MEXICO CITY, May 22 (Reuters) - Foreign direct investment in Mexico plummeted during the first quarter to $2.663 billion as the United States trudged through its worst downturn in decades, the economy ministry said on Friday.
That would be a 36.5 percent fall from the figure reported by the government last year for the same period, though the ministry did not provide a comparative reading on Friday.
The ministry sometimes revises its quarterly readings for investment figures.
The deep recession in the United States has forced many companies, from carmakers to pharmaceutical firms, to slow down or close Mexican factories that export north of the border.
Mexico said on Thursday it expects foreign direct investment to fall by 16.67 percent to around $15 billion this year compared with 2008.
About 80 percent of Mexican exports are U.S.-bound and Mexico is in its worst recession since the 1990s Tequila crisis.
The outbreak of a new flu virus in Mexico and a brief shutdown of the economy this month to stop contagion is likely to mean lost exports of up to $2 billion, cutting total exports in 2009 by 0.6 percent versus last year, the ministry said on Thursday. (Reporting by Jason Lange; Editing by Jerry Norton)