Demographics of Mexico

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Population structure of Mexico (2017)

With over 123 million inhabitants in 2017, Mexico is the 11th most populous country in the world. It is the most populous Spanish-speaking country and the third most populous country in America after the United States and Brazil . For most of the twentieth century , the Mexican population was characterized by rapid growth. Although this trend has been slowed down and the average annual population growth has dropped to less than 1% over the past five years, Mexico still has a large proportion of young people. The most populous city in the country is the capital Mexico City with 8.9 million inhabitants (2016). The metropolitan region has 20.1 million inhabitants (2010). About 50% of the population lives in one of the 55 large metropolitan regions in the country. Overall, around 80% of the population live in urban areas and only 20% in rural areas, which means that Mexico has a high degree of urbanization .

In 2016, the median age in Mexico was 28 years. For every 1,000 inhabitants there were 18.5 births and 5.3 deaths. In 2016, fertility was still 2.1 children per woman (in 1970 there were 6 children). The life expectancy is just under 76 years. The population will begin to age in the next few years, but due to the still young average age, it will grow to around 150 million people by 2050.

While Mexico was still heavily influenced by migration from Europe and other parts of the world in the 16th to the early 20th centuries , it is now predominantly a country of emigration. The number of emigrants is over 12.6 million, most of whom live in the neighboring United States. The number of people overseas of Mexican descent is even estimated at up to 30 million people. In Mexico itself, just under 0.9% of the population was born abroad. Most of the migrants in Mexico came from Central American countries, where immigration to Mexico has increased in recent years due to better economic opportunities.

overview

Population density in Mexico (2010)
Fertility in Mexico (2014)
Life expectancy in Mexico (2007)

In 1900 Mexico had 13.6 million people. In the following decades, thanks to strong economic growth, the government was able to make targeted investments in the health system , which reduced child mortality and increased life expectancy. These two developments resulted in a sharp demographic increase between 1930 and 1980. The annual growth rate of the population has since declined from a high of 3.5% in 1965 to 0.99% in 2005. In 2009, 50% of the population was 25 years old or younger. The fertility rate also fell from 5.7 children per woman in 1976 to 2.2 in 2006 and was still 1.9 in 2017. In its mean population forecast, the UN assumes an increase in the population to around 160 million inhabitants 2060, after which a population decline is expected.

The fastest population growth is currently occurring in the northern states due to the economic opportunities that come from being near the border with the United States. The southern states of the country have the highest birthrates, but they are experiencing high levels of emigration.

Population structure (2010 census)
Age Male Female Total %
Total 54 855 231 57 481 307 112 336 538 100
0-4 5 346 943 5 181 379 10 528 322 9.37
5-9 5,604 175 5 443 362 11 047 537 9.83
10-14 5,547,613 5,392,324 10 939 937 9.78
15-19 5 520 121 5 505 991 11 026 112 9.82
20-24 4 813 204 5 079 067 9 892 271 8.81
25-29 4 205 975 4,582,202 8 788 177 7.82
30-34 4,026,031 4,444,767 8 470 798 7.54
35-39 3,964,738 4,328,249 8 292 987 7.38
40-44 3 350 322 3 658 904 7 009 226 6.24
45-49 2,824,364 3 104 366 5,928,730 5.28
50-54 2 402 451 2,661,840 5,064,291 4.51
55-59 1 869 537 2,025,828 3 895 365 3.47
60-64 1,476,667 1 639 799 3 116 466 2.77
65-69 1,095,273 1,221,992 2,317,265 2.06
70-74 873 893 1 000 041 1 873 934 1.67
75-79 579 689 665 794 1,245,483 1.11
80-84 355 277 443 659 798 936 0.71
85-89 197 461 256 703 454 164 0.40
90-94 68 130 96 794 164 924 0.15
95-99 25 920 39 812 65 732 0.06
100+ 7 228 11 247 18 475 0.02
Unknown 700 219 697 187 1,397,406 1.24

Ethnic groups

In the 18th century there was a caste system based on ethnicity (picture from 1777)

Mexico is ethnically diverse. The second article of the Mexican Constitution defines that the country is a multicultural state, originally based on the indigenous peoples and combined with the European heritage through the process of colonization. The census has not asked questions about ethnic self-identification since 1921. Therefore the current ethnic composition of the country can only be estimated.

The vast majority of Mexicans have been classified as "mestizos", which in modern Mexican usage means that they neither fully identify with an indigenous culture nor with a Spanish cultural heritage, but rather display cultural features that include elements of both indigenous and Spanish Tradition included. Through the conscious efforts of post-revolutionary governments, the "mestizo identity" was created as the foundation of modern Mexican national identity through a process of cultural and ethnic amalgamation known as mestizaje . A culture estimate indicates that the proportion of mestizos is up to 90%. Paradoxically, the word mestizo has long been dropped from popular Mexican vocabulary, and the word can even have derogatory connotations.

The category of "indigena" (indigenous) in Mexico has been defined based on various criteria throughout history. This means that the percentage of the Mexican population that is counted as "indigenous people" varies according to the definition used. According to the latest 2015 intercensual survey by the Mexican government, indigenous peoples make up 21.5% of the Mexican population. On that occasion, people who identified themselves as "indigenous" and people who identified themselves as "partially indigenous" were included in the "indigenous population" category. According to the 1921 census, 29% of the population were indigenous. In the 1793 census, the proportion was 66%. In modern Mexico, the indigenous population is considered to be disadvantaged, even if indigenous figures such as Benito Juárez have played an important role in Mexico's history. The states in the south of Mexico have the highest proportion of speakers of indigenous languages.

European Mexicans are citizens of full or majority European descent. The Europeans arrived in Mexico during the Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire and continued to immigrate to the country during colonial and independent Mexico. Most of the European Mexicans first came from Spain , then increasingly from Italy as well as Western and Eastern Europe. People of pure to predominantly European descent are estimated to be 10 to 15 percent of the population and still make up a large part of the country's cultural, economic and political elite. The northern regions of the country have the highest proportion of fair-skinned people, as these were barely populated at the time the country was colonized.

Mexico has smaller populations of Arab, Asian (mostly Chinese), and African ancestry. All of these groups have a population of about 1% or less and are largely assimilated into the majority society.

Demographic statistics since 1936

Source: Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Geografía (INEGI)

Note: Registered births include births from non-resident mothers. As a result, birth rates have been overestimated over the past two decades

Population (x 1000) Births Deaths Natural
change 		Birth rate
(per 1,000 inhabitants) 		Death rate
(per 1,000 inh.) 		Change
(per 1,000 inhabitants) 		Fertility per woman
1936 786 388
1937 820 469
1938 822 586 43.5
1939 857 951 44.6
1940 19 763 875 471 44.3
1941 20 208 878 935 43.5
1942 20 657 940 067 45.5
1943 21 165 963 317 45.5
1944 21 674 958 119 44.2
1945 22 233 999 093 44.9
1946 22 779 994 838 442 935 551 903 43.7 19.4 24.3
1947 23 440 1 079 816 390 087 689 729 46.1 16.6 29.5
1948 24 129 1,090,867 407 708 683 159 44.7 16.9 27.8
1949 24 833 1 109 446 438 970 670 476 46.0 17.7 28.3
1950 28 296 1 174 947 418 430 756 517 41.5 14.8 26.7
1951 29 110 1 183 788 458 238 725 550 40.7 15.7 24.9
1952 29 980 1 195 209 408 823 786 386 39.9 13.6 26.2
1953 30 904 1,261,775 446 127 815 648 40.8 14.4 26.4
1954 31 880 1,339,837 378 752 961 085 42.0 11.9 30.1
1955 32 906 1,377,917 407 522 970 395 41.9 12.4 29.5
1956 33 978 1 427 722 368 740 1,058,982 42.0 10.9 31.2
1957 35 095 1 485 202 414 545 1,070,657 42.3 11.8 30.5
1958 36 253 1,447,578 404 529 1,043 049 39.9 11.2 28.8
1959 37 448 1,589,606 396 924 1 192 682 42.4 10.6 31.8
1960 38 677 1 608 174 402 545 1 205 629 41.6 10.4 31.2
1961 39 939 1 647 006 388 857 1 258 149 41.2 9.7 31.5
1962 41 234 1 705 481 403 046 1 302 435 41.4 9.8 31.6
1963 42 564 1 756 624 412 834 1,343,790 41.3 9.7 31.6
1964 43 931 1,849,408 408 275 1 441 133 42.1 9.3 32.8
1965 45 339 1 888 171 404 163 1 484 008 41.6 8.9 32.7
1966 46 784 1 954 340 424 141 1 530 199 41.8 9.1 32.7
1967 48 264 1 981 363 420 298 1 561 065 41.1 8.7 32.3
1968 49 788 2,058,251 452 910 1 605 341 41.3 9.1 32.2
1969 51 361 2,037,561 458 886 1,578,675 39.7 8.9 30.7
1970 52 988 2 132 630 485 656 1,646,974 40.2 9.2 31.1
1971 54 669 2,231,399 458 323 1 773 076 40.8 8.4 32.4
1972 56 396 2 346 002 476 206 1,869,796 41.6 8.4 33.2
1973 58 156 2,572,287 458 915 2 113 372 44.2 7.9 36.3
1974 59 931 2,522,580 433 104 2,089,476 42.1 7.2 34.9
1975 61 708 2,254,497 435 888 1,818,609 36.5 7.1 29.5
1976 63 486 2,366,305 455 660 1 910 645 37.3 7.2 30.1 5.7
1977 65 261 2,379,327 450 454 1,928,873 36.5 6.9 29.6
1978 67 013 2,346,862 418 381 1 928 481 35.0 6.2 28.8
1979 68 715 2,274,267 428 217 1 846 050 33.1 6.2 26.9
1980 70 353 2,446,238 434 465 2,011,773 34.8 6.2 28.6
1981 71 916 2,530,662 424 274 2 106 388 35.2 5.9 29.3 4.4
1982 73 416 2,392,849 412 345 1,980,504 32.6 5.6 27.0
1983 74 880 2 609 088 413 403 2 195 685 34.8 5.5 29.3
1984 76 351 2,511,894 410 550 2 101 344 32.9 5.4 27.5
1985 77 859 2,655,671 414 003 2,241,668 34.1 5.3 28.8
1986 79 410 2,577,045 400 079 2,176,966 32.5 5.0 27.4
1987 80 999 2,794,390 400 280 2,394 110 34.5 4.9 29.6 3.8
1988 82 635 2 622 031 412 987 2 209 044 31.7 5.0 26.7
1989 84 327 2,620,262 423 304 2 196 958 31.1 5.0 26.1
1990 86 077 2,735,312 422 803 2,312,509 31.8 4.9 26.9 3.38
1991 87 890 2,756,447 411 131 2,345,316 31.4 4.7 26.7 3.28
1992 89 758 2,797,397 409 814 2,387,583 31.2 4.6 26.6 3.20
1993 91 654 2,839,686 416 335 2,423,351 31.0 4.5 26.4 3.12
1994 93 542 2 904 389 419 074 2,485,315 31.0 4.5 26.6 3.04
1995 95 393 2,750,444 430 278 2 320 166 28.8 4.5 24.3 2.97
1996 97 202 2 707 718 436 321 2,271,397 27.9 4.5 23.4 2.90
1997 98 969 2,698,425 440 437 2,257,988 27.3 4.5 22.8 2.83
1998 100 679 2,668,429 444 665 2,223,764 26.5 4.4 22.1 2.77
1999 102 317 2,769,089 443 950 2,325,139 27.1 4.3 22.7 2.71
2000 103 874 2,798,339 437 667 2,360,672 26.9 4.2 22.7 2.66
2001 105 340 2,767,610 443 127 2,324,483 26.3 4.2 22.1 2.61
2002 106 724 2,699,084 459 687 2,239,397 25.3 4.3 21.0 2.56
2003 108 056 2,655,894 472 140 2 183 754 24.6 4.4 20.2 2.52
2004 109 382 2 625 056 473 417 2,151,639 24.0 4.3 19.7 2.48
2005 110 732 2,567,906 495 240 2,072,666 23.2 4.5 18.7 2.45
2006 112 117 2,505,939 494 471 2,011,468 22.4 4.4 17.9 2.41
2007 113 530 2,655,083 514 420 2 140 663 23.4 4.5 18.9 2.38
2008 114 968 2,636 110 539 530 2,096,580 22.9 4.7 18.2 2.35
2009 116 423 2,577,214 564 673 2,012,541 22.1 4.9 17.3 2.31
2010 114 255 2,643,908 592 018 2,051,890 23.1 5.2 17.9 2.28
2011 115 683 2,586,287 590 693 1 995 594 22.3 5.1 17.2 2.25
2012 117 054 2,498,880 602 354 1,896,526 21.3 5.1 16.2 2.27
2013 118 395 2,478,889 623 599 1,855,290 20.9 5.3 15.6 2.24
2014 119 713 2,463,420 633 641 1 829 779 20.5 5.3 15.2 2.22
2015 121 005 2,353,596 655 694 1,697,902 19.4 5.4 14.0 2.13
2016 122 298 2,293,708 685 763 1 607 945 18.8 5.6 13.2 2.08
2017 123 415 2 234 039 703 047 1,530,992 18.1 5.8 12.3 1.97

languages

Proportion of indigenous population in Mexico (2010)

The overwhelming majority of Mexicans use Spanish as their everyday and lingua franca. Several indigenous languages ​​are spoken in Mexico, of which Mexico has legally recognized 62 as " national languages " (lenguas nacionales) since 2003 . The most widely spoken indigenous languages ​​are Nahuatl with over 1.6 million speakers (scattered across several states) and Mayathan (Maya on the Yucatán Peninsula ) with almost 900,000 speakers. Other important languages ​​are Mixtec (around 500,000), Tzeltal (around 470,000), Zapotec (around 460,000) and Tzotzil (around 430,000). There are a total of 16 indigenous languages ​​with more than 100,000 speakers in Mexico, more than any other country in America. With around ten million speakers of indigenous languages, Mexico has the second largest absolute number of indigenous speakers in America after Peru .

Mennonite Low German in Durango and Chihuahua is one of the languages ​​brought into the country by immigrants . Other languages ​​spoken in Mexico are French , German , Russian , Arabic , Occitan , Catalan , Basque , Galician , Asturian , Chinese , Hebrew , Korean , Ladino , Plautdietsch , Armenian, and Italian . Due to its proximity to the USA and the large Mexican diaspora in this country, English is widely used as a second language.

Languages ​​in Mexico (2005)
language proportion of
only Spanish 92.7%
spanish and indigenous language 5.7%
only indigenous language 0.8%
unspecified 0.8%

religion

The Mexican population is predominantly Catholic (83.9% of the population aged five and over according to the 2010 census), although the percentage of those who attend church on a weekly basis is lower (46%). About 7.6% of the population was classified as Evangelical or Protestant , 2.5% as "non-Evangelical Christian (a classification that summarizes Adventists , Mormons and Jehovah's Witnesses ), 0.05% as practicing Jews, and 4.6 % % than without religion. The largest group of Protestants are Pentecostals and Charismatics (classified as New Pentecostals). In contrast to some other countries in Latin America or Ibero America, the Mexican constitution of 1857 clearly separates church and state. The state also does not provide any economic resources ready for the Church (as is the case, for example, in Spain and Argentina ).

The percentage of Catholics in relation to the total population continues to decline overall, while the Evangelical population is growing steadily.

health

The health situation of the population has improved significantly in the last few decades. Despite the rapid population growth, malnutrition has been almost completely defeated. In 2016, just under 3.9% of children under the age of 5 were underweight. In the same year, 28.9% of adults were already severely overweight , which represents an increasing health risk. The average life expectancy of both sexes in Mexico rose from 25 years in 1900 to 50.7 years in 1950 and eventually to over 75 years today.

Historical development of life expectancy

1893 to 1950. Source: Our World In Data

year 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910
Life expectancy in Mexico 23.3 26.6 29.5 28.8 26.2 27.0 25.0 25.0 26.7 28.4 28.7 29.1 26.8 27.8 28.0 28.7 29.2 28.0
year 1920 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930
Life expectancy in Mexico 34.0 32.6 33.5 32.8 32.1 34.2 40.3 34.5 35.4 34.0
year 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940
Life expectancy in Mexico 37.7 38.4 37.3 38.2 40.4 38.3 36.8 39.4 45.5 39.0
year 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950
Life expectancy in Mexico 42.6 39.8 42.8 43.2 44.2 44.8 46.3 48.3 45.8 50.7

1950 to 2015. Source: UN World Population Prospects

Period Life expectancy
in years 		Period Life expectancy
in years
1950-1955 50.7 1985-1990 69.9
1955-1960 55.3 1990-1995 71.9
1960-1965 58.5 1995-2000 73.7
1965-1970 60.3 2000-2005 74.9
1970-1975 62.6 2005-2010 75.7
1975-1980 65.3 2010-2015 76.5
1980-1985 67.8

Literacy

The literacy rate was 94.9% in 2016, making it one of the highest in Latin America.

  • Men: 95.8%
  • Women: 94.0%

Mexico City (97%) and Nuevo León (96.6%) had the highest literacy levels among the administrative units of Mexico in 2005 . The lowest rates were found in Guerrero (78.4%) and Chiapas (77.0%).

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Mexico - total population up to 2018 | Statistics. Retrieved February 12, 2019 .
  2. ↑ a b c d The World Factbook - Central Intelligence Agency. Retrieved August 3, 2017 .
  3. ↑ Melanie Nayeli Wieschalla (with the assistance of Vera Hanewinkel): Country Profile Mexico - Current Migration Policy Developments in Mexico. Retrieved February 12, 2019 .
  4. ↑ a b United Nations Population Division | Department of Economic and Social Affairs. Retrieved August 3, 2017 .
  5. ↑ From Traitors to Heroes: 100 Years of Mexican Migration Policies . March 1, 2004.
  6. ↑ Población total por grupos quinquenales de edad según sexo, 1950 a 2005 . Retrieved August 29, 2017.
  7. ↑ LATIN AMERICA / MEXICO: The law of the mestizo . In: Der Spiegel . tape January 2 , 1968 ( spiegel.de [accessed February 12, 2019]).
  8. ↑ Federico Navarrete: El mestizaje y las culturas ( Spanish ) In: México Multicultural . UNAM . Archived from the original on August 23, 2013. Retrieved July 19, 2011.
  9. ↑ Wayback Machine. March 4, 2016, accessed February 15, 2019 .
  10. ^ Peter Wade: Race And Ethnicity In Latin America . Pluto Press, May 20, 1997, ISBN 978-0-7453-0987-3 (accessed July 17, 2013).
  11. ↑ Mexico's Indigenous Population. Retrieved February 12, 2019 .
  12. ^ "Ser mestizo en la nueva España a fines del siglo XVIII. Acatzingo, 1792" , Scielo , Jujuy, November 2000.
  13. ↑ Silke Hensel: The emergence of federalism in Mexico: the political elite of Oaxaca between city, region and state, 1786-1835 . Franz Steiner Verlag, 1997, ISBN 978-3-515-06943-4 ( google.de [accessed on February 15, 2019]).
  14. ^ Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Geografía (INEGI) . Archived from the original on May 28, 2012. Retrieved on May 27, 2012.
  15. ^ Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Geografía - Temas estadísticos . Retrieved August 29, 2017.
  16. ↑ Volume y porcentaje de la población según profese alguna religious y tipo de religious, 1895 a 2010 . Retrieved August 29, 2017.
  17. ^ Church attendance in Latin America . Archived from the original on September 1, 2006. Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved February 12, 2019. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.ns.umich.edu
  18. ↑ Argentina: Constitución de 1994 .
  19. ^ Evangelical Christianity on the rise in Catholic Mexico. Retrieved February 12, 2019 .
  20. ↑ a b c d Life expectancy . Retrieved August 28, 2018.
  21. ↑ Source: UN World Population Prospects - Population Division - United Nations. Retrieved August 6, 2017 .
  22. ↑ Literacy . In: The World Factbook . CIA.