Regional disparities and income inequality continue to be a problem in Mexico. While all constituent states of the federation have a Human Development Index (HDI) superior to 0.70 (medium to high development), northern and central states have higher levels of HDI than the southern states. Nuevo León, Campeche and the Federal District have HDI levels similar to European countries, whereas that of Oaxaca and Chiapas is similar to that of Syria or Egypt. At the municipal level, disparities are even greater: San Pedro Garza García in Nuevo León has an HDI similar to that of Spain, whereas, Metlatonoc in Guerrero, would have an HDI similar to that of Malawi. The majority of the federal entities with high development (superior to 0.80) are located in the northern region (with the exception of Colima, Jalisco, Aguascalientes, the Federal District, Querétaro, as well as the southeastern states of Quintana Roo and Campeche). The less developed states (with medium development in terms of HDI, superior to 0.70) are located at the southern Pacific coast (with the exception of Veracruz).

In terms of share in GDP per sector (in 2004), the largest contributors in agriculture are Jalisco (9.7%), Sinaloa (7.7%) and Veracruz (7.6%); the greatest contributors in industrial production are the Federal District (15.8%), State of México (11.8%) and Nuevo León (7.9%); the greatest contributors in the service sector are also the Federal District (25.3%), State of México (8.9%) and Nuevo León (7.5%).

Since the 1980s, the economy has slowly become less centralized; the annual rate of GDP growth of the Federal District from 2003–2004 was the smallest of all federal entities at a mere 0.23%, with drastic drops in the agriculture and industrial sectors. Nonetheless, it still accounts for 21.8% of the nation’s GDP. The states with the highest GDP growth rates are Quintana Roo (9.04%), Baja California (8.89%), and San Luis Potosí (8.18%).[30] In 2000, the federal entities with the highest GDP per capita in Mexico were the Federal District (US $17,696), Campeche (US $13,153) and Nuevo León (US $13,033); the states with the lowest GDP per capita were Chiapas (US $3,302), Oaxaca (US $3,489) and Guerrero (US $4,112).