between the two areas.
• Labor poverty among informal workers was 18.8%, in contrast to 0.6% for formal workers. The gap between the two groups widened to 18.2 percentage points, 2.2 pp more than in the previous quarter.
• A gender income gap persists. Nationally, the average labor income for men was 8,700 pesos per month, compared to 7,000 pesos for women, a difference of 1,700 pesos.

Geographies

Topics

Tags