Key points from the chart
- The chart plots each service sector’s operating margin in 2018 against 2024. Bubbles above the dashed diagonal improved their margin; bubbles below it saw margins shrink.
- TMT carriers moved from about 10% to about 35%, the largest labelled gain, while also growing revenue.
- Gambling, computer services design and real estate agents and brokers sit in the top right, with 2024 margins above 50%.
- Management and consulting services fell furthest, from about 40% to under 10%, with revenue also contracting.
- Restaurants and air transportation lost revenue in real terms but still improved their margins.
All points are from the graphic by Margin, with data powered by tukan. Percentages are our approximate readings of bubble positions; the chart prints no values.
Mexico’s service industry operating margins in text
Title: “WHO’S IMPROVING EFFICIENCY?”. Subtitle: “Changes in operating margins for the main sectors in the service industry in Mexico. Data is based on both the economic census (2018) and inflation-adjusted growth in each component of the ‘P&L’. Bubbles in blue indicate real growth in revenue, whilst orange bubbles present contractions in revenue.”
Horizontal axis: “Operating margin 2018”, 10% to 60%. Vertical axis: “Operating margin 2024”, 10% to 60%. Bubble size: “Total revenue (2024)”. A dashed diagonal marks no change, with “Expansion” above it and “Contraction” below it.
| Sector (as labelled) | Revenue (colour) | Margin change | Approx. 2018 to 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|
| TMT carriers | Growth (blue), very large bubble | Expansion | 10% to 35% |
| Air transportation | Contraction (orange) | Expansion | 20% to 35% |
| Restaurants | Contraction (orange), large bubble | Expansion | 30% to 35% |
| Hotels | Growth (blue), large bubble | Roughly flat | 35% to 30 to 35% |
| Hospitals | Growth (blue) | Small expansion | 20 to 25% to 25% |
| Spectator sports | Contraction (orange) | Small expansion | About 20% |
| Freight trucking | Contraction (orange) | Contraction | 20% to 15% |
| Elementary & secondary schools | Contraction (orange) | Contraction | 30% to 20% |
| Data processing | Contraction (orange) | Contraction | 40% to 20% |
| Freight arrangement services | Contraction (orange) | Contraction | 45% to 30% |
| Management & consulting services | Contraction (orange) | Largest contraction | 40% to under 10% |
| Legal services | Growth (blue) | Roughly flat | About 45% |
| Support for road transportation | Contraction (orange) | Roughly flat | About 50% |
| Lessors of real estate | Growth (blue) | Small expansion | 50% to 50 to 55% |
| Real estate agents & brokers | Growth (blue) | Expansion | 50% to 60% |
| Computer services design | Growth (blue) | Expansion | 35% to 55% |
| Gambling | Growth (blue) | Expansion | 35% to 55% |
| Marketing & PR | Growth (blue) | Expansion | 40% to 45% |
About 25 further bubbles are unlabelled, most of them close to the diagonal. Footer: “Data powered by tukan” with the tukan logo, and the MARGiN logo.
What Margin found about industry operating margins
The chart comes from “High Margins”, an August 2024 article in Margin, a newsletter on Mexico’s economy by Miguel Angel Davila [1] [2]. It defines operating margin as revenue minus employee costs and spending on goods and services, divided by revenue [1].
Using INEGI’s census, Margin estimates that non financial service companies in Mexico made an operating profit of over MXN $1.3 trillion in 2018, an operating margin of about 32% [1]. The sector makes up over 36% of Mexico’s GDP and employs about 40% of the workforce [1]. Of the 58 service industries INEGI tracks monthly, only half had recovered to pre pandemic revenue [1].
Margin estimates that margins across the sector improved by about 380 basis points over six years, mainly because costs fell faster than revenue: by 2024 total wages and operating spending were 15% and 8% below their peaks in 2020 and 2018 [1]. Of the 25 industries with margin expansion, almost half also lost revenue, and only 11 of the 33 industries with margin contraction grew revenue [1]. All growth figures are inflation adjusted [1].
Restaurants, hotels and real estate
Margin uses restaurants and hotels to show how margins can move against revenue. Since 2018 restaurant revenue has been roughly flat in real terms while hotel revenue rose about 2%, yet restaurants cut expenses by about 13% and held wage growth to around 6%, while hotels’ wage bills rose 18% [1]. That is why restaurants sit above the line on the chart and hotels on or just below it.
Real estate services stand out the other way. Margin says the sector grew productivity by more than 45% and revenue by more than 69%, with margin expansion of over 800 basis points in five years [1]. Management and consulting services, by contrast, have struggled to control expenses as income fell [1].
Notes on this infographic
- The 2024 margins are Margin’s estimates, built from the 2018 census and later inflation adjusted growth in each cost and revenue line [1], not reported 2024 accounts.
- TMT in the chart means telecommunications, media and technology carriers.
- The chart prints no figures for individual sectors, so the percentages in the table are approximate readings to the nearest 5 points. Margin’s article includes a table of exact figures [1].
Questions about service industry margins in Mexico
Which service sectors in Mexico improved their operating margins the most?
TMT carriers, meaning telecommunications, media and technology carriers, made the largest labelled gain, from about 10% in 2018 to about 35% in 2024, while also growing revenue. Gambling, computer services design and real estate agents and brokers had the highest 2024 margins, above 50%. These percentages are approximate readings of bubble positions, as the chart prints no values.
What is the operating margin of service companies in Mexico?
Margin estimates that non financial service companies in Mexico made an operating profit of over MXN $1.3 trillion in 2018, an operating margin of about 32% [1]. It also estimates that margins across the sector improved by about 380 basis points over six years, mainly because costs fell faster than revenue [1]. All growth figures are inflation adjusted [1].
Why did restaurant margins in Mexico rise while hotel margins did not?
Restaurants cut expenses by about 13% since 2018 while hotels' wage bills rose 18%, according to Margin [1]. Over the same period restaurant revenue was roughly flat in real terms and hotel revenue rose about 2%, and restaurants held wage growth to around 6% [1]. That is why restaurants sit above the no change line on the chart and hotels on or just below it.
Are the 2024 operating margins for Mexico's service industries actual figures?
No, the 2024 margins are Margin's estimates, built from the 2018 economic census and later inflation adjusted growth in each cost and revenue line, not reported 2024 accounts [1]. Margin defines operating margin as revenue minus employee costs and spending on goods and services, divided by revenue [1]. The chart prints no figures for individual sectors, but Margin's article includes a table of exact figures [1].
Sources
- Miguel Angel Davila, Margin, High Margins, August 2024. The creator’s article for this chart.
- Margin, newsletter home page.
Last reviewed 30 October 2026
