Mexico Environment - 2024

Environment - current issues

scarcity of hazardous waste disposal facilities; rural to urban migration; natural freshwater resources scarce and polluted in north, inaccessible and poor quality in center and extreme southeast; raw sewage and industrial effluents polluting rivers in urban areas; deforestation; widespread erosion; desertification; deteriorating agricultural lands; serious air and water pollution in the national capital and urban centers along US-Mexico border; land subsidence in Valley of Mexico caused by groundwater depletion

note: the government considers the lack of clean water and deforestation national security issues

Environment - international agreements

party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Climate Change-Paris Agreement, Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping-London Convention, Marine Dumping-London Protocol, Marine Life Conservation, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 2006, Wetlands, Whaling

signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements

Climate

varies from tropical to desert

Land use

agricultural land: 54.9% (2018 est.)

arable land: 11.8% (2018 est.)

permanent crops: 1.4% (2018 est.)

permanent pasture: 41.7% (2018 est.)

forest: 33.3% (2018 est.)

other: 11.8% (2018 est.)

Urbanization

urban population: 81.6% of total population (2023)

rate of urbanization: 1.4% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.)

Revenue from forest resources

0.1% of GDP (2018 est.)

Revenue from coal

0.03% of GDP (2018 est.)

Air pollutants

particulate matter emissions: 17.83 micrograms per cubic meter (2019 est.)

carbon dioxide emissions: 486.41 megatons (2016 est.)

methane emissions: 135.77 megatons (2020 est.)

Waste and recycling

municipal solid waste generated annually: 53.1 million tons (2015 est.)

municipal solid waste recycled annually: 2.655 million tons (2013 est.)

percent of municipal solid waste recycled: 5% (2013 est.)

Major lakes (area sq km)

fresh water lake(s): Laguna de Chapala - 1,140 sq km

salt water lake(s): Laguna de Terminos - 1,550 sq km

Major rivers (by length in km)

Rio Grande river mouth (shared with US [s]) - 3,057 km; Colorado river mouth (shared with US [s]) - 2,333 km
note – [s] after country name indicates river source; [m] after country name indicates river mouth

Major watersheds (area sq km)

Atlantic Ocean drainage: (Gulf of Mexico) Rio Grande/Bravo (607,965 sq km)
Pacific Ocean drainage: (Gulf of California) Colorado (703,148 sq km)

Major aquifers

Atlantic and Gulf Coastal Plains Aquifer

Total water withdrawal

municipal: 13.17 billion cubic meters (2020 est.)

industrial: 8.56 billion cubic meters (2020 est.)

agricultural: 67.83 billion cubic meters (2020 est.)

Total renewable water resources

461.89 billion cubic meters (2020 est.)

Geoparks

total global geoparks and regional networks: 2

global geoparks and regional networks: Comarca Minera, Hidalgo; Mixteca Alta, Oaxaca (2023)