Mexico's informal economy reached its highest contribution to GDP in 2024, accounting for 25.4% of the total, according to preliminary INEGI data. This marks a 3.2 percentage point increase since 2020, underscoring the persistence of labor informality affecting 54.4% of the employed population.
The INEGI's Informal Economy Measurement for 2024 shows that informality generated one in every four pesos of national GDP, a record since data has been available since 2003. The informal sector contributed 14.5%, and other modalities, such as subsistence agriculture and domestic service, added 10.9%.
This 0.7 percentage point increase from 2023 highlights more dynamic growth in informality: while total GDP rose 1.4%, the formal economy advanced only 0.5% and the informal surged 4.3%. INEGI notes that "for every 100 pesos of the country's GDP, formal workers generated 75 pesos and those in informality, 25 pesos".
In the third quarter of 2025, out of 59.5 million employed, 33 million worked informally (55.4%), compared to 26.5 million in the formal sector. This results in a gap of 1.2 informals per formal, with no notable improvements in job quality despite wage increases.
Informality persists as the main avenue for income generation, though it is less productive. In this context, Víctor Piz argues that "it is essential to accelerate the growth of the economy and formal employment in 2026", to prevent informality from continuing as the primary driver of economic growth.
