The Trouble With Mexico's Big Minimum Wage Hikes
Higher wages are nice; higher economic growth would help.
Photographer: Cesar Rodriguez/Bloomberg via Getty Images
December in Mexico isn’t just for posadas and epic traffic jams — it’s also when we find out how much the minimum wage will jump in the year ahead.
The increase, typically unveiled in the final days of the year after negotiations between the government, unions and business groups, has grown in importance as Mexico tries to reverse decades of stagnant real incomes. Since late 2017 — and especially after President Andrés Manuel López Obrador took office in December 2018 — minimum wages have climbed by double digits each year, fueling a rapid recovery in purchasing power. Between 2018 and 2025, the daily minimum wage more than tripled to 278.8 pesos ($15.2), a jump of nearly 130% in real terms (i.e., after adjusting for inflation).