Nuevo Leon ranked first as the state in Mexico that attracted the most Foreign Direct Investment in 2021.

 

The state of Nuevo Leon continues to maintain its national leadership in attracting foreign direct investment.

 

According to the latest data released today by the Federal Government for the 4th quarter of 2021, Nuevo Leon attracted $4,026.2 million dollars in Foreign Direct Investment (FDI),  an increase of 30% over the 2020 adjusted figures (against the preliminary figures, this increase is approximately 20%). This growth in FDI is more than double the national increase of only 9%.

 

This figure is 75% higher than the average of the previous 9 years (2012-2020) ($2,301 million dollars).

 

Among the countries that contributed the most to such investment was the United States, which invested the sum of $3,074.09 million dollars, the largest amount of U.S. FDI in Nuevo Leon ever recorded.

 

This amount is so large that it alone represents 10.2% of the total U.S. FDI captured in the state from 1999 to 2021, and makes Nuevo Leon the first place in Mexico with the highest FDI coming from that country during 2021.

 

Among the renowned U.S. companies that have invested in Nuevo Leon recently are big names such as Amazon, Stanley Black & Decker, and Mattel. These and many other organizations have considered the state as the best place to do business in Mexico.

 

Other record-breaking figures this past year include FDI from Japan and Germany, countries that invested $247.8 million dollars and $199.2 million dollars respectively in Nuevo Leon, both being the highest figures ever recorded in the state’s history for both countries.

 

Following this trend of large foreign investments, the country that took the second place of FDI in the state during 2021 was Spain, who invested $291.2 million dollars, positioning Nuevo Leon as the second national place in this category (not counting Mexico City) being surpassed only by the State of Mexico.

 

Finally, Nuevo Leon also ranked first in the country in FDI from the South American country of Argentina, which invested $147.3 million dollars, amounting to 48% of the total Argentine FDI captured by Mexico.

 

Official data reveals that in 2021 the sector with the highest investment in Nuevo León was that of the Manufacturing Industry ($3,224.9 million dollars), followed by Commerce ($213 million dollars), Energy, water and gas ($140.4 million dollars), Financial services and insurance ($132.6 million dollars) and Transportation, post and storage ($118.6 million dollars). 

 

The more than $3 billion dollars invested in the state’s Manufacturing Industry makes Nuevo Leon the first place nationally by a long shot, representing 26% of all FDI captured by this industry in Mexico during 2021 and amounting to more than double the investment captured by the second place (Guanajuato, $1,437.2 million dollars).

 

The international situation that has been occurring since 2018 continues to benefit Mexico, by positioning it as an attractive country for companies making ‘nearshoring’ decisions, by seeking to bring productive operations closer to their customers in North America.

 

When the trade war began in 2018 between the United States and China, many companies, not only Asian but also American and European, with production operations in China exporting to the North American market decided to relocate mainly to the US and Mexico. However, many of them decided to move operations from China to countries such as Vietnam or Thailand, and continue exporting to the US from there.

 

After a couple of years, and with the new challenges related to the disruption in global supply chains caused by the pandemic, many of these companies are now deciding to leave these Asian countries and finally relocate their operations to North America, a situation that benefits Mexico and more specifically Monterrey, since it has a privileged geographic location, direct connectivity with the US, a dynamic business ecosystem and above all a young, highly qualified and the most productive human capital in the country.