Decarbonizing Growth in Mexico

Mexico is a country with nearly 103 million inhabitants living in a territory of approximately 2 million square kilometers. The annual population growth rate is 1.18%. Of the total population, a fourth part lives in rural areas. The number of households is close to 24 million (INEGI, 2007). The country’s economy is diversified and the most important sources of income are oil revenues, tourism, manufacturing exports and remittances of Mexican citizens living abroad. Annual GDP is close to US$650 billion. Economic growth in 2006 was 4.6% with an annual inflation rate of 3.98% (Banxico, 2007). Mexico is one of the most important oil producers in the world, with an average daily production of 3.8 million barrels, of which 47% are for domestic consumption. Natural gas consumption averaged 4.8 billion cubic feet per day in 2005, mostly as gas associated with oil production (BP, 2006).