Mexico Returns to Global FDI Top 10 With US$41 Billion

Mexico re-entered UNCTAD's global Top 10 FDI destinations in 2025 with US$41 billion in inflows, up US$3 billion from 2024, driven by its position as the leading beneficiary of nearshoring-related manufacturing investment. The ranking arrives as annual USMCA reviews, US tariffs on steel, aluminum, and automotive goods, and a 78% drop in nearshoring announcements in 1Q26 raise concerns over investment planning across regional supply chains. The outcome directly affects automotive, electronics, aerospace, and pharmaceutical manufacturers, as the government targets up to US$325 billion in inflows under Plan Mexico.

Mexico is once again among the world's 10 largest recipients of foreign direct investment (FDI), according to the 2025 ranking released by the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), reclaiming a position it last held in 2021.

The country attracted US$41 billion in FDI last year, US$3 billion more than in 2024, moving up to 10th place worldwide after sitting in 11th position from 2022 through 2024. The United States remained at the top of the ranking with US$277 billion in inflows, followed by Singapore with US$151 billion, then Hong Kong, China, and Brazil.

"The Mexican economy remains the main beneficiary of nearshoring-related FDI in manufacturing, but shows a pronounced drop in green energy project announcements. The values and number of projects in 2025 suggest caution in investor sentiment," UNCTAD said in its World Investment Report 2026.

The Geneva-based agency said Mexico remains a strategic point in the reconfiguration of supply chains because of its proximity to the US economy, even amid uncertainty over trade and industrial policy tied to the USMCA. Some investments have been delayed as companies wait for trade and industrial conditions to stabilize, the report noted. 

UNCTAD also found that FDI across Latin America is driven mainly by reinvested earnings rather than new capital, and warned that infrastructure and energy, the two factors countries need to offer to attract fresh projects, remain a bottleneck in the region, encouraging cautious decisions. Tariffs the United States has applied to industries such as steel, aluminum, and automotive are pushing investment away from countries like Mexico, the agency added.

Manufacturing Anchors Inflows Despite Tariff Pressure

The UN Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) offered a complementary reading. Despite trade barriers, the commission highlighted that Mexico is by a wide margin the largest goods exporter in Latin America and the Caribbean and among the leading manufacturing exporters globally, with deep integration into North American production networks that channels substantial FDI into export manufacturing, led by the automotive, electronics, aerospace, and pharmaceutical sectors.

"In Mexico, manufacturing accounts for the largest share of FDI inflows over the last 35 years, above services and natural resources," ECLAC said in its study Foreign Direct Investment in Latin America and the Caribbean 2026. Using Bank of Mexico data under the BPM6 methodology, the commission reported that Mexico captured US$43.2 billion in 2025, its third-highest level since records began in 1990 and the second-largest total in the region behind Brazil's US$74.1 billion, with the two countries jointly accounting for 62% of regional inflows.

ECLAC nonetheless flagged the erosion of tariff predictability. "In most cases, tariffs are applied regardless of the existence of trade agreements, which reduces the predictability of access to the US market," it said. "In the case of Mexico, while USMCA provisions have allowed broad exemptions for products complying with rules of origin, certain sectoral tariffs, such as those applied to steel and aluminum, remained in force."

Business Sector Warns on Annual USMCA Reviews

Employer confederation COPARMEX, led by Juan Jose Sierra Alvarez, cautioned that the annual reviews the USMCA will now undergo could have negative effects. Prolonged uncertainty may weigh on investment planning, particularly for companies embedded in regional supply chains, including US firms established in Mexico, the organization said.

The warning aligns with recent capital flow data. According to MBN, nearshoring-related investment announcements fell 78% year over year in 1Q26, to 22 deals worth US$2.63 billion, while Chinese FDI in Mexico dropped 80% in 2025 to US$588.3 million as companies paused commitments pending regulatory clarity on the treaty review. The automotive sector faces the sharpest exposure.

Domestic momentum, however, remains visible in the composition of inflows. The Ministry of Economy reported record FDI of US$40.9 billion in the first three quarters of 2025, up 14.5% year over year, with new investments more than tripling to US$6.56 billion. At least 20 new foreign companies established operations in the country during the year, absorbing 2.18 million ft2 of industrial space in corridors including Monterrey, Queretaro, Guanajuato, San Luis Potosi, and Tijuana. Manufacturing drew 37% of total inflows, followed by financial services with 25%.

The federal government is seeking to convert that cycle into a structural advantage. Under Plan Mexico, authorities have outlined a strategy to accelerate project approvals, remove regulatory bottlenecks, and channel capital into priority sectors, targeting inflows of up to US$325 billion over the coming years. The Mexican Business Council for Foreign Trade (COMCE) projects FDI of US$40-45 billion in 2026 and exports approaching US$700 billion, contingent on preserving preferential access to the US market as the USMCA review advances.