Sustainable economic growth of over three percent, an unemployment rate of less than five percent and total debt corresponding to around 40 percent of gross domestic product: Mexico is prospering. Following Brazil's example, the new government, led by president Enrique Peña Nieto, wants to use the stable growth in order to further strengthen the growing middle class. In the past, the 'clasmedieros' had already begun to expand significantly.
Over the past ten years, the middle class has grown by a good nine million people. Today, around 65 million Mexicans, over half of the total population, belong to the middle class. Around 98 percent of Mexicans now have electricity. The number of people who own a telephone has increased from 36 percent to 43 percent in the last few years; for computers, the figure has increased from 9 percent to 29 percent, and for fridges from 68 percent to 82 percent.
Young and well-qualified
And Mexico has another distinguishing feature: the country of the Aztecs is young. Over half of the population is under 30, and people are becoming increasingly well qualified. The proportion of university graduates is also relatively high for Latin America at 8.4 percent. Almost 50 percent of all 15 to 24 year olds in Mexico now attend a secondary school. Simultaneously, at just under seven percent, the illiteracy rate has almost halved in recent years.
More mobile phones, computers and other consumer goods: with increasing prosperity and regular income, our natural wish to protect our possessions against loss and set money aside for retirement grows too. "This environment can offer Allianz enormous opportunities for growth", Sergio Ghibellini, CEO of Allianz in Mexico, is convinced. "Due to the country's economic power and a market penetration rate that is still low and thanks to a reliable legal framework, the insurance market in Mexico will experience above-average growth over the next few years, and Allianz will be able to participate in this," continues the CEO.