Doing legal business in Mexico

Everything you need to know about practising in Mexico as an English or Welsh solicitor, setting up a law firm office, or requalifying as a Mexican lawyer.

Mexico is ranked the 14th biggest economy in the world by GDP, according to the World Bank. This makes Mexico’s economy larger than that of Spain, Indonesia or Turkey.

Mexico is the 10th largest country by population, with 129 million inhabitants in 2023. It's the largest Spanish-speaking nation in the world.

Mexico City is the country’s capital and largest city by far, with over 21 million people in the metropolitan area.

Other major cities include Tijuana, Leon, Puebla, Ciudad Juarez, Guadalajara and Monterrey.

Mexico is the second largest economy in Latin America after Brazil. Mexico’s economy has underperformed, averaging under 2% over the last 25 years.

In 2022, the Mexican economy grew by 3.1% after a bounce back of 4.7% in 2021 and a fall of 8% in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Mexico’s economy is strongly dependent on trade, with 75% of exports going to the United States.

Mexico is expected to benefit from “near-shoring” and “friend shoring” trends as companies seek to diversify their supply chains and move manufacturing facilities towards friendly and nearer countries to reduce costs and avoid logistical setbacks.

The UK and Mexico are currently negotiating a bespoke free trade agreement (FTA) to replace the Trade Continuity Agreement that has maintained the preferential access under the EU-Mexico FTA.

We have worked closely with the UK government to ensure that legal services are a priority in the negotiations.

Mexico is also a member of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) that the UK formally agreed to join in July 2023.

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