Yucatán’s informal economy maintained growth during the first quarter of 2026, although this progress did not translate into greater job creation. The Gross Value Added (GVA) of these activities increased 1.1% compared with the same period of the previous year, while paid jobs decreased 1.5%, according to the Quarterly Measurements of the Informal Economy by Federal Entity (Meitef) from Inegi.
The state’s performance remained below the national average, as in Mexico the GVA of the informal economy recorded a real annual increase of 2%, while paid jobs increased 0.4% and compensation grew 5.3%.
Yucatán also showed uneven performance among the components of informality. GVA in the so-called informal sector increased 3.3%, while GVA corresponding to other forms of informality fell 2.3%. Overall, the state contributed 0.02 percentage points to the national growth of these activities.
Inegi defines the informal sector as economic activities carried out by companies without legal status owned by households. Other forms of informality include, among other cases, workers who work within formal economic units but lack social security and benefits such as vacation, Christmas bonuses, or severance pay upon dismissal.
The most significant contrast for Yucatán was in employment. Paid jobs linked to the informal economy decreased 1.5% annually. The reduction reached 1.3% in the informal sector and 1.6% in other forms of informality. At the national level, there were 16 million 365 thousand 828 paid jobs under these conditions, 0.4% more than a year earlier.
Compensation also showed moderate growth in the state. During the first quarter, it increased 1.2% annually across the informal economy as a whole, well below the national increase of 5.3%. Within the sector, compensation in the informal sector grew 5.4%, while compensation corresponding to other forms decreased 1.9%.
Thus, the figures show a first quarter with greater informal productive activity in Yucatán, driven mainly by the traditional informal sector, but accompanied by a contraction in paid jobs and income growth that was lower than the national average.
The Meitef measure quarterly the contribution of informality to the productive effort of each state through GVA, jobs, and their compensation.
Source: sipse
