Mexico’s economic growth faces an old specter that has worsened over time, keeping investment confidence at rock bottom and hindering business growth in the country: extortion has ceased to be a security problem and has become an economic one, according to the consulting firm Strategia Electoral.
Insecurity and violence ranked among the top six risks for the country, as in 2024, the economic cost of violence in Mexico was equivalent to 18% of the national Gross Domestic Product (GDP), according to estimates from the Institute for Economics & Peace.
Furthermore, in the World Economic Forum’s (WEF) 2025 Executive Opinion Survey, crime and illicit economic activities appear as the second greatest risk facing the Mexican economy, and the December 2025 edition of the Bank of Mexico’s Private Sector Experts Survey identifies crime as the main barrier to doing business in the country.
Within the realm of crime, one of the main problems facing Mexican businesses is extortion. According to the Mexican Employers’ Confederation (Coparmex), this crime represents annual economic losses of approximately MXN $21 billion.
Furthermore, Strategia Electoral warns that cargo theft on highways increased by 19% between 2019 and the first half of last year—that is, since the Fourth Transformation took hold in Mexico—according to estimates from the Mexican Association of Insurance Institutions (AMIS).
For its part, the Confederation of Industrial Chambers (Concamin) indicates that MXN $15 million is lost daily due to this crime.
To counteract these problems, companies invest millions in crime prevention, reaching up to 10% of the costs for large corporations, which reduces their capacity for productive investment.
Last year, President Claudia Sheinbaum presented the National Strategy Against Extortion, which promotes a structural reform of public security, with the goal of strengthening the Secretariat of Security and Citizen Protection (SSPC), headed by Omar García Harfuch.
Strategia Electoral details that the reform prioritizes intelligence work and lays the groundwork for professionalizing and improving the coordination of security forces at all levels.
“While this reform is a step forward, Mexico risks remaining mired in the spiral of crime and violence in 2026. In addition to the fact that far-reaching legal reforms take time to implement and take effect, most security forces will have reduced budgets this year,” the consulting firm warns.
Contrary to the proposal, the SSPC (Secretariat of Security and Citizen Protection) suffered the largest budget cut among the country’s security agencies, with a 17.6% reduction compared to the budget approved for 2025. This year, the agency headed by García Harfuch will only have MXN $60.11 billion.
“Without sufficient resources, the fight against extortion and all forms of crime that affect economic activity could be jeopardized,” the consulting firm warns.
Source: cronista
