What do Mexican households spend their money on?
INEGI's household spending survey shows pet food's share of Mexican budgets grew 61% from 2018 to 2024, passing diapers.
Even if the family dog doesn't pay rent, you better believe it still expects dinner on time. Somebody has to foot the bill, and in Mexico that bill is taking a bigger bite out of household spending.
The national statistical agency, INEGI, surveys what Mexicans spend their money on every two years. Comparing 2018 with 2024 shows which consumer packaged goods (CPG) won a bigger slice of the household budget, and which lost it.
Pet food's share of household spending grew 61% in six years. In 2018, Mexican households spent more on diapers than on pet food. By 2024, pet food had pulled ahead.
Mexico's love for its furry friends is no secret. According to INEGI, about 7 in 10 Mexican households own some kind of pet, some 80M animals in all. That's a lot of mouths to feed, even before counting their human owners.
Soft drinks take over 14 of every 1K pesos Mexican households spend, more than eggs or milk.
Their share even inched up (+5%), while packaged juice, in the same aisle, lost a third of its share.
Mexico's middle class grew by more than 12 percentage points between 2018 and 2024. More households now have room to choose what goes in the cart.
That makes a brand's own sales a poor guide: a product can sell more while its whole category loses ground in the cart.
There's also plenty the numbers can't tell us. Spending shares don't reveal whether people are buying more, paying more, or switching brands. And the survey only comes out every two years.
If you've ever run a CPG brand, you know two years is a long time to wait. PeekPop, led by CEO Salvador Kalifa, has sampling machines in Mexico City, Monterrey, and Guadalajara. A shopper gets a free sample in hand and answers a few questions on the spot.
The brand sees who tried it and what they said, in real time, instead of waiting for the next survey.
