Despite statewide decline, Santa Teresa keeps exports to Mexico high

Statistics compiled by the New Mexico International Business Accelerator (NMIBA) show the state’s exports were down in 2020, part of a statewide, nationwide and global downturn caused by the health pandemic.

“In spite of experiencing one of the worst economies in the history of our state and country, and in spite of our overall global exports being down 21 percent, New Mexico’s exports to Mexico were only down eight percent,” said NMIBA Executive Director Jerry Pacheco, president of the Border Industrial Association (BIA). “Our trade with Mexico was the reason our overall exports didn’t go down even more. Because the Santa Teresa region accounts for almost all of the state’s exports to Mexico, it is responsible for almost 60 percent of the state’s overall exports.”

Both NMIBA and BIA are based in Santa Teresa, in southern Doña Ana County.

According to statistics compiled by Pacheco’s team at NMIBA, New Mexico in 2020:

• Exported $3.7 billion worth of goods to the world, 21 percent below 2019’s $4.7 billion, which was an all-time record.
• Exported $2.2 billion worth of goods to Mexico, which is the state’s largest export destination, eight percent below 2019’s $2.4 billion, which was another all-time record. Although down from 2019, 2020’s numbers are the second highest they’ve ever been. As a comparison, 2020 New Mexico exports to Mexico were 45 percent higher than they were in 2018 and 373 percent higher than they were a decade earlier in 2011.
• Exported $487 million worth of goods to China, which is the state’s second largest export destination, a 39 percent decline from 2019’s $803 million.

The growth in New Mexico exports to Mexico also is evident in the state’s export profile. Exports to Mexico accounted for 60 percent of all New Mexico exports in 2020. Almost all of the state’s exports to Mexico originate in Santa Teresa.

New Mexico exports to China made up 27 percent of all state exports in 2020.

Apart from Mexico and China, all other countries made up only 13 percent of New Mexico’s export destination profile in 2020.

NMIBA is “a one-stop shop of resources for New Mexican businesses and individuals wishing to introduce their product or service into the global market,” according to www.nmiba.com.