In 2024, Querétaro attracted $2.8 billion in foreign direct investment, with 75% of it flowing into manufacturing. For anyone tracking Querétaro manufacturing news, that figure is the headline. For a site selector, it is a signal — and the more useful question is what it reveals about where to locate next.
This is a breakdown of the data behind Querétaro’s industrial surge and what it means for companies evaluating industrial parks in the Bajío.
The Numbers Behind the Surge
Querétaro’s $2.8 billion in 2024 FDI more than doubled the state’s 2023 total, which exceeded $1.2 billion and was driven primarily by automotive and aerospace. The 2024 jump, with three-quarters directed into manufacturing, marks a step-change rather than a steady climb.
The state-level numbers sit inside a national trend. Mexico recorded $34.3 billion in foreign direct investment in the first half of 2025 — its fifth consecutive record year. Capital at that scale concentrates where it can be deployed quickly, and Querétaro has become one of the destinations absorbing it.
Why the Capital Is Concentrating Here
Investment follows readiness. Querétaro offers three things a manufacturer needs before it commits: an established industrial base, a workforce built for it, and logistics that reach the market.
An established industrial base. The state hosts more than 1,500 foreign-owned companies across 45 industrial parks. Seven automotive OEMs operate here, supported by 112 Tier 1 and more than 200 Tier 2 suppliers — an $8.9 billion auto-parts sector employing over 60,000 people. More than 80 aerospace multinationals form a nationally recognized cluster, and Amazon Web Services is developing a $5 billion data-center hub in the state.
A workforce built for industry. Querétaro’s labor market is young and trained for the sectors already operating there. The state has 104 universities and technical institutions, 39 with graduate programs, producing more than 5,100 graduates and 3,700 technicians a year. The median workforce age is 29, and the state holds the lowest unemployment rate in Mexico.
Logistics that reach the market. From Querétaro, 46% of Mexico’s population sits within four hours by road. The Highway 57 USMCA corridor runs north to the U.S. border at Laredo, CPKCS rail connects to the border and both coasts, and Querétaro International Airport — the fifth-busiest cargo airport in Mexico — handled more than 77,000 tons of cargo in 2024.
A new entrant joins a mature ecosystem rather than building one. That is what the FDI figure is really measuring.
What the Surge Means for Site Selectors
A rising investment figure is good news and a warning at the same time. Demand concentrating in a corridor tightens availability, which raises the cost of choosing wrong. Two implications follow for a site-selection team.
First, infrastructure readiness has become the real differentiator. As demand rises, the gap widens between parks where power, water, and permits are installed and those where they are promised. A “planned” park introduces exactly the delay risk that nearshoring is meant to remove.
Second, dedicated capacity matters more than a headline lot count. A shared power allocation that competes with neighboring tenants is a constraint that surfaces after move-in. The parks that hold up under technical due diligence are the ones with independent, dedicated systems.
Where Puerta Querétaro Fits
Puerta Querétaro is positioned for exactly the company the surge is attracting. It is a 126-hectare Class A industrial park in El Marqués, fully permitted at the federal, state, and municipal levels, with eight blocks developed and a ninth permitted for expansion.
Every lot is served by independent infrastructure: a dedicated 30 MVA on-site substation with underground distribution, two water wells with on-site wastewater treatment, Engie natural gas, and five fiber optic providers. The park sits directly adjacent to Querétaro International Airport, five miles from Highway 57, with CPKCS rail frontage along its east side. Twenty-four companies already operate on site, across logistics, electronics, chemical, automotive, paper, and food.
Behind the park is a Toronto-founded developer with 30 years in Mexican industrial real estate, operating Puerta Querétaro alongside two other parks. That long-term ownership is why the same team that built the infrastructure continues to maintain it. The Infrastructure page documents the full specifications, and the Market & Labor page details the investment and workforce data behind the corridor.
The Bottom Line for the Bajío
Querétaro’s $2.8 billion FDI surge confirms what site selectors are already sensing: the Bajío is where nearshoring capital is concentrating, and Querétaro is at its center. The opportunity is real. The constraint is availability of land that is genuinely ready to build on. In a tightening corridor, the fully permitted, fully serviced site is the scarce asset.
If you are evaluating industrial parks in Querétaro, browse available lots and build-to-suit options at Puerta Querétaro, or contact our team to discuss a site in the Bajío.