This is the fifth time during the six-year term of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador that an increase in the minimum wage of Mexicans is achieved.
As of January 1, 2024, the minimum wage in Mexico will increase by 20 percent, which will benefit up to 6 million workers in the central and southern areas, as well as the northern border strip of the country.
At the beginning of this month, the National Commission of Minimum Wages (Conasami), in charge of setting the amounts year after year, announced the agreement by which businessmen, unions and Government approved the wage increase to reach a minimum remuneration of 7 thousand 468 pesos per month.
This is the fifth time in the administration of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO) in which an increase is achieved by unanimity of the three sectors that make up the Commission.
In addition, with this increase, the purchasing power of the minimum wage is doubled thanks to the accumulated 110 percent that was achieved between 2018 and 2024.
How much will the minimum wage increase in 2024?
The Council of Representatives of the Conasmi detailed that the general minimum wage for 2024 will be 248.93 pesos per day as of January 1, while in the Free Zone of the Northern Border it was 374.89 pesos per day.
So that the wage increase is reflected as follows:
General minimum wage (applies in 26 states): It will go from $207.44 to $248.93 per day. Free Zone of the Northern Border (applies in 6 states): It will go from $312.41 to $374.89 per day. Likewise, the professional minimum wages of the list integrated by 61 trades and special works will increase 20 percent as of the first day of 2024.
It should be remembered that the increase in the general minimum wages is integrated from the minimum wage in force in 2023, plus the sum of the Independent Recovery Amount (MIR).
The MIR is “a mechanism whose sole purpose is the recovery of the purchasing power of the minimum wages and is an absolute amount in pesos, which should not be used as a reference to set other current wages such as contractual, federal, state, or municipal.”, points out the Conasami.
Why is the minimum wage higher in the northern border?
The so-called Free Zone of the Northern Border is a strip with fiscal incentives composed of 43 border municipalities of Baja California, Sonora, Coahuila, Nuevo León and Tamaulipas.
In 2018, this area reported a lag in economic growth, for this reason, in the National Development Plan, tax benefits, minimum wage increase and the standardization of energy prices were established.
Due to these incentives and the type of activity that is developed in these entities (manufacturing, maquiladora and export services industries), the base salary of the workers is higher.
How much has the minimum wage increased with AMLO?
During the six-year term of Andrés Manuel López Obrador, the minimum wage has registered double-digit increases every year:
In 2019 it was 16.2 percent.
In 2020 it was 20 percent.
In 2021 it was 15 percent.
In 2022 it was 22 percent.
In 2023 it was 20 percent.
In the first year of the current six-year term, the minimum wage was 88 pesos per day, while for 2024 (the last year of the present administration), this figure will rise to 248.93 pesos per day.
Source: El Financiero
