Mexican agricultural exports ended a multi-year growth trend in 2025, according to data from Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Geografía. Total exports of agricultural products fell by 10.8 per cent year on year, reaching US$20.97 billion.
Mexico exports a wide range of agricultural products, including tomatoes, avocados, peppers, citrus fruit, melons, watermelons, and strawberries. Prior to the decline, agricultural export value increased from US$18.683 billion in 2020 to US$23.355 billion in 2024. The decrease in 2025 ended 15 years of uninterrupted annual growth in agricultural export value.
Fruit exports recorded a 5.1 per cent increase in volume, reaching 4.09 million metric tons. Despite higher shipment volumes of pineapple, guava, berries, bananas, and papaya, export value declined by 6.8 per cent to US$9.201 billion.
Vegetable exports showed a different pattern. Export volumes fell by 1.2 per cent to 6.70 million metric tons, while value decreased by 6.2 per cent to US$5.704 billion. Volume increases were recorded for watermelon, carrots, melon, and courgette, while value increases were reported only for melon, chillies, and cauliflower.
Annual agricultural export values in US$ million were reported as follows: 2020 at 18,683, 2021 at 19,668, 2022 at 21,398, 2023 at 21,784, 2024 at 23,355, and 2025 at 20,970.
Several factors affected trade performance. Mexico recorded lower external sales of live cattle due to the presence of the New World corn borer, compensatory quotas on tomatoes, and ongoing water stress conditions. These issues contributed to reduced export volumes and values.
On 14 April 2025, the U.S. Department of Commerce announced its withdrawal from the 2019 Anti-Dumping Suspension Agreement on fresh tomatoes from Mexico, with termination taking effect within 90 days. As a result, anti-dumping duties of 20.91 per cent were imposed on most Mexican tomato imports from 14 July 2025 onward.
According to the USDA, these measures are expected to reduce investment and planting activity, particularly during the autumn-winter production cycle.
Source: OpporTimes
