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Water crisis could threaten up to 5% of Mexico’s GDP as investment falls short
🇵🇾 Paraguay /Economy & Trade

Water crisis could threaten up to 5% of Mexico’s GDP as investment falls short

From ABC Color · () Spanish

Translated from Spanish and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

Newswire Named sources Ongoing story
  • Experts told EFE that Mexico’s water crisis could affect four to five percentage points of GDP, while investment remains below the country’s needs.
  • The water sector would require investment equivalent to about 1.3% of GDP annually, compared with 186 billion pesos planned through 2030.
  • Specialists warned that prolonged water stress could disrupt production and supply chains, with agriculture particularly exposed because it uses about 76% of Mexico’s water.

Mexico’s water crisis could cost the country between four and five percentage points of gross domestic product, according to experts who say investment remains far below what is needed.

Raúl Rodríguez, president of the Consultative Council on Water, said international organisations recommend annual water-sector investment equivalent to 1.3% of GDP. Mexico remains well below that level, he said. Investment of roughly 1% of GDP would amount to about 350 billion pesos, or $20.5 billion, each year and would need to continue for at least a decade.

That requirement contrasts with the 186 billion pesos, nearly $11 billion, included in government water investment plans through 2030 under President Claudia Sheinbaum’s administration. Rodríguez said the economic cost of the crisis already exists, although it is difficult to calculate precisely.

Water can limit economic growth.

— Jorge ArriagaThe water-security specialist warned that prolonged scarcity could constrain Mexico’s economy.

He estimated that inadequate treatment and water discharges caused more than 66 billion pesos in losses in 2023. Including aquifer depletion and broader resource degradation, the figure rises above 102 billion pesos, almost $6 billion.

Jorge Arriaga, executive coordinator of the Water Network at the National Autonomous University of Mexico and the UNESCO-backed Regional Centre for Water Security, warned that deteriorating water resources could restrain economic growth. “Water can limit economic growth,” he said, citing direct production restrictions, higher costs, supply-chain interruptions and food-security impacts.

Agriculture faces particular exposure because it consumes about 76% of Mexico’s water. Both specialists said the sector needs greater technological upgrading to reduce its vulnerability. Rodríguez called for more funding and greater opportunities for private co-investment as lawmakers prepare to discuss the 2027 federal budget. “Hopefully we will see a change, greater investment in that area,” he said.

Hopefully we will see a change, greater investment in that area.

— Raúl RodríguezHe called for increased public and private investment in the water sector ahead of the 2027 budget debate.
About this summary

Originally published by ABC Color in Spanish. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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