Sheinbaum approval falls to new low as pocketbook concerns bite

Gonzalo Soto, Bloomberg News on Jul 3, 2026

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President Claudia Sheinbaum’s approval rating dipped below 50% for the first time in a new poll, as concerns mount over falling purchasing power fueled by rising prices.

The leftist leader’s approval slipped to 49% in June from 53% a month earlier, according to LatAm Pulse, a survey conducted by AtlasIntel for Bloomberg News and published Friday. It had reached a high of 66% in April 2025.

While corruption remains Mexicans’ top concern, cited by 52% of respondents, high prices and inflation overtook crime for the first time in nearly a year to rank second, at 37%.

The shift underscores how the cost of living is increasingly shaping views of Sheinbaum’s two-year-old government in a country where cartel violence has long dominated public worries. Concern over high prices has jumped 26 percentage points since February, when U.S. and Israeli airstrikes on Iran pushed up the cost of oil and other products.

About 43% of respondents said they plan to buy fewer durable goods, while a similar share expect to keep those purchases unchanged, even as inflation edged down in early June.

Broader views of the economy remain sour, with nearly half of respondents describing Mexico’s current economic situation as bad and a similar share calling the labor market poor. Views of household finances were less negative.

Sheinbaum’s government fared worse than her personal popularity, with just 39% rating it excellent or good, another record low for the survey. Another 33% called the government bad or very bad.

Sheinbaum’s office didn’t respond to a request for comment on the survey’s findings.

On trade, the poll showed Mexicans remain broadly supportive of the North American trade pact known as USMCA. About seven in 10 respondents said it was at least somewhat likely that the U.S., Mexico and Canada would agree to extend the accord. Roughly 61% supported an extension. Instead, the U.S. declined earlier this week to back a long-term renewal, opting for annual reviews that keep the pact alive while prolonging uncertainty.

Asked who would benefit most from the trade deal’s review, respondents were split almost evenly between the U.S. and all three countries. Only about 16% said Mexico would gain the most.

The AtlasIntel survey polled 3,535 adults from June 26 to June 30 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 2 percentage points.