Two out of every three persons in Chiapas lived under the poverty line in 2022, making it the federal entity with the largest share of poor population in Mexico. On average, about 36 percent of the Mexican population was living in poverty that year.

Chiapas was the state in Mexico with the highest number of people living in extreme poverty in 2022. It was estimated that more than 1.6 million people in Chiapas lived in a situation of extreme poverty, out of a total of 9.1 million people at the national level. On the other hand, Baja California Sur was the state with the lowest number of people living in extreme poverty, with 6,400. Baja California Sur was also among the Mexican state with the lowest number of people living in poverty.

In 2020, the Mexican state of Chiapas experienced a prevailing situation characterized by moderate poverty, impacting approximately **** percent of its residents. It is noteworthy that the remaining ***** percent of the population either lived in poverty or faced challenging circumstances.

Chiapas was the state in Mexico with the highest average extreme poverty rate in 2022. It was estimated that almost three out of ten people in Chiapas lived in a situation of extreme poverty. In contrast, Baja California was the state with the lowest extreme poverty rate, with 0.8 percent, well below the national average, which stood at 7.1 percent. The share of population living in poverty in Mexico amounted to 36.3 percent in 2022.

A Computable General Equilibrium (CGE) model in a bottom-up approach - based on microfoundations - and a Social Accounting Matrix (SAM) for the regional economy of Chiapas are built. Methodology: This research applies a Computable General Equilibrium (CGE) model. It is a system of equations that describes an entire economy and all the interactions between productive sectors, commodity and factor markets, and institutions. All of the equations are solved simultaneously to find an economy-wide equilibrium in which demand and supply quantities are equal in every market at a certain level of prices (Burfisher, 2011). Two of the features of this model are that, on one hand, it implements a “bottom-up” approach, that is, it is focused on individual markets and economic agents. On the other hand, it is partially synthetic. In other words, most parameters can be calibrated with data from the SAM. Data framework: A Social Accounting Matrix (SAM) is a balanced square matrix that represents all income and expenditure flows between productive sectors, markets, and economic agents of an economy at a given period of time (Müller, Perez & Hubertus, 2009). It is based on the double entry bookkeeping in accounting, which requires that total revenue equals total expenditure in each single account included in the SAM (Breisinger, Thomas & Thurlow, 2010). The main features of the Chiapas SAM are that production activities are broken down in 10 sectors, according to the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS). There is one commodity per economic activity. Factors of production are disaggregated into formal and informal labor, and capital. Direct taxes are broken up into activity tax, social security contributions, household and corporate income taxes, ‘tenencia’ tax (ownership tax, i.e. a tax associated with the possession or use of vehicles), and regional payroll tax (‘nomina’). Indirect taxes, in turn, are value-added, sales and export taxes, and import tariffs. Subsidies on production by economic activity are also included. Households are disaggregated by income quintiles. Social transfers are split in non-conditional (Procampo, universal pension, PAL-Sin Hambre , temporary employment program, and the regional program Amanecer ) and Oportunidades. The latter is also broken down into its five components: food, elderly, education, child, and energy. The introduction of conditional cash transfers in the SAM is particularly relevant because it allows assessing the impact of changes in their amount and distribution on household income, poverty reduction, income inequality, and economic growth at the regional level. Data sources: - National Institute of Statistics and Geography (INEGI): 2012 National Employment and Occupation Survey 2013 Chiapas Statistical Yearbook 2012 National Household Income-Expenditure Survey 2012 Chiapas Statistical Perspective 2003-2012 Goods and Services Accounts (SCNM) 2003-2012 Institutional Sector Accounts (SCNM) 2008 Input-Output Table 2008 Supply and Use Tables - Chiapas State Committee of Statistical and Geographical Information (CEIEG): 2012 Chiapas Employment and Occupation Survey 2012 Chiapas Monthly Statistical Reports of IMSS-insured Workers - Federal Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare (STYPS): 2012 IMSS-registered Daily Salary by Economic Activity 2012 IMSS-insured Workers Quality/Lineage: With the raw data a Social Accounting Matrix for the regional economy of Chiapas was built Features: - Oportunidades broken down by component - Other non-conditional social transfers such as Procampo, PAL-Sin Hambre, Employment program, Universal pension, and the regional program 'Amanecer' - Informal wages - Satellites tables of formal and informal employment - Productive activities according to the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) used in Mexico, Canada, and the United States of America - 10 economic activities - 10 Commodities (one per economic activity) - Factors of production: formal and informal labor and capital Purpose: 1. To assess the opportunity cost of financing "Oportunidades", Mexico's conditional cash transfers program, and its implications for rural development and rural economic growth in the regional setting of Chiapas. Moreover, 2. Pro-growth and pro-poor tax structures are also evaluated by applying standard economic analysis tools and modeling to substantially raise the federal non-oil tax revenue to finance social policy for poverty and inequality reduction. Dissertation: Viveros Añorve, J. L. (2015): The opportunity cost of financing "Oportunidades": a general equilibrium assessment for poverty reduction in Mexico. Ph.D. dissertation. Center for Development Research, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Bonn

In 2022, approximately 4.7 percent of the Mexican population were living on less than 3.20 U.S. dollars per day, a considerable decrease in comparison to the previous year. Furthermore, unemployment rate in this Latin American country during this period was at 3.2 percent. Poverty is considerably higher in the South In 2022, the three states with the highest poverty rate in the Aztec country were Chiapas, Guerrero, and Oaxaca, all in the southern region. In contrast, the top eight federal entities with the lowest were all in the North. The clear division is further accentuated by the Northern Border Free Zone, which encompasses 43 municipalities in the Mexico-U.S. border with higher minimum wages and lower taxes. Poverty in states such as Chiapas reaches over 67 percent, which means two out of three residents are under the poverty line and almost one out of three under extreme poverty conditions.
A country troubled by inequality Poverty and inequality are no news in Mexico. In the most recent data, around 80 percent of the total wealth of the country was concentrated in the top 10 percent of the population. Moreover, the bottom 50 percent had a negative share, meaning that half of the Mexican population had more debts than assets. But inequality does not only encompass wealth distribution, but Mexico also has a problem regarding gender inequality. The government has failed to achieve many of its goals to reduce the gap between genders.

The state of Mexico was the Mexican state with the highest number of people living in poverty in 2022. It was estimated that more than 7.4 million people residing in the state of Mexico lived in a situation of poverty. On the other hand, Baja California Sur was the state with the lowest number of people living in poverty, with 112,000. Regarding extreme poverty, Chiapas was the state in Mexico with the highest average that year.

The extreme poverty rate in Mexico accounted for less than one tenth of the country's population between 2012 and 2022. In the latter, it was estimated that 7.1 percent of the population of Mexico lived in a situation of extreme poverty, an considerable decrease when compared to 2020. Further, Chiapas was the state in Mexico with the highest average extreme poverty rate in 2022.

The number of people living in poverty in Mexico accounted for over 36 percent of the country's population in 2020. In that year, it was estimated that more than 46 million people in Mexico lived in a situation of poverty, a significant decrease of nearly nine millions when compared with 2020. During 2022, Chiapas was the state in Mexico with the highest poverty rate.

Abstract

The Community-based Forestry Development Project in Southern States (DECOFOS) was designed to address and overcome problems linked to deforestation and forest degradation in rural communities of marginalized forest areas in Campeche, Chiapas and Oaxaca. The project was carried out through the restoration and reforestation of degraded areas together with the provision of technical and financial support for the development of microenterprises and sustainable production initiatives. The project had the dual goal of improving the livelihood of people living in poverty and extreme poverty in degraded or marginalized areas and of contributing to climate change adaptation and mitigation through the restoration and revitalization of degraded lands and deforested areas as well as by supporting, both technically and financially, the implementation of sustainable productive activities.

For more information, please click on the following link https://www.ifad.org/en/web/knowledge/-/publication/impact-assessment-community-based-forestry-development-project-in-southern-states-decofos- .

Geographic coverage

Marginalized forest areas in Oaxaca, Chiapas and Campeche.

Analysis unit

Households

Universe

Poor rural households

Kind of data

Sample survey data [ssd]

Sampling procedure

TDECOFOS target population reside in marginalized forest areas in Oaxaca, Chiapas, and Campeche. It is represented by ejidatarios, who are members of rural communities, ejidos, with land rights and involved in collective decisions about land administration and use, the group of posesionarios, who do not have any rights on the land they use and collectively administer, as well as the avecindados, individuals residing on common land without any land rights. The project covered a total of 79 municipalities: 47 (out of a total of 570) in Oaxaca, 21 (out of a total of 118) in Chiapas, and 11 (all) in Campeche. The initial sample comprised of a total of 110 communities/ejidos (half treatment and half control) while the total estimated sample comprises of 2,200 households. Ultimately, 108 ejidos were visited and a total sample of 2,230 households were interviewed (1,128 in treatment group and 1,102 in the control group).

Mode of data collection

Computer Assisted Personal Interview [capi]

Research instrument

The main data collection instruments for this impact assessment are household and community questionnaires. The household questionnaire collected information at household level on a number of socio-economic characteristics, land and asset ownership, agricultural, agroforestry and livestock production and marketing, shocks and risk management strategies, dietary diversity and food security, access to financial services, social capital, participations to organizations and networks. The type of data collected through the community questionnaire included access to infrastructure and basic services, main economic activities, social capital and collective action, organizations and networks.

Note: some variables may have missing labels. Please, refer to the questionnaire for more details.

The moderate poverty rate in Mexico amounted to more than one third of the country's population in 2020. In that year, it was estimated that more than 35.4 percent of the Mexican population lived in a situation of moderate poverty, an increase when compared with the rate registered in 2018. Chiapas was the state in Mexico with the highest poverty rate that year.

In 2018, it was estimated that nearly **** million women in Mexico lived in poverty, while **** million men were in the same situation. Chiapas was the state in Mexico with the highest poverty rate in 2018.

In 2022, it was reported that ten percent of the Mexican population with the highest monthly income made, on average, almost ** times more money than the ten percent of the population with the lowest income. While a person in the highest earning segment of the population (decile X) received approximately ****** Mexican pesos per month, a person in the decile with the lowest monthly income (decile I) earned nearly ***** pesos. In that same year, it was estimated that ** percent of the population in Mexico lived in poverty. Chiapas was the state in Mexico with the highest average poverty rate, with ** percent of the population in this state classified as living in poverty.

Chiapas, the state with the highest share of population living in poverty, had the highest wealth inequality in the country based on the Gini coefficient as well. This index measures the deviation of the income distribution situation in a given country from a perfectly equal distribution. A value of 0 represents an ideal situation of equality, whereas 1 would be the highest possible degree of inequality. As of 2022, Mexico City, the country's capital, had a Gini coefficient of 0.46, second highest recorded figure.

In 2022, Guerrero was the Mexican state with the highest share of population considered vulnerable due to a lack of adequate housing. Over 26 percent of the inhabitants in Guerrero were considered to live in poor housing conditions or without enough space, while Nuevo Leon had the lowest rate, at 3.2 percent. Guerrero was the second state in Mexico with the highest average extreme poverty rate only behind Chiapas.

The minimum wage per day guaranteed by law in Mexico was decreed to increase by approximately 12 percent between 2024 and 2025, reaching 278.8 Mexican pesos in 2025. The Northern Free Zone located near the northern border was the exception, where the minimum daily wage increased to 419.88 Mexican pesos. Education and income disparity The income distribution is entirely a new story than minimum wages, in fact, there are many factors that influence the level of salaries for Mexican workers. One of the main differences is by the number of schooling years, someone with more than 18 years of study earns on average double than employees with seven to nine years. Moreover, the area of study, while statistics and finance mean salaries, the highest wages by degree, are above 30,000 Mexican pesos per month, others such as performing arts and theology rank as the lowest paying degrees in Mexico.
Poverty still among the main problems
Despite one of the main reasons for minimum wage increases being moving people out from poverty conditions, poverty continues to be one of the main problems Mexican society faces. The number of people living under poverty conditions has decreased by 8.54 million inhabitants from 2014 to 2022, nonetheless, the figure is still higher than 46.5 million. The poverty rate varies among states, with Chiapas leading the ranking with 67.4 percent of the population under such conditions, while both Baja California and Baja California Sur recorded less than 14 percent.