Chihuahua
Mexico's #1 exporter ($76.5B through Sept 2025); Ciudad Juárez maquiladora birthplace; largest aerospace cluster (25% of Mexico); 64,000 jobs lost 2023-2025.
Chihuahua emerged as Mexico's leading exporter in 2025, recording $76.5 billion in exports through September—a 38% increase over 2024. Ciudad Juárez, birthplace of the maquiladora model, forms the Borderplex with El Paso as North America's second-largest manufacturing hub. The state hosts Mexico's largest aerospace cluster (25% of nationwide plants) and ranks fourth in auto parts exports at $16.7 billion annually.
Yet success comes with strain. From June 2023 to June 2025, Juárez lost over 64,000 factory jobs as minimum wages doubled from 22 to 52 pesos per hour and tariff uncertainty spooked investors. Lear Corporation shifted operations to Honduras; French electronics firm Lacroix exited North America entirely. 'The industry is in crisis,' declared the vice president of INDEX Juárez. Of 331 manufacturing companies in Ciudad Juárez, 50% are Asian-owned, 30% American, and 20% European.
By 2026, Chihuahua will test whether nearshoring can compensate for wage inflation and tariff risk. The state attracted $251 million in new FDI in Q2 2024 alone, with 12 new projects from Inventec, EssilorLuxottica, and Siemens. If automotive and aerospace clusters maintain competitiveness despite rising costs, Chihuahua could model industrial maturation. If border factories continue bleeding jobs to Central America and Asia, the maquiladora model born here may be dying here.