California-Baja California Border Crossing and Trade Data

Highlighting the significance of crossing volumes and trade through the California-Baja California megaregion (pre and post-COVID 19)

Overview

The California–Baja California binational megaregion benefits from a rich economic, social, and cultural exchange occurring daily through flows of people and goods between the United States and Mexico. The influence of crossborder travel and bilateral trade sets the megaregion apart and enables a distinct economic competitiveness, dynamic cultural identity, and close binational collaboration it's become known for. Tracking border crossing trends through data is critical to understanding how this exchange influences our economy, transportation systems, border communities, and informing the region's approach for advancing mobility and quality of life in the border region.

Map of California-Baja California POEs

This report provides a high-level analysis of recent trends highlighting the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and restrictions imposed in response to it that limited crossborder movement to essential travel and trade. Also provided is an interactive datatool for visualizing information related to the movement of people, vehicles, and international trade through the seven existing land Ports of Entry (POEs) between the states of California in the U.S. and Baja California in Mexico.

Border Crossing Volumes Before and After COVID-19

Historically, crossings of people, vehicles, and trade through the binational megaregion's POEs have reflected the close integration of populations, economies, and livelihoods on either side of the border and have fluctuated in response to various factors, such as population growth in the border region, economic activity, changes in U.S. Homeland Security and Customs security policy, and general seasonality due to holidays, school breaks, events, as well as others. General trends over the last two decades show total crossings of people through California–Baja California POEs reached a peak between the late 1990s and early 2000s, followed by a period of decline from the mid-2000s to the early 2010s. Since then total crossings of people gradually rebounded and began nearing the peak volumes recorded in the early 2000s. Bilateral trade and volumes of commercial trucks through these facilities has generally shown consistent growth despite a brief decline in the wake of the 2008-2009 Great Recession.

In 2019, these POEs together accommodated a daily average of more than 200,000 people (including pedestrians and occupants in personal vehicles) and 85,000 personal vehicles in just the northbound direction. In the same year, nearly 4,000 northbound commercial trucks and roughly $180M in bilateral trade moved through these ports each day, representing a record high. 

On March 21, 2020,  travel restrictions imposed by the federal government  in response to the COVID-19 pandemic went into affect and limited access into the U.S. to only essential travel, trade, and U.S. citizens and residents returning home. Crossing volumes of all categories were immediately impacted. The most significant declines were seen in April 2020 which showed the pandemic and travel restrictions had caused decreases of 67 percent in crossings of people, 51 percent in crossings of personal vehicles, 25 percent in crossings of trucks, and 44 percent in total dollar value of trade moving through the region's POEs compared to April 2019.

Despite the restrictions, crossborder travel and trade began to rebound shortly after the initial decline. Through the remainder of 2020 overall crossing volumes showed ebbs and flows, as those still allowed to travel into the U.S. often faced an unstable economic environment marked by frequent closures and re-openings of many schools, businesses, and services. By December 2020, after more than nine full months of restrictions, volumes were down 48 percent in terms of people and 30 percent in terms of personal vehicles compared to December 2019. In the same month, volumes of trucks had actually increased by 14 percent while dollar value of bilateral trade had increased 9 percent compared to December 2019.

On  November 8, 2021 federal travel restrictions were lifted  at the U.S.-Mexico border marking an end to the policy and some relief during a challenging period for the border region's shared population and economy. In December 2021, the California-Baja California POEs were processing an average of over 170,000 people, more than 77,000 personal vehicles, and nearly 4,000 trucks crossing into the U.S., as well as over $185M in bilateral trade each day.

Despite the many challenges brought on by the pandemic, the region's crossborder dynamic proved to be a vital part of the resiliency, response, and ongoing recovery from the wide-reaching effects. Bilateral trade through the region has and continues to be a key strength for both the U.S. and Mexico, and through the pandemic provided a much needed counter balance to economic instability felt around the world. While total volumes of people crossing the border are still gradually climbing back to near pre-pandemic levels, trends seen in the data through the period of travel restrictions are evidence of a truly crossborder population made up of U.S. citizens, residents, and essential workers that contribute a great deal to our region regardless of which country they reside in.

Against a backdrop of global pandemic and a highly restricted border environment, the hundreds of thousands of people, tens of thousands of vehicles, and millions of dollars in trade crossing daily demonstrates interdependence and deeply linked economic, social, and cultural realities on both sides of the border.

(Graphs above display monthly data from January 2018 to December 2021. Click each to enlarge.)

Visit the  Border Crossing/Entry Data FAQ  and the  TransBorder Freight Data FAQ  for more info on the data in this report.

Plans, Research, and Projects Advancing Border Mobility

Explore the links below to learn about some of the recent plans, research, and projects SANDAG and partner agencies in the border region are investing in to deepen our understanding of the border dynamic, form strategies, develop plans, and implement projects transforming how we facilitate the crossborder movement now and in the future.

Planning Documents and Research:

Infrastructure and Mobility Projects:

To stay up to date and join the conversation visit the  Borders Committee  and  Committee on Binational Regional Opportunities (COBRO)  webpages for upcoming meeting agendas.

Map of California-Baja California POEs