Contents
- Volunteer participation in Mexico statistics: national participation and weekly time
- Volunteer participation in Mexico statistics: historical participation and time trends
- Volunteer participation in Mexico statistics: organized volunteer counts and activity distribution
- Volunteer participation in Mexico statistics: sex composition of organized volunteers by activity
- Volunteer participation in Mexico statistics: organized volunteer positions and economic value
- Sources
Volunteer participation in Mexico statistics: national participation and weekly time
In 2024, 21.6% of Mexico’s population aged 12 and older participated in the combined activity category “volunteer, community, and support to other households.” The measure captures participation in these activities as grouped by Mexico’s National Survey on Time Use (ENUT); it should not be read as a count of people serving through formal organizations alone. It includes community work and support to other households alongside volunteering, so it describes a broader field of unpaid contribution. INEGI, ENUT 2024, Gráfica 15
The time-use results also report weekly hours for people aged 12 and older. Women averaged 8.0 hours per week in this combined category in 2024, while men averaged 5.5 hours. These are averages for the activity measure, not totals for all volunteer time in the country and not averages restricted to people in nonprofit organizations. The population base and the category definition matter when comparing these figures with organization-based volunteer counts. INEGI, ENUT 2024, Gráfica 16
| ENUT measure, population aged 12 and older | Women, 2024 | Men, 2024 | National, 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Participation in volunteer, community, and support-to-other-households work | — | — | 21.6% |
| Average weekly hours in the combined activity | 8.0 hours | 5.5 hours | — |
The table reports only the sex-specific weekly-hour values and national participation percentage provided for these indicators. The dashes indicate that no corresponding value is included here. INEGI, ENUT 2024, Gráficas 15–16
Taken together, the indicators show that the combined activity reached more than 1 in 5 people in the covered population, while the reported weekly averages differed by sex. They do not establish how many hours each participant contributed, how many of those hours went to formal organizations, or what motivated participation. The survey’s combined category is useful for describing time use across volunteering, community work, and household support, but it cannot by itself answer narrower questions about organized service.
Volunteer participation in Mexico statistics: historical participation and time trends
ENUT’s time series places the 2024 results beside observations from 2014 and 2019. Among women aged 12 and older, participation in the combined volunteer, community, and support-to-other-households category was 24.9% in 2014, 23.4% in 2019, and 23.5% in 2024. The reported rates were close in 2019 and 2024, while the 2014 observation was higher. INEGI, ENUT 2024, Gráfica 21
For men aged 12 and older, the corresponding participation percentages were 17.5% in 2014, 16.8% in 2019, and 19.4% in 2024. In this series, the 2019 value was lower than both the 2014 and 2024 observations. These are historical observations reproduced in the 2024 report, not estimates of participation in years after 2024. INEGI, ENUT 2024, Gráfica 21
| Year | Women’s participation | Men’s participation |
|---|---|---|
| 2014 | 24.9% | 17.5% |
| 2019 | 23.4% | 16.8% |
| 2024 | 23.5% | 19.4% |
Participation is the share of each sex group aged 12 and older reported for the combined activity. It is not the sex composition of volunteers: that separate question asks what portion of a volunteer group is women or men. INEGI, ENUT 2024, Gráfica 21
Weekly time followed a different pattern from participation. Women’s average weekly hours in the combined activity were 8.9 in 2014, 9.4 in 2019, and 8.0 in 2024. Men’s averages were 5.7 hours in 2014, 6.6 in 2019, and 5.5 in 2024. In both series, the 2019 average was higher than the 2024 average; the hours data alone do not explain why the values changed. INEGI, ENUT 2024, Gráfica 22
| Year | Women’s average hours per week | Men’s average hours per week |
|---|---|---|
| 2014 | 8.9 | 5.7 |
| 2019 | 9.4 | 6.6 |
| 2024 | 8.0 | 5.5 |
Participation percentages and average hours describe different dimensions. Someone may be counted as participating without the percentage indicating the duration of that person’s activity; the hours measure summarizes time, not the number of volunteers. Both series cover the combined ENUT category and population aged 12 and older, so neither should be substituted for a nonprofit volunteer headcount. INEGI, ENUT 2024, Gráficas 21–22
Volunteer participation in Mexico statistics: organized volunteer counts and activity distribution
A separate INEGI release reports organization-based volunteering. In 2021, 2,033,828 people volunteered in organizations. Women represented 45.3% of these people and men 54.7%. The release also states that the 2021 count was below the 2,169,881 people recorded for 2019. These counts concern people volunteering in organizations; they are distinct from occupied volunteer work positions reported in the satellite account. INEGI, International Volunteer Day statistics, pp. 1–2
The same release reports that the number of people volunteering in organizations grew 13.4% from 2020 to 2021. This reported annual change can coexist with a 2021 count below the 2019 count because the comparisons use different periods. The release does not make the growth figure a statement about the longer 2019–2021 interval. INEGI, International Volunteer Day statistics, p. 1
Among volunteers in nonprofit organizations, the 2021 distribution by social function was led by religion at 35.2%. Social services accounted for 17.1%, and development and housing for 14.0%. INEGI’s development and housing grouping also includes environment, philanthropic intermediation, volunteer promotion, and international activities, so the label covers more than housing or development narrowly defined. INEGI, International Volunteer Day statistics, pp. 1–2, Gráfica 1
| Nonprofit organization social function | Share of volunteers, 2021 |
|---|---|
| Religion | 35.2% |
| Social services | 17.1% |
| Development and housing, including specified related functions | 14.0% |
| Business and professional associations and unions | 11.1% |
| Health | 9.0% |
| Teaching and research | 5.8% |
| Rights, advocacy, and politics | 4.4% |
| Culture and recreation | 3.3% |
| Other unclassified activities | 0.1% |
These percentages describe the distribution by function, rather than the share of all residents who volunteered in each function. The release identifies the 0.1% category as other unclassified volunteers. The listed functions provide a profile of where organized volunteer activity was recorded in 2021, with religion the largest named category in this classification. INEGI, International Volunteer Day statistics, Gráfica 1 and note
Volunteer participation in Mexico statistics: sex composition of organized volunteers by activity
Sex composition varied by the function of nonprofit organizations. Women made up 60.6% of volunteers in religion and 53.0% in teaching and research in 2021. In rights, advocacy, and politics, women represented 48.4%; in health, they represented 41.6%. These percentages describe the sex composition within each functional group, not participation rates among all women or all men in Mexico. INEGI, International Volunteer Day statistics, p. 2, Gráfica 2
Men represented 75.4% of volunteers in business and professional associations and unions, 67.4% in culture and recreation, 65.8% in social services, and 61.9% in development and housing. In the other unclassified activities category, the chart note reports 52.3% men and 47.7% women. The classification-specific percentages show why a single overall sex split does not describe every kind of organized volunteering equally. INEGI, International Volunteer Day statistics, p. 2, Gráfica 2 and note
| Function | Women | Men |
|---|---|---|
| Religion | 60.6% | — |
| Teaching and research | 53.0% | — |
| Rights, advocacy, and politics | 48.4% | — |
| Health | 41.6% | — |
| Business and professional associations and unions | — | 75.4% |
| Culture and recreation | — | 67.4% |
| Social services | — | 65.8% |
| Development and housing | — | 61.9% |
| Other unclassified activities | 47.7% | 52.3% |
The table presents only the reported sex-specific side for each listed category; dashes do not mean zero. The source’s chart reports participation by sex and social function in percent. INEGI, International Volunteer Day statistics, Gráfica 2 and note
Volunteer participation in Mexico statistics: organized volunteer positions and economic value
The satellite account for nonprofit institutions reported 900,114 occupied volunteer work positions in 2021. This is a position count, not a count of individual people. The same account reported 2,526,229 total occupied work positions across the nonprofit sector. Volunteer positions increased 6.8% in 2021; the release also reports an increase of 62,626 occupied positions compared with 2020. These measures should remain distinct from the 2,033,828 people volunteering in organizations, since people and positions are different units. INEGI, Satellite Account of Nonprofit Institutions, 2021, p. 3
INEGI valued volunteer work in nonprofit institutions at 153,726 million pesos in 2021, equivalent to 0.6% of national GDP. The account uses a 2013 base. This is a historical valuation for 2021, not a current-year estimate. The separate release reports that men accounted for 49.7% of the economic value and women 50.3%. The value shares are close to an even division, while the overall volunteer headcount composition in the 2021 release was 45.3% women and 54.7% men; these are distinct measures and should not be treated as interchangeable. INEGI, Satellite Account of Nonprofit Institutions, 2021, p. 1 INEGI, International Volunteer Day statistics, p. 3
The reported average economic contribution was 75,585 pesos per volunteer in the organization where they participated in 2021. By sex, women volunteers contributed an average of 83,931 pesos annually and men volunteers 68,664 pesos annually. These are average valuation figures for volunteer work, not cash wages paid to volunteers. The source presents them as an economic contribution attributed to volunteer work. INEGI, International Volunteer Day statistics, p. 3
| Organization function | Women’s average annual contribution | Men’s average annual contribution |
|---|---|---|
| Rights, advocacy, and politics | 156,376 pesos | Around 132,780 pesos |
| Teaching and research | 148,949 pesos | 99,144 pesos |
| Culture and recreation | 42,938 pesos | 27,732 pesos |
The release’s functional averages show variation in the economic valuation per volunteer across selected organization types. For rights, advocacy, and politics, it reports 156,376 pesos for women and around 132,780 pesos for men. In teaching and research, the corresponding figures were 148,949 pesos and 99,144 pesos; in culture and recreation, 42,938 pesos and 27,732 pesos. These are 2021 averages, and the source’s “around” qualifier is retained for the men’s rights, advocacy, and politics figure. INEGI, International Volunteer Day statistics, p. 3
Across the measures, the sources describe different dimensions of volunteer participation in Mexico: ENUT captures participation and time in a combined activity category for people aged 12 and older, while the 2021 releases describe organization-based volunteers, their functional distribution, occupied positions, and economic valuation. Keeping those definitions and units attached to each number makes the figures interpretable without conflating broad community and household support with formal organizational service.