Study: Audiovisual industry contributes $138 billion to Mexico's economy

Mexico’s audiovisual industry makes a direct economic impact of $7.3 billion (MXN$138.7 billion) on the country’s domestic GDP, and sustains over 77,000 jobs. This is according to an in-depth analysis of the Mexican economy conducted by Oxford Economics.

Mexico is undoubtedly a regional leader in cultural production and Mexican media has dominated the Latin American Spanish-speaking market for decades. Even today, Mexican films, music, and television programs continue to be a hit far beyond the country’s geographic borders.

In recent years, the billions of dollars created by the Mexican audiovisual industry have directly supported about $1 billion in tax payments – an amount equivalent to the entire Ministry of Culture’s proposed budget in 2022.

The Oxford Economics analysis found that, in addition to its direct contribution to the GDP, the additional indirect and induced contributions amount to a total of around $12 billion. And when indirect and induced employment re considered, the industry supports around 200,000 jobs in total.

Of all the different audiovisual sectors, Mexico's film and TV industry made a strong impact, contributing around $630 million to the economy and generating about $270 million in tax revenue in 2022. But the largest audiovisual subcategory is free-to-air TV, which added approximately $5.7 billion to the economy. Pay TV is the second largest, contributing $2.7 billion.

Film screenings in cinemas are another major part of the industry, adding roughly $1.7 billion, while video-on-demand services contributed about $2.3 billion in 2022. Retail and reproduction of media, both physical and digital, supported many jobs and contributed around $350 million.

At the core of the industry in Mexico is film and television, with famous movies and series often gaining popularity across Latin America. This subcategory alone was responsible for adding thousands of jobs and a lot tax revenue.

In fact, American and European companies have also increasingly been choosing Mexico for their film and TV shoots. That is partly because they are able to take advantage of less expensive, but still highly-skilled local crews. This is clearly a significant source of jobs for the local market – and tax revenue.

In 2019, 15% of the Mexican Filmmakers Association members’ was related to production services for foreign companies. By 2022, that percentage increased to 36% and it is expected to keep growing.

But obviously it is not only productions with foreign involvement – homegrown talent is also a major part of this booming industry in Mexico, with notable international recognition for directors like Alejandro Gonzalez Iñárritu, Guillermo del Toro, and Alfonso Cuarón.

With streaming services seeing a major boom in recent years, more and more people having access to high-speed internet, and the infrastructure and crews for productions growing, Mexico’s audiovisual sector is touted to continue on a positive trajectory in the years to come.