Mexico set a new FDI record in Q1 2025, attracting $21.4B—a 5.4% year-over-year increase. This surge reflects investor confidence in Mexico’s industrial ecosystem and nearshoring potential.
The manufacturing sector led inflows, accounting for over 51% of Q1 FDI, especially in automotive, auto parts, and computer equipment.
Top sources: United States (51.2%), Germany, Canada, Japan, and Spain. Key investment destinations included Mexico City, Nuevo León, Jalisco, State of Mexico, and Chihuahua, which together received 70% of national FDI.
Mexican FIBRAS rebounded strongly after a challenging 2024, with their index climbing 14% in the first four months of 2025. Monthly gains were consistent: 5.4% in Jan, 1.4% in Feb, 2.9% in Mar, and 3.6% in Apr.
Industrial leasing renewal spreads hit 16.5% in Q1, with rental rates up to a record $6.31/sqm (5.7% YoY).
FIBRA Macquarie reported record quarterly AFFO of $29.5M and robust NOI growth above 20% YoY in peso terms. The firm also completed a 385,000sqft industrial development in Tijuana.
Improved conditions: Banxico’s interest rate cuts and stabilized inflation (3.93% in April) are supporting asset valuations and REIT performance.
YTD (2025), the FIBRAS sector led the Mexican market with a 21%
After seven years without new REIT IPOs in Mexico, Fibra NEXT—promoted by Fibra Uno (FUNO)—launched in July 2025 on the Mexican Stock Exchange. It focuses exclusively on logistics and warehousing assets and represents a renewed vote of confidence in Mexico’s industrial sector.
FUNO is also advancing development projects for 2025, including Mítikah and strategies to improve office and commercial asset occupancy (projected to exceed 85% in offices and 93% in retail by year’s end).
Recovery in office and retail segments continues: Office space occupancy hit 84% with prospects to rise further, and retail reached 93% occupancy—20% higher foot traffic than pre-pandemic figures.
Industrial real estate remains robust, driven by nearshoring and expansion in key border cities (e.g., Tijuana, Nuevo León).
Federal Government Initiatives (Mexico Plan):
Announced plans for 100 new industrial parks by 2030, with at least 13 now operational and a $625M investment slated for their deployment, focusing on strategic corridors matched to regional strengths such as logistics, energy, and sustainability.
$2.75B investment announced for a new industrial plant in the southeast (Kanasín, Yucatán) to bolster manufacturing capacity in the region.
President Sheinbaum’s administration launched tendering for 15 “well-being hubs” or industrial corridors as part of its Plan México, with significant direct job creation expected.
Major New Parks and Expansions:
Over 50 industrial parks are currently under construction across northern, central, and Bajío regions, with an estimated 3,800 hectares in growth for 2025, focusing on facilities ranging from 20,000sqm to 100,000sqm for advanced manufacturing and logistics.
Natura Industrial Park broke ground in Tijuana (US$911M investment), covering 444 acres, with 24 new warehouses and an estimated 27,000 direct jobs.
Nuevo León, Bajío, Jalisco, Yucatán, and Tijuana highlighted as hotspots for new industrial park launches, with 80 new parks planned or underway in key investment corridors.
Automotive and Manufacturing Expansions:
SK TEC (Irapuato, Guanajuato): MXN$380M automotive plant expansion.
Senyo (Japanese): $22M facility in Guanajuato.
Kingfa Science & Technology: $84M new plant in San Luis Potosí.
New steel mill in San Luis Potosí with 1.25M ton annual capacity.
Grupo Xcaret's Expansion (Riviera Maya):
Unveiled a $700M transformation of Hotel Xcaret México, adding 1,800 new rooms, multigenerational amenities, a kids-only hotel, teen clubs, new restaurants, and expanded spa facilities. The new XAL restaurant opened in Q1 2025 at La Casa de la Playa, led by Chef Andoni Aduriz.
Mexico City—Emerging Districts:
Residential and mixed-use demand and pricing rising strongly in boroughs like Iztacalco, Cuajimalpa, and Xochimilco, fueled by urban renewal, infrastructure investment, and new quality-of-life features.
Summary:
In 2025, Mexico is experiencing a historic surge in industrial and commercial real estate development, driven by government initiatives, nearshoring, major new industrial parks, hospitality megaprojects, and strategic regional growth. Major investments are being directed into manufacturing corridors and new industrial zones, reshaping the country’s investment landscape.
DiscoveryCRE is Mexico's Premier Commercial Real Estate Liaison Specializing in Nearshoring and Industrial Tenant Site Selection. We help companies make informed SITE SELECTION decisions. Manufacturing and Logistics Operations.
Ready to simplify your Mexico expansion?
USA and Canada Toll free number 1 (800) 603-3460
Mexico Toll Free number 800 099 1437
Guadalajara Telephone number +52 33 3348 2317
Luis@DiscoveryCRE.com
Thank you for reading our edition of the MexicoCRE Newsletter. Stay tuned for more updates and investment opportunities! 🙏
Mexico reached a record-high foreign direct investment (FDI) of $21.4 billion in the first quarter of 2025, marking the highest quarterly inflow in its history . This figure represents a 9% increase over the same period in 2024 and a 5.4% rise from the previous record, despite global economic headwinds and protectionist U.S. trade policies.
Key drivers and composition:
Reinvested profits: 79.5% of FDI inflows
Intercompany accounts: 13.1%
New investments: 7.4%, with a 165% increase in new investments compared to the previous quarter.
Main source countries:
United States
Germany
Canada
Top sectors benefiting:
Manufacturing
Financial services
Mining
Electronics and semiconductors
Electromobility
Pharmaceuticals
Medical devices
Clean energy and the circular economy
Government initiatives:
The Plan México and the development of “well-being hubs” (industrial corridors) have been central to this growth, providing tax incentives and preferential conditions for strategic sectors. Fourteen such hubs have been approved across northern, central, and southeastern Mexico, with tendering processes underway for their construction.
Notable corporate investment:
Unilever announced a $1.5 billion investment to complete its Nuevo León factory and expand operations in Mexico.
Geographic highlights:
States benefiting from these new industrial corridors include Quintana Roo, Michoacán, Veracruz, Tlaxcala, Tamaulipas, Sinaloa, Puebla, Hidalgo, Guanajuato, México state, Durango, Chihuahua, and Campeche.
This record FDI underscores Mexico’s resilience and attractiveness for international investors, driven by its proximity to the U.S., the USMCA framework, and proactive government policy supporting nearshoring and industrial diversification.
U.S. policies in 2025 have had a profound and multifaceted impact on Mexico’s foreign direct investment (FDI) growth. The relationship is shaped by a mix of trade agreements, protectionist measures, nearshoring incentives, and evolving geopolitical priorities.
Foundation for Stability: USMCA continues to provide a stable legal and regulatory framework, encouraging cross-border investment and trade.
Rules of Origin & Content Requirements: The agreement’s rules incentivize greater North American content in exports, pushing companies to invest in Mexican facilities to meet compliance and benefit from tariff-free access.
Investment Protection: Updated dispute settlement mechanisms and sector-specific protections (e.g., automotive, infrastructure) give investors confidence.
Shift from Asia: U.S. policies encouraging companies to relocate supply chains from China to North America have made Mexico a prime destination for manufacturing investment.
Sectoral Impact: The biggest beneficiaries are automotive, electronics, machinery, medical devices, and clean energy sectors, with U.S. companies leading many new projects.
Tariff Threats: Recent U.S. tariff frameworks have increased uncertainty, with Mexican exports facing potential tariffs up to 23%. However, Mexico still enjoys a much more favorable position compared to China, whose exports to the U.S. face tariffs above 125%.
Security-Shoring: The U.S. has increased scrutiny of foreign (especially Chinese) investments in Mexico, pressuring Mexico to align its investment review mechanisms with U.S. national security interests.
Bilateral Cooperation: Enhanced cooperation between U.S. and Mexican authorities on national security reviews and sensitive sectors is influencing which investments are approved.
“Made in America” Incentives: U.S. initiatives to reshore manufacturing—through deregulation and financing—create both competition and opportunity for Mexico. While some investment is drawn back to the U.S., Mexico’s proximity, cost structure, and USMCA advantages help it remain attractive, especially for advanced manufacturing and supply chain resilience.
Plan México: Mexico’s government has proactively adapted, launching “Plan México” to reduce dependence on Chinese imports, increase domestic value-added, and align more closely with U.S. supply chain and security priorities.
Development Hubs: Targeted incentives, industrial parks, and regulatory reforms are designed to attract U.S. and allied investment, especially in sectors most affected by U.S. policy shifts.
Policy/Factor | Positive Impact on Mexico FDI | Negative/Challenging Impact |
|---|---|---|
USMCA | Boosts certainty, attracts FDI | Stricter compliance raises costs |
Nearshoring/Friendshoring | Drives new U.S. and global projects | Dependent on U.S. policy stability |
U.S. Tariffs/Protectionism | Makes Mexico more attractive vs. Asia | Raises uncertainty for exporters |
Security-Shoring | Aligns Mexico with U.S. interests | Heightened scrutiny, limits some FDI |
U.S. Reshoring Incentives | Pushes some investment to U.S. | Mexico remains competitive |
U.S. policies are the single most important external factor shaping Mexico’s investment landscape in 2025. The combination of USMCA, nearshoring incentives, and security-driven cooperation has fueled record FDI inflows, especially from U.S. companies. However, ongoing tariff threats, protectionist rhetoric, and the need for regulatory alignment create both opportunities and challenges for sustained growth. Mexico’s proactive adaptation—through Plan México and targeted industrial policies—has helped it capitalize on these trends, but the outlook remains sensitive to further shifts in U.S. policy direction
DiscoveryCRE is Mexico's Premier Commercial Real Estate Liaison Specializing in Nearshoring and Industrial Tenant Site Selection. We help companies make informed SITE SELECTION decisions. Manufacturing and Logistics Operations.
When nearshoring to Mexico, having the right partner makes all the difference. Our team primarily represents industrial tenants and buyers providing expert site selection and facility acquisition for manufacturing and logistics companies across Mexico.
Ready to simplify your Mexico expansion?
USA and Canada Toll free number 1 (800) 603-3460
Mexico Toll Free number 800 099 1437
Guadalajara Telephone number +52 33 3348 2317
Luis@DiscoveryCRE.com
Thank you for reading our edition of the MexicoCRE Newsletter. Stay tuned for more updates and investment opportunities! 🙏
With a global trade war in the offing, manufacturing options closer to home are looking more compelling to U.S. companies. Luis Miranda, founder and managing director of Guadalajara-based tenant representation firm Discovery CRE, cites numerous factors in favor of nearshoring operations to Mexico. Not least of these is the fact that the proximity between the U.S. and Mexico offers logistical advantages.
Compared to China, which Mexico surpassed two years ago as the United States’ leading trading partner, transportation from Mexico simply requires less time. “If you see the distance from port to port between China and the U.S., it’s at least three to four weeks,” Miranda told Connect CRE. “Depending on where you are in Mexico, it could be on the same day or in two or three days.”
DiscoveryCRE is Mexico's Premier Commercial Real Estate Liaison Specializing in Nearshoring and Industrial Tenant Site Selection. We help companies make informed SITE SELECTION decisions. Manufacturing and Logistics Operations.
When nearshoring to Mexico, having the right partner makes all the difference. Our team primarily represents industrial tenants and buyers providing expert site selection and facility acquisition for manufacturing and logistics companies across Mexico.
Ready to simplify your Mexico expansion?
USA and Canada Toll free number 1 (800) 603-3460
Mexico Toll Free number 800 099 1437
Guadalajara Telephone number +52 33 3348 2317
Luis@DiscoveryCRE.com
Thank you for reading our edition of the MexicoCRE Newsletter. Stay tuned for more updates and investment opportunities! 🙏
DiscoveryCRE is Mexico's Premier Commercial Real Estate Liaison Specializing in Nearshoring and Industrial Tenant Site Selection. We help companies make informed SITE SELECTION decisions. Manufacturing and Logistics Operations.
When nearshoring to Mexico, having the right partner makes all the difference. Our team primarily represents industrial tenants and buyers providing expert site selection and facility acquisition for manufacturing and logistics companies across Mexico.
Ready to simplify your Mexico expansion?
USA and Canada Toll free number 1 (800) 603-3460
Mexico Toll Free number 800 099 1437
Guadalajara Telephone number +52 33 3348 2317
Luis@DiscoveryCRE.com
Thank you for reading our edition of the MexicoCRE Newsletter. Stay tuned for more updates and investment opportunities! 🙏
As a U.S. citizen who lives in Mexico part of the year, I pay close attention to the presidents of both countries and their perspectives on immigration issues and border policy. And I’m particularly interested in immigration because I grew up abroad, in a diplomatic family, surrounded by people different from myself.
After President Donald Trump was inaugurated in January, he declared a border emergency in order to prevent anyone from entering the United States illegally. There is no way of knowing exactly how many people would have crossed the border if it had remained open, but according to the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS), U.S. Border Patrol previously encountered unauthorized migrants attempting to cross it thousands of times a day.
I know plenty of people in the U.S. who are fiercely anti-immigration and want a strong U.S. border policy. As an acquaintance said on Facebook in February 2024, “We need a border to keep out all those terrorists from Mexico.”
I suppose we need a border policy, though it’s hard for me to see exactly why. Who crosses our borders? On the northern border, Canadians like their country and have no desire to relocate to the U.S., except those who move to the Sunbelt as part-time snowbirds.
As for the southern border, many of the people who want to cross it are hardworking Latinos willing to do low-paid, backbreaking labor, sometimes in over 100-degree temperatures. They’re well-known culturally for loving their families, being deeply religious, and respecting authority. They want to become legal.
But there’s no way they can complete the laborious paperwork necessary to get even a temporary visa while in their own countries before either starving — due to food shortages and hunger in Venezuela — or being shot or kidnapped by gangs — in El Salvador, Nicaragua, and Honduras.
I’d love those Americans who rage at the idea of foreigners “stealing” our jobs to feel what it’s like to pick strawberries for a season. I know I don’t want to do that, and I bet they don’t either. But picking strawberries for a couple of months just might change their vote.
Research from the nonprofit organization Women for Women International shows that most people forced to flee their country for political or economic reasons would much prefer to stay in their own country if it were safe and economically viable. The common U.S. fantasy that immigrants want what we have is not only misguided but arrogant.
Sure, people want the freedoms and the salaries available to Americans, but they don’t want the mass shootings, homelessness, fentanyl addiction, racism or any of the other ills that afflict American society. Like most U.S. citizens do — but, tragically, not enough of our legislators — they simply want the chance to earn a living and enjoy a peaceful life.
Ironically, six months after Trump closed the border, a Gallup poll showed that Americans’ views of immigration have swung dramatically upward in the last year. Seventy-nine percent of American adults now think immigration is good for the country, and the number of Americans who want immigration reduced dropped from 55 to 30 percent since 2024. These shifts reverse a four-year trend of growing concern that the U.S. was admitting far too many migrants.
Meanwhile, Mexico — a Catholic country famous for its machismo — recently elected a Jewish woman as its president, something the U.S. has yet to achieve on either count. But more importantly, she is everything Trump is not: measured, rational, and analytic. A former climate scientist, Sheinbaum’s statesmanship and calm rhetoric remind me of Germany’s former chancellor, Angela Merkel.
According to the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR), if refugees in Mexico are afraid of returning to their country, they can apply for protection. The process is free and confidential. Mexico also provides options for those seeking asylum or facing humanitarian crises, with permits granted for victims of crime, unaccompanied minors, or those with pending asylum claims.
Mexico was lauded in March for its dignified treatment of refugees, with the United Nations describing a joint Mexico-U.N. resettlement program as “an example of assimilation and solidarity” toward emigrants.
The U.S. also has a tradition of providing refuge to those fleeing persecution, war and violence. The U.S. Refugee Act of 1980 created a process for admitting and resettling refugees, including setting annual ceilings and providing pathways for resettlement both from abroad and asylum claims within the U.S.
However, the law doesn’t guarantee a specific number of refugees that will be admitted, and the Trump administration has drastically reduced admissions.
Clearly, Mexico cares about refugees. Its policies aren’t perfect. How could they be, with the country wedged tightly between certain dangerous Central American countries and the aggressive U.S.? But Mexico’s current policies are a lot more humanitarian than ours.
Without the agricultural labor that refugees provide in the U.S., Americans will have less selection in foods and will experience higher prices. As citizen frustration intensifies, my hope is that enough of us in the U.S. will wake up in time to change our national direction. ¡Ojala! Maybe then we’ll allow more refugees in, grateful that they are willing to do the hard, sweaty work that no one else wants to do.
For me, that time can’t come soon enough.
Louisa Rogers and her husband Barry Evans divide their lives between Guanajuato and Eureka, on California’s North Coast. Louisa writes articles and essays about expat life, Mexico, travel, physical and psychological health, retirement and spirituality. Her recent articles are available on her website, authory.com/LouisaRogers
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