Mexico sanctions 2,406 firms for contract fraud as IMSS employer registrations hit five‑year low

A total of 2,406 companies were found to have submitted false information to obtain Mexican government contracts. The Federal Anti‑Corruption Secretariat and the Secretariat of Public Function imposed fines amounting to 2,182,886,282 pesos and barred the firms from future bidding for periods ranging from three months to two years. The largest number of cases involved the Mexican Social Security Institute (IMSS), the Secretariat of Anti‑Corruption, the Ministry of Defense and the Institute for Social Security and Services for State Workers (ISSSTE), with fines for the latter exceeding 1.2 billion pesos.

In the same period, the Mexican Social Security Institute reported that employer registrations fell to 1,015,100 in June 2026, a loss of 62,783 employers from the November 2023 peak and the lowest level in five years. This marks 24 consecutive months of annual declines, a trend not seen since the early 2000s. Analysts cite a slowing economy, rising informality and stricter IMSS inspections as possible causes. Real wages for IMSS‑affiliated workers grew 2.8 % year‑on‑year in the first half of 2026, a slowdown from the previous year but still above inflation.