“Mexico Faces Low Economic Growth and Fiscal Pressure, OECD Warns in 2026 Study”
Infobae reports:
“The OECD estimated that Mexico’s GDP will grow only 1.4% in 2026. On revenue collection, the organisation is clear: Mexico has the lowest tax revenue among member countries, at just 18.3% of GDP. It proposes broadening the VAT base, strengthening property taxes, improving vehicle and environmental tax collection, and reviewing taxes on fossil fuels and alcohol.”
Assessment
The OECD’s explicit recommendation that Mexico review its alcohol taxes adds significant economic weight to a long-standing public health demand. Mexico has the lowest tax revenue among all OECD members at just 18.3% of GDP, and the organisation estimates that reviewing taxes on alcohol and fossil fuels – alongside other fiscal reforms – could close part of that gap by 4.8 percentage points of GDP.
Mexico faces a fiscal deficit that reached 5% of GDP in 2024 – the largest in 35 years .
This recommendation aligns directly with the WHO’s alcohol policy best buys, which identify taxation as the most cost-effective population-level measures for preventing and reducing alcohol harm. The UnoTV report published the same week documented that alcohol harm costs Mexico 550 billion pesos annually in direct and indirect costs – a figure that further elevates the case for alcohol tax increases.