Mexico Population

Mexico’s ancient history has left archaeological treasures from ancient Native American cultures. The country has significant natural resources and is the second largest economy in Latin America, but its wealth is unjustly distributed among the population. Violence and organized crime are serious societal problems.

Key figures and facts

• Capital: Mexico City
• Ethnic groups: Fertilizers (descendants of Europeans + Indigenous people) 62%, Indigenous people 28%, others (mainly Europeans) 10% (2012)
• Language: Spanish only 93%, Spanish and Maya, Nahuatl and other regional languages ​​7%, unspecified 1% (2005)
• Religion: Catholics 83%, Pentecostals 2%, Jehovah’s Witnesses 1%, other evangelical churches 5%, other/none/unspecified 9% (2010)
• Population: 125 959 205
• Control Form: Federal Republic
• Area: 1 964 380 km²
• Currency: pesos
• GNP per capita: 17 275 PPP $
• National Day: September 16th

Mexico’s Population

In 2013, the population of Mexico was estimated at 122 332 000 (World Bank), annual population growth to 1.2%. Life expectancy for women is 79.6 years and 74.8 years for men. Declining birth rates, 18.8 percent (against 34 per thousand 1980–85), have reduced the strong population growth somewhat. While in the mid-1980s it was over 40% under the age of 15, this proportion had dropped to 28.5% in 2013. However, it is labor migration, especially to the United States, which has contributed most to the decline in population growth. An estimated 6 million Mexicans live in the United States without a legal residence permit. Up to 3 million people cross the border illegally every year. Most “wetbacks”, as they are called – because they water or swim across the Rio Grande which separates the two countries – leaves in connection with the fruit harvesting season and returns home after a short stay. In addition, some border residents are day commuters. Mexico has also long been a refuge for political refugees, and many Latin Americans have stayed here in recent years.

The Native American population, estimated at 4.5 million in 1492, declined during conquest and early colonial times. Later, it has remained fairly constant. The percentage of Native American speakers is declining. This is due to a general bias or “mastering”, which particularly affects areas where Native American language and way of life stand weak vis-à-vis an expanding large community. Nevertheless, official Mexico gives the outside world an emphasis on Native American origins and pre-Columbian characteristics. Around 60% of the population are mastics, 30% are Indians and 9% are white of European descent. Blacks, Asians and Arabs further contribute to the country’s ethnic diversity.

Mexico has a population density of 62.9 per km² (2013). The most densely populated is Mesa Central, or the plateau country around the capital, which has over half of the country’s population. The arid areas of the north and the coastal states of the south are relatively thinly populated. Since the 1940s, rural population pressure has led to a growing shift from country to city, especially to the capital Ciudad de México. Over 70% of the population lives in cities, and the capital Ciudad de México, in the Norwegian city of Mexico, is one of the world’s largest cities.

Population of Mexico by Year (Historical)

Year	Population	Annual Growth Rate	Population Density	Global Rank
2020	128,932,642	1.060%	66.3251	10
2019	127,575,418	1.100%	65.6270	10
2018	126,190,677	1.130%	64.9146	11
2017	124,777,213	1.170%	64.1875	11
2016	123,333,265	1.210%	63.4447	11
2015	121,858,147	1.330%	62.6859	11
2010	114,092,852	1.480%	58.6913	11
2005	106,005,092	1.400%	54.5308	11
2000	98,899,734	1.530%	50.8757	11
1995	91,663,174	1.770%	47.1531	11
1990	83,943,021	2.010%	43.1817	11
1985	75,983,374	2.320%	39.0872	12
1980	67,761,261	2.600%	34.8576	12
1975	59,607,842	2.970%	30.6633	12
1970	51,493,454	3.140%	26.4891	14
1965	44,123,742	3.160%	22.6980	16
1960	37,771,748	3.150%	19.4305	16
1955	32,350,485	2.970%	16.6417	16
1950	27,944,558	0.000%	14.3752	17

Major Cities in Mexico by Population

Rank	City	Population
1	Mexico City	12,294,082
2	Iztapalapa	1,815,675
3	Ecatepec de Morelos	1,654,904
4	Guadalajara	1,495,071
5	Puebla	1,433,951
6	Juarez	1,320,893
7	Tijuana	1,300,872
8	Leon de los Aldama	1,238,851
9	Gustavo Adolfo Madero	1,185,661
10	Zapopan	1,142,372
11	Monterrey	1,135,401
12	Ciudad Nezahualcoyotl	1,104,474
13	Chihuahua	809,121
14	Naucalpan de Juarez	792,100
15	Merida	777,504
16	Alvaro Obregon	726,553
17	San Luis Potosi	722,661
18	Aguascalientes	722,139
19	Hermosillo	714,950
20	Saltillo	709,560
21	Mexicali	689,664
22	Culiacan	675,662
23	Guadalupe	673,505
24	Acapulco de Juarez	673,368
25	Tlalnepantla	653,299
26	Cancun	628,195
27	Santiago de Queretaro	626,384
28	Coyoacan	620,305
29	Santa Maria Chimalhuacan	612,272
30	Torreon	608,725
31	Morelia	597,400
32	Reynosa	589,355
33	Tlaquepaque	575,831
34	Tlalpan	574,466
35	Tuxtla	536,991
36	Cuauhtemoc	531,720
37	Victoria de Durango	518,598
38	Toluca	489,222
39	Ciudad Lopez Mateos	489,049
40	Cuautitlan Izcalli	484,462
41	Ciudad Apodaca	467,046
42	Heroica Matamoros	449,704
43	San Nicolas de los Garza	443,162
44	Venustiano Carranza	430,867
45	Veracruz	428,212
46	Xalapa de Enriquez	424,644
47	Azcapotzalco	414,600
48	Tonala	408,648
49	Xochimilco	407,774
50	Benito Juarez	385,328
51	Iztacalco	384,215
52	Mazatlan	381,472
53	Irapuato	380,830
54	Nuevo Laredo	373,614
55	Miguel Hidalgo	372,778
56	Xico	356,241
57	Benito Juarez	354,906
58	Villahermosa	353,466
59	Ciudad General Escobedo	352,333
60	Celaya	340,276
61	Cuernavaca	338,539
62	Tepic	332,752
63	Ixtapaluca	322,160
64	Tampico	308,892
65	Ciudad Victoria	305,044
66	Tlahuac	304,965
67	Ciudad Obregon	298,514
68	Nicolas Romero	281,688
69	Ensenada	279,654
70	Coacalco	277,848
71	Santa Catarina	268,236
72	Uruapan	264,328
73	Gomez Palacio	257,241
74	Los Mochis	256,502
75	Pachuca de Soto	256,473
76	Oaxaca	254,918
77	Soledad de Graciano Sanchez	254,904
78	Colonia del Valle	249,889
79	Tehuacan	248,605
80	Ojo de Agua	242,161
81	Magdalena Contreras	238,320
82	Coatzacoalcos	235,872
83	Campeche	220,278
84	Monclova	215,160
85	La Paz	215,067
86	Nogales	212,422
87	Buenavista	205,970
88	Puerto Vallarta	203,231
89	Tapachula	202,561
90	Ciudad Madero	197,105
91	Chilpancingo	187,140
92	Poza Rica de Hidalgo	185,131
93	Chicoloapan	172,808
94	Ciudad del Carmen	169,355
95	Chalco	168,609
96	Jiutepec	162,316
97	Delegacion Cuajimalpa de Morelos	160,380
98	Salamanca	160,058
99	San Luis Rio Colorado	157,978
100	San Cristobal de las Casas	157,916
101	San Pablo de las Salinas	156,080
102	Cuautla	154,247
103	Ciudad Benito Juarez	151,782
104	Chetumal	151,132
105	Piedras Negras	150,067
106	Playa del Carmen	149,812
107	Zamora	141,516
108	Cordoba	140,785
109	San Juan del Rio	138,767
110	Colima	137,272
111	Ciudad Acuna	134,122
112	Manzanillo	129,924
113	Zacatecas	128,900
114	Huixquilucan	124,735
115	Ciudad Valles	124,533
116	Guadalupe	124,512
117	San Pedro Garza Garcia	122,516
118	San Pedro Garza Garcia	121,898
119	Fresnillo	120,833
120	Orizaba	120,733
121	Miramar	118,503
122	Iguala de la Independencia	118,357
123	Ciudad Delicias	117,960
124	Ciudad de Villa de Alvarez	117,489
125	Cuauhtemoc	113,896
126	Navojoa	113,725
127	Heroica Guaymas	112,971
128	Minatitlan	111,935
129	Cuautitlan	108,338
130	Texcoco de Mora	105,054
131	Parral	104,725
132	Tepexpan	102,556
133	Tulancingo	102,295
134	Tuxtepec	101,699
135	Colonia Lindavista	99,889
136	Apatzingan	98,899
137	Lagos de Moreno	98,095
138	Temixco	97,677
139	Ciudad Guzman	97,639
140	Comitan	97,426
141	Ciudad Rio Bravo	95,536
142	Garcia	93,530
143	Tepatitlan de Morelos	91,848
144	Cardenas	91,447
145	Cholula	87,786
146	Hacienda Santa Fe	86,824
147	Atlixco	86,579
148	Tecoman	85,578
149	Los Reyes Acaquilpan	85,248
150	Ciudad Mante	84,676
151	Tuxpam de Rodriguez Cano	84,639
152	Tlaxcala	84,559
153	Heroica Zitacuaro	84,196
154	Ocotlan	83,658
155	La Piedad	83,212
156	Ciudad Lerdo	79,558
157	Ciudad Lazaro Cardenas	79,089
158	Matehuala	77,217
159	Agua Prieta	77,143
160	Kanasin	77,129
161	Cozumel	77,125
162	Amozoc de Mota	76,995
163	Salina Cruz	76,485
164	San Martin Texmelucan de Labastida	75,407
165	Juchitan de Zaragoza	74,714
166	Silao	74,131
167	Fuentes del Valle	73,976
168	Guanajuato	72,126
169	El Pueblito	71,143
170	Guasave	71,085
171	San Francisco del Rincon	71,028
172	San Miguel de Allende	69,700
173	San Jose del Cabo	69,677
174	Frontera	69,351
175	Cabo San Lucas	68,352
176	Cadereyta Jimenez	68,000
177	Valle de Santiago	67,947
178	Cadereyta	67,883
179	San Mateo Atenco	67,779
180	Ixtapa-Zihuatanejo	67,297
181	Santa Cruz Xoxocotlan	66,975
182	Ramos Arizpe	66,443
183	Tultepec	65,227
184	Rosarito	65,167
185	Tecate	64,653
186	Sahuayo de Morelos	64,320
187	Guamuchil	63,632
188	Linares	62,993
189	Tesistan	62,286
190	San Andres Tuxtla	61,658
191	Cortazar	61,547
192	San Salvador Tizatlalli	61,256
193	Ciudad Hidalgo	60,431
194	Martinez de la Torre	59,963
195	Villa Vicente Guerrero	59,890
196	Colonia Nativitas	59,889
197	Heroica Caborca	59,811
198	Altamira	59,425
199	Dolores Hidalgo Cuna de la Independencia Naci	59,129
200	Teziutlan	58,588
201	Acambaro	57,861
202	Jacona de Plancarte	56,823
203	Puerto Penasco	56,645
204	Huauchinango	56,095
205	Nuevo Casas Grandes	55,442
206	Patzcuaro	55,187
207	Sabinas	54,794
208	San Bernardino Tlaxcalancingo	54,406
209	Zinacantepec	54,109
210	Jardines de la Silla (Jardines)	53,631
211	Santiago Teyahualco	53,573
212	Coatepec	53,510
213	Papantla de Olarte	53,435
214	Rioverde	53,017
215	Ciudad de Huajuapan de Leon	52,932
216	Zacapu	52,695
217	Matamoros	52,122
218	Taxco de Alarcon	52,106
219	Arandas	52,064
220	Huamantla	51,885
221	Uriangato	51,271
222	Teoloyucan	51,144
223	Acayucan	50,823
224	Zumpango	50,631
225	Zacapu	50,001
226	Polanco	49,889
227	San Luis de la Paz	49,803
228	Apizaco	49,395
229	Emiliano Zapata	49,082
230	Valladolid	48,862
231	Valle Hermoso	48,807
232	San Pedro	48,635
233	San Juan de los Lagos	48,573
234	Colonia del Sol	47,921
235	Santa Ana Chiautempan	47,919
236	Tierra Blanca	47,713
237	Tlapa de Comonfort	46,864
238	Tizimin	46,860
239	Autlan de Navarro	45,271
240	Mazatlan	44,997
241	Chiapa de Corzo	44,966
242	San Buenaventura	44,650
243	Purisima de Bustos	43,401
244	Tizayuca	43,139
245	Moroleon	43,089
246	Jerez de Garcia Salinas	42,953
247	Jesus Maria	42,901
248	Palenque	42,836
249	Izucar de Matamoros	42,825
250	Yautepec	42,620
251	Las Choapas	42,582
252	Empalme	42,405
253	Cintalapa de Figueroa	42,356
254	Juventino Rosas	42,153
255	Santo Domingo Tehuantepec	41,971
256	Ocosingo	41,767
257	Comalcalco	41,347
258	San Pedro	41,054
259	Ciudad Constitucion	40,824
260	Panuco	40,643
261	Rio Blanco	40,500
262	Camargo	40,110
263	Penjamo	39,959
264	Huejutla de Reyes	39,904
265	San Andres Cholula	39,853
266	Xicotepec de Juarez	39,692
267	Uman	39,500
268	Los Reyes de Salgado	39,098
269	Ocozocoautla de Espinosa	39,069
270	Esperanza	38,858
271	Melchor Ocampo	38,488
272	Zacatelco	38,355
273	Nueva Rosita	38,047
274	Tepotzotlan	38,008
275	Guacamayas	37,869
276	Perote	37,405
277	Progreso	37,258
278	Villaflores	37,126
279	Salvatierra	37,092
280	Santa Teresa	36,734
281	Santiago	36,729
282	San Jeronimo Cuatro Vientos	36,667
283	Ameca	36,045
284	Agua Dulce	35,968
285	Xalisco	35,591
286	Coyotepec	35,566
287	Ciudad Mendoza	35,530
288	Tala	35,285
289	San Martin Azcatepec	35,279
290	Tlapacoyan	35,227
291	Tonala	35,211
292	La Barca	35,108
293	San Pablo Autopan	35,030
294	Ciudad Melchor Muzquiz	34,949
295	Ixmiquilpan	34,703
296	Fraccionamiento Real Palmas	34,525
297	San Miguel Topilejo	34,492
298	Maravatio de Ocampo	34,270
299	Jose Mariano Jimenez	34,170
300	Porticos de San Antonio	34,123
301	Tepeji del Rio de Ocampo	34,040
302	Coatzintla	33,925
303	Parras de la Fuente	33,706
304	San Isidro	33,626
305	Zacatlan	33,625
306	Calpulalpan	33,152
307	Ciudad Sabinas Hidalgo	32,957
308	Rio Grande	32,833
309	Ticul	32,685
310	Jaltipan de Morelos	32,667
311	Victor Rosales	32,610
312	Tenosique	32,468
313	Nueva Italia de Ruiz	32,356
314	Zapotlanejo	32,265
315	Macuspana	32,114
316	Centro Familiar la Soledad	32,048
317	Huixtla	31,922
318	Ciudad Fernandez	31,895
319	Amecameca	31,576
320	Cananea	31,449
321	Loma Bonita	31,374
322	Huatusco	31,194
323	San Jose Guadalupe Otzacatipan	31,188
324	Chilapa de Alvarez	31,046
325	Jimenez	30,943
326	Champoton	30,770
327	Miguel Aleman (La Doce)	30,758
328	Escuinapa	30,679
329	Tantoyuca	30,476
330	Cosamaloapan	30,466
331	Puruandiro	30,460
332	Huatabampo	30,364
333	Nicolas R Casillas	30,313
334	Tlajomulco de Zuniga	30,162
335	Tequisquiapan	29,688
336	San Miguel Ajusco	29,670
337	Coyula	29,563
338	Pinotepa Nacional	29,493
339	Escarcega	29,366
340	Marfil	29,264
341	Santa Isabel	29,200
342	Actopan	29,112
343	Tequila	29,092
344	San Fernando	29,060
345	Navolato	29,042
346	Ixtapa	28,925
347	Tecamachalco	28,568
348	Pabellon de Arteaga	28,522
349	Tula de Allende	28,466
350	Ciudad Sahagun	28,445
351	San Felipe	28,341
352	Metepec	28,094
353	San Sebastian el Grande	28,027
354	Nuevo Mexico	28,024
355	Berriozabal	28,017
356	Ajalpan	27,920
357	Tultitlan de Mariano Escobedo	27,906
358	Apaseo el Alto	27,880
359	Rincon de Romos	27,877
360	San Francisco Acuautla	27,849
361	Sanctorum	27,825
362	Catemaco	27,504
363	Contla	27,499
364	Leyva Solano	27,425
365	Tuxpan	27,412
366	Tepeaca	27,338
367	Abasolo	27,278
368	Huimanguillo	27,233
369	Moyotzingo	27,026
370	Villagran	26,968
371	Atotonilco el Alto	26,763
372	Rancho La Gloria	26,749
373	Misantla	26,716
374	Sayula	26,678
375	Apan	26,531
376	Francisco I. Madero	26,521
377	Magdalena de Kino	26,494
378	Teapa	26,437
379	Las Pintitas	26,389
380	Rio de Teapa	26,389
381	Magdalena Atlicpac	26,318
382	Isla	26,176
383	San Jeronimo Chicahualco	26,170
384	Reforma	26,146
385	Ixtaczoquitlan	26,076
386	Apaseo el Grande	26,010
387	Santiago Papasquiaro	26,010
388	Ciudad de Allende	25,954
389	Ocoyoacac	25,904
390	Puerto Escondido	25,791
391	Acatzingo	25,700
392	Tecax	25,640
393	Felipe Carrillo Puerto	25,633
394	Valente Diaz	25,589
395	Huejotzingo	25,573
396	Tacambaro de Codallos	25,554
397	Tejupilco de Hidalgo	25,520
398	Valle de Bravo	25,443
399	Mixquiahuala de Juarez	25,399
400	Ixtepec	25,270

Language

The official language is Spanish, which is the mother tongue for approximately 90% of the population. An estimated 10% speak Native American languages, most of which are bilingual. Among the most widespread Native American languages ​​are Nahuatl, the Aztec language, spoken by about 1.6 million people, mixtek (0.5 million), zapotek (0.5 million) and Mayan language yucatek (1 million).

Religion

The Spanish conquest of the 16th century led the Catholic Church to a very dominant position, with a powerful hierarchy and numerous monasteries. After the Constitution of 1917, a complete distinction was made between state and church, and the new state was clearly hostile in the following decades. 90% of the population is said to be Catholics. However, many elements of Native American religions live on within the church, especially in connection with the saint’s cult. Particularly important is the cult of Mexico’s patron saint, the Virgin of Guadalupe, founded in 1531, with its center on the outskirts of Ciudad de México in the same location as the former Aztec temple. Several of the Native American people of Mexico have developed syncretistic religions in which features of Catholic Christianity are combined with traditional religions.