According to data from the World Bank released by the government this Friday, Mexico's middle class grew by 12.4% during the 4T (Fourth Transformation) governments, for the first time in the country's history surpassing the population living in poverty.
During the morning press conference at the National Palace, Coordinator of Social Communication Jesús Ramírez stated that in 2018 the middle class was 27% of the population, and by 2024 it had risen to 39%, representing a 12.4% increase.
The comments became more heated when Morena lost in Mexico City in 2021. In that year, the former president also declared that he sought to lift millions of Mexicans out of poverty, "to constitute a new middle class, more humane, more fraternal, more solidary".
"We are sure that the trend is going to continue because it is the same model, although with improvements."
For her part, President Claudia Sheinbaum stated this morning that this trend will continue and will be boosted with greater resources for social programs, wage increases, and greater investment.
She recalled that for the coming year, the welfare programs will have an increase in line with inflation, in addition to some of them being expanded, so that the allocated amount will go from 845 billion to one trillion pesos.
She also explained that mixed investment schemes are being developed to increase investments, in energy, in electricity.
The sector of people living below the poverty line, for the first time in the history of Mexico, is now smaller than the middle class.
World Bank data also indicate a reduction in poverty in the country in the same period by more than 13%.
"Here we are seeing that the consequence is that it favors society as a whole and all sectors, and as a result, the middle class increased," he said.
"It changes the image of the 4T's policy because it was focused on a sector of the population."
Ramírez Cuevas highlighted that this figure coincides with the data from INEGI after it took over this measurement, which was previously carried out by Coneval and which raised many doubts about the results and the methodology.
The issue of the middle class was a thorny issue during the government of Andrés Manuel López Obrador, who had several criticisms of this segment of the population, which he often pejoratively labeled as "aspirational" and "conservative".
"The interesting thing they highlight is that this economic and social policy has also had benefits in other segments of the population.
Yesterday, the Federal Electricity Commission (CFE) announced 20 new projects with the private sector for energy generation, and an announcement is expected for Pemex in terms of oil contracts.
