Coahuila happens to be one of the states in Mexico with the highest standards regarding industrialization, which in turn results in 90% of its population residing in urban areas. The state's contribution to national Gross Domestic Product in the year 2004 reached 3,3%, positioning it in tenth place nationwide.

Industrial sectors in the automotive, textile and metallurgy activities capture the highest investment in the state, and represented no less than 36% of Coahuila's income as of 2004. Many cross-border plants destined for export have settled across the region, taking advantage of its proximity to the United States frontier.

The manufacturing portfolio offered by the state of Coahuila de Zaragoza is broad : automobiles and automotive spare parts and accessories, foods, iron and steel products, construction materials, clothing, domestic appliances, electronic hardware, and industrial machinery, just to name those dealing with the greatest production volumes.

On the other hand, Coahuila is the only coal producer in Mexico, in addition to some other minerals extracted from local mines, such as iron, silver, copper, and zinc. And improving the panorama further more, local economy has benefited from recent discoveries of large natural gas deposits.

For the year 2004, the commerce, hotels and restaurant sector contributed 20% to the state's Gross Domestic Product, while the services sector delivered as well with 17%.