The number of people in Mexico who cannot afford a basic basket with their income has reached its lowest point in 17 years, despite the ongoing pandemic. This is according to an analysis by BBVA, which used data from Coneval. Between January and March of this year, only 35.8% of Mexicans were living in working poverty, down from 37.7% in the same period last year.
This decrease in working poverty has been faster in rural areas, where the population has consistently been lower since the first quarter of 2020. Rural areas currently have a working poverty rate of 49.6%, while urban areas have only recently reached a level of 31.4%, both lower than before the pandemic. However, there are still some states that have higher levels of working poverty compared to the first quarter of 2020, with 14 states still reporting higher indicators.
The reduction in working poverty among states has varied widely, with some achieving significant progress while others have seen an increase. Between January and March of this year, Baja California Sur, Baja California, Jalisco, Nuevo León, and Colima had the lowest proportions of people in working poverty, while Chiapas, Oaxaca, Guerrero, Zacatecas
