The State of Mexico Spends the Most on Public Works

The State of Mexico, the second-largest Mexican state in terms of GDP, is the federal entity that spends the most on public work, reveals a recent study. The state surpassed more dynamic states like Mexico City.

Política Colectiva, a civil society organization headquartered in Chihuahua, found that the State of Mexico ranked first in an index that measures the percentage of the state’s budget spent on public works. According to the study, the state spent US$1.32 billion on these projects, which represents 10 percent of the total budget. Meanwhile, Mexico’s average lies between 1 and 4.5 percent. 

The State of Mexico is followed by Aguascalientes, which invested over US$99.3 million, or 7.5 percent of the state’s budget. Compared with Aguascalientes, Tamaulipas spent more in overall, reaching US$246.3 million. However, this was 7.3 percent of its budget, leaving the state in the third place. Jalisco ranked fourth with an investment of US$447.7 million, 6.9 percent of its budget. Jalisco is followed by Mexico City, which spent 6.8 percent, totaling US$661 million. 

Nuevo Leon is the federal entity that spent the least of its budget: only 0.5 percent, which is US$28 million. Nuevo Leon ranks behind Baja California Sur, which spent US$7.2 million, or 0.8 percent of its budget. Queretaro ranked 30th, investing US$18 million, which translates to 0.9 percent. In 29th place is Zacatecas, with 1 percent invested, equivalent to US$16 million. Chihuahua ranked 28th, with 1.1 percent invested, which is worth US$39.6 million.

Looking at the total sum, the states that spent the most were the State of Mexico, Mexico City, Jalisco, Tamaulipas and Michoacan, the latter ranking 9th regarding the percentage spent: 4.6 percent, valued at US$189 million. The countries that spent the least were Baja California Sur and Colima with US$10 million, as well as Zacatecas, Queretaro and Morelos with US$21 million.  

The 32 states allocated over 4.2 percent of their budget to public work, which includes modifications to existing infrastructure, parks and health services, as well as transportation and mobility infrastructure. According to Política Colectiva, the study was made using 2021’s data and the amounts only consider the investment made by state governments, not by decentralized organisms or trusts. 

Entrepreneurs from the infrastructure sector recognized the efforts made by state authorities. Nevertheless, they consider it insufficient to alleviate the drop in investment made by federal institutions.