Mexico's gross domestic product (GDP) contracted 0.1 percent in 2019, marking negative economic growth for the first time in a decade, according to revised figures released Tuesday by the National Statistics and Geography Institute (Inegi).
The figure confirms the agency's initial growth estimate published on Jan. 30.
The Inegi blamed the contraction on last year's 1.8-percent drop in industrial activity reliant on the U.S. economy. The services sector, on the other hand, grew 0.4 percent in 2019, and agricultural activity expanded by 1.9 percent.
In the 4th quarter of last year, Mexico's GDP dipped 0.5 percent, largely dragged down by a 2.1-percent fall in industrial activity. In the same quarter, agricultural activity grew 1.6 percent while the services sector, which contributes the most to GDP, remained steady.
In a separate report, Mexico's financial group Monex said the latest figures confirm that the economy stagnated in 2019; December figures, however, point to a recovery in construction and potentially improved economic performance in 2020.
"Currently, our GDP growth forecast for 2020 is 0.8 percent," said the report.
Mexico's central bank Banxico announced in mid-February that the economy could grow less this year than the 0.8 to 1.8 percent it initially expected.