Monterrey: Guadalajara is no longer the 2nd most populated metropolis

After years of being behind Guadalajara among the most densely populated areas in Mexico, Monterrey became the second most populated metropolitan area.

Monterrey: Guadalajara is no longer the 2nd most populated metropolis
Monterrey. Photo by David Liceaga / Unsplash

After years of being behind Guadalajara in the list of the most densely populated metropolitan areas in Mexico, INEGI reports that Monterrey is now the second most populated metropolitan area in the country after the Valley of Mexico.

Therefore, the Monterrey metropolitan area is in second place in population density with 5 million 341 thousand 171 people, followed by Guadalajara, with 5 million 268 thousand 642 inhabitants. In the case of the Valley of Mexico, it continues to be the most populated area with 21 million 804 thousand 515 inhabitants.

The State of Mexico was the entity with the most people, with a total of 16 million 992 thousand 418 people. Therefore, this means that the State of Mexico has 13.5 percent of the total population in Mexico, which as of March 15, 2020, totaled 126 million 14 thousand 24 inhabitants.

The top five most populated states in the country were made up of the following entities: Mexico City (9 million 209 thousand 944), Jalisco (8 million 348 thousand 151), Veracruz (8 million 62 thousand 579), and Puebla (6 thousand 583 thousand 278).

Mexico's population reached 126,014,024 people, which makes the country the eleventh most populated in the world, revealed this Monday the "Population and Housing Census 2020" of the National Institute of Statistics and Geography (Inegi).

This represents almost 14 million more Mexicans than the previous census of 2010, which recorded 112.3 million, which means an average annual growth rate of 1.2 %. This population growth rate means that, if it remains constant over time, Mexico's population would be doubling in 58 years.

Of the total population, there are 64,540,634 or 51.2% women and 48.8% or 61,473,390 men. The average number of live daughters and sons born per woman is 2.1, while in 2020 it was 2.6. The median age of the Mexican population was 29 years old in 2020, while in 2000 was 22.

Now 50% of the population is under 30 years old and 12% is over 60 years old. Whereas two decades ago 61 % of Mexicans were under 30 and only 7 % over 60. What this means is that, as a product of the aging that is occurring in the country, there are now proportionally fewer young people and proportionally more older people.

The census showed that the central State of Mexico consolidated as the most populated entity with 16.9 million inhabitants, followed by Mexico City (9.2 million), Jalisco (8.3 million), Veracruz (8.06 million), and Puebla (6.5 million).

Only 10 metropolitan areas accumulate 37% of the national population, including the capital's Mexico Valley with 21.8 million people, the northern Monterrey with 5.34 million, and the western Guadalajara with 5.26 million.