Mexico is a country in North America, known for ancient Mayan ruins and vibrant cultural heritage. It has a population of nearly 132 million, making it the 11th largest country in the world. Its capital is Mexico City. Mexico has a manufacturing-based economy with strong automotive and oil sectors.
* As of 6/9/2025
1 birth
Every 15.7 seconds
1 death
Every 38.1 seconds
1 emigrant
Every 4.9 minutes
1 person
Every 29.6 seconds
Mexico’s population is really growing in leaps and it’s touted to soon overtake the population of Japan. When this happens, Mexico will be among the ten most populous countries in the world today. As of July 2012, the population was estimated to be 114,975,406. Because of this, Mexico also has the highest population for a Spanish speaking nation. The country’s population is on a steady, positive growth rate as a result of better medication and vaccines, which reduce the chances of death and increases the chances of successful births.
Mexico’s population makes it the highest populated Spanish speaking country. The country’s population has seen a steady growth in the twentieth century. In the past half a decade, the population growth has stalled, registering less than a 1% annual population growth rate. A total of 78.84% people in Mexico reside in urban areas leaving a mere 21.16% to live in the rural areas of Mexico. Roughly half of the population lives in one of Mexico’s 55 metropolitan towns.
The percentage of people broken down into different age brackets is: 0-14 years is 27.8%; 15-24 years is 18.2%; 25-54 is 40.5%; 55-64% is 6.7%; while 65 years and over is 6.7 according to the 2012 estimation. In the first age bracket there are 16,329,415 males and 15,648,127 females. In the 15-24 age bracket, there are 10,552,581 males and 10,420,710 females. The 25-54 age bracket has 22,287,799 males and 24,321,919 females. Between 55-64, there are 3,545,046 males and 4,138,139 females. Women are more popular in three of the age brackets compared to men taking only two of them.
Religion among the population is split at 82.7% Roman Catholic, Pentecostal 1.6%, 1.4% Jehovah’s Witnesses, 5% other Evangelical churches, 1.9% other faiths, and 7.4% unspecified or non-religious.
Mexico has a total life expectancy of 75.4 years, coming in 66th in the World Life Expectancy ranking. The life expectancy for males is 72.6 years, which is significantly lower than the 78.0 average for females. Life expectancy moved from under 30 years at the beginning of the century to 38 years by 1938. By 1950, it had risen to 50. The trend carried on as the average hit 62 by 1970; a sign that the Mexican health system was experiencing rapid improvements that contributed to longer life. The current average of 75. 4 is quite impressive for a country that once had a life expectancy of less than 30. The average is expected to continue to rise but at a slower rate than observed in the past. The estimated life expectancy is forecast to rise by 2.5 per decade.
In terms of quality of life, there are a few indicators that we can examine to gain a better idea of what contributes to the full image of life in Mexico. The median age across the population of Mexico is currently at 28.3 years of age. Improved access to clean drinking water as of 2015 estimates tell us that 96% of the population has access while only 3.9% struggle with that same level of access. The number change a bit when we take a closer look at the sanitation facility access however. Only 85.2% of the total population has access to improved sanitation, while 14.2% still struggle with sanitation access. Literacy across the country is at 94.5% of those over 15 years of age.
Mexico has displayed a positive population growth over the past seven decades. The population has quadrupled between 1933 and 1980 and has had its ups in years like in 1950, where the growth was 4.6%, and in 1970, where it recorded 7.2%. However, it has had its downs as well, like in 1960 where the growth rate was only 0.4%. However, the growth rate over the past seven decades has translated to an average of 3% per annual growth rate. After 1980, the population growth displayed a steady decrease of less than 3% per year. This subsequently dropped to less than 2% in the late 1980s and 90s and reached an all-time low of 1% or below in 2004. Migration from Mexico and a decrease in the fertility rate of women has been blamed for the consecutive drops over the years.