Mexican economy shrinks 0.4pc in third quarter

Mexico's economy contracted 0.4 per cent in the third quarter (Q3) of 2019 compared to the same period in 2018, according to a preliminary report.

The contraction is smaller than the 0.8 per cent decrease registered in the second quarter (Q2), making a contrast with the 1.2 per cent growth in the first quarter (Q1), said the report on Wednesday.

The report, released by the National Statistics and Geography Institute (INEGI), said the decrease was blamed on weaker industrial activity dependence on US demand and stagnation in the first nine months of the year.

Despite a 5.4 per cent expansion in the agricultural sector, the Q3 also witnessed a 1.7 per cent decline in industrial activities, and 0.1 per cent decrease in the service sector, which contributes the most to the Mexican Gross Domestic Product (GDP), reports Xinhua.

Mexico's economy saw zero growth in the first nine months of 2019 compared to the same period last year, the INEGI said.

"It should be noted that the timely estimates presented in this report could change when traditional quarterly GDP figures are released on Nov. 25," the institute said.

Scotiabank financial group, a member of Canada's Scotiabank, described figures of the third quarter as "negative," as there was only 0.1 per cent GDP increase compared to the second quarter.

"Viewed as a whole, we can say that the Mexican economy is stagnating, as its nonexistent growth so far this year confirms, in a climate where a negative bias prevails given economic, political, national and global uncertainty," Scotiabank said.

Mexico, Latin America's second largest after Brazil, seems to have experienced an economic slowdown with the global trend.

According to Mexico's central bank Banxico, the country's GDP is expected to accelerate between 0.3 per cent and 0.7 per cent in 2019, much slower than the 2.0 per cent growth pace last year.