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Mexico

56.2 Mid Autumn #37 of 217 · MEX · Latin America & Caribbean · Upper middle income · Data: 7/7 · 2024-2025
What's Driving the Score
Base CCI (7 indicators weighted) 49.0
Hidden extraction (shadow economy, employer burden) +6.2
Resource masking (depletable resource dependency) +0.8
Development adj (spending below expected for income level) +0.2
Total CCI 56.2
Development Context
GDP per capita: $14,186
Actual spending: 30.3% GDP
Expected (Wagner): 30.8% GDP
Gap: 0.4% below expected
Indicator Breakdown
Each indicator is normalized to 0-100. Higher = more late-cycle pressure. The composite CCI is a weighted average plus adjustments.
Spending
30.3% GDP 40.6 2025
Debt
58.9% GDP 29.4 2025
Growth
1% 60.0 2025
Migration
-0.8/1000 52.0 2024
Governance
WGI: -0.63 | V-Dem: 0.221 73.3 2025
Fiscal Pressure
20% of revenue 40.0 2024
Demographic
Fert: 1.89 | Dep: 12.3% 26.6 2024
Spending (15% weight) - Total general government expenditure as % of GDP. Source: IMF WEO. Range: 10% (lean) to 60% (heavy state). Higher spending = further in the cycle.
Debt (12%) - Gross government debt as % of GDP. Source: IMF WEO. Range: 0-200%. Debt accumulation is how states finance extraction beyond revenue.
Growth (13%) - Average real GDP per capita growth over 5 years. Source: IMF WEO / World Bank. Inverted: low or negative growth signals extraction is suffocating the productive economy.
Migration (8%) - Net migration rate per 1000 population. Source: UN Population Division via World Bank. Inverted: people leaving is the most honest indicator - they vote with their feet.
Governance (25%) - Blended score: 30% WGI (World Bank - government effectiveness, corruption control, rule of law, regulatory quality) + 70% V-Dem Liberal Democracy Index (University of Gothenburg - executive constraints, civil liberties, judicial independence). WGI measures "does it function?" V-Dem measures "is it constrained?" V-Dem dominates because the cycle thesis is about unconstrained power. Efficient autocracies score high on WGI but low on V-Dem.
Fiscal Pressure (14%) - Interest payments as % of government revenue. Source: World Bank WDI. When interest consumes revenue, the state must tax more, borrow more, or print - the death spiral mechanism.
Demographic (13%) - Composite of fertility rate (below replacement = future worker shortage) and old-age dependency ratio (more retirees per worker = more fiscal pressure). Trajectory signal - affects the cycle in 20-30 years.
Hidden Extraction
Shadow Economy 28.1% GDP
Social Contributions 13.1% rev
Self-Employment 30.8%
Spending-Revenue Gap 7.8% GDP
Total Hidden Adjustment +6.2 pts 4/4 proxies - high confidence
Official spending data understates real extraction. These proxies estimate what's hidden:
Shadow Economy - % of GDP operating outside formal taxation. Source: IMF WP 18/17 (Medina-Schneider). Brazil at 35% means a third of the economy is escaping formal taxation - but citizens still pay through embedded costs.
Social Contributions - Employer payroll burden as % of government revenue. Hidden from workers' payslips. A 22% figure means significant extraction happens before workers see their salary.
Self-Employment - High rates signal people fleeing formal employment because the extraction burden makes it unprofitable. Informal/self-employed workers still pay consumption taxes.
Spending-Revenue Gap - Difference between what the state spends and what it collects as formal tax. The gap is funded by hidden channels: forced savings (e.g. FGTS in Brazil), state enterprises, parastatal organizations, or money printing.
Resource Revenue +0.8 pts masking adjustment
3.6% of GDP
Oil 2.1% GDP (depletable)
Gas 0.1% GDP (depletable)
Minerals 1.4% GDP (long-runway)
Non-resource 96.4% GDP
Depletable resources (oil, gas, coal) mask the real CCI by funding the state without citizen taxation. When the resource depletes or demand shifts, the state must suddenly extract from citizens. This country's CCI is adjusted +0.8 points to account for this masking effect.
CCI Trajectory (5/7 indicators locked) +13.1 pts (2000-2025)
Spring E.Sum M.Sum L.Sum E.Aut M.Aut L.Aut E.Win 0 20 40 60 80 100 2000 2004 2008 2012 2016 2020 2024 42.3 45.3 43.8 45.3 58.9 55.4 data 5/7 0/7
— Locked (5 indicators) — Full (all available per year) ● Current CCI
The solid line uses 5 consistent indicators across all years (apples-to-apples). The dashed line uses every available indicator per year - noisier but shows the full picture. When the lines diverge, the extra indicators are pulling the score in a different direction.
CCI vs Quality of Life (HDI) 2000-2026
The Dream low CCI, high QoL Comfortable Decline high CCI, high QoL Untapped Potential low CCI, low QoL The Spiral high CCI, low QoL 0.00 0.25 0.50 0.75 1.00 CCI (cycle position) → HDI (quality of life) → 0255075100 2000 2010 2020 2026
Reading the Chart
Each dot is one year. Faint = older, solid = recent.
The trail shows which direction the country is moving:
←↑ Moving left and up = improving (lower extraction, higher QoL)
→↓ Moving right and down = the spiral (higher extraction, declining QoL)
→↑ Moving right and up = comfortable decline (QoL holds while state grows)
Start (2000): CCI 48 | HDI 0.712
Now (2026): CCI 56.2 | HDI 0.789
Nearest Countries by CCI Score
# Country CCI Season Delta Data
38 Chad 56 Mid Autumn -0.2 6/7
36 Mozambique 56.6 Mid Autumn +0.4 7/7
39 Lebanon 55.8 Mid Autumn -0.4 6/7
40 Moldova 55.8 Mid Autumn -0.4 7/7
35 Lao PDR 56.7 Mid Autumn +0.5 7/7
IMF Projected CCI
Based on IMF WEO forecasts for GDP growth and debt/GDP. Other indicators frozen at last known value. Methodology
stable
Current
55.4
locked 2025
Projected
55.8
IMF 2026
2027
55.4
+0.4
delta to 2026