Many farmers are subsistence farmers although there are also some large agricultural companies. The greatest number of people live in the towns with the highest proportion of the workforce employed in the services sector and about one-fifth working in industry. The variation in climate leads to the production of a variety of crops such as wheat, maize, beans, tomatoes, potatoes, cocoa, coffee, rice, sugar, rubber, cotton, tobacco, chicle gum. Mexico also produces honey, oranges, bananas and pineapples. The agricultural sector also includes ranches with large herds of beef cattle.
Mexican fisheries produce shrimps, prawns, oysters, sardine and tuna.
Other minerals commercially exploited include sulphur, lead, zinc, copper, gold , uranium, mercury, iron and coal. Mexico City and the surrounding area is an important manufacturing region. The British company, Glaxo Wellcome, has been producing chemicals in Mexico since the mid 1960s. There is a healthy domestic motor vehicle industry. Mexico has a flourishing crafts industry making items such as pottery and furniture.