[Overview of mortality in Mexico through four indicators from 1990 to 2012].

OBJECTIVE To describe the behavior of mortality in Mexico through four indicators from 1990 to 2012. MATERIAL AND METHODS The official mortality and population records of Mexico were used. RESULTS An advance was achieved for children under five years of age, with a decrease in mortality, although there was an increase in the years of potential life lost (YPLL) from 2008 for this age group. For children under one year of age, there was no advance since 2002 in the index of YPLL and in the productive years of life lost (PYLL). Since 2008 there has been an increase in the rates of mortality, YPLL, and PYLL in the group from 10 to 29 years of age. There has been a sustained increase in YPLL in the age group from 40 to 69. CONCLUSIONS It is relevant to evaluate the health policies in Mexico for the different age groups; even though there have been positive results in some of them, these are not across all the age groups, which could put some sectors of the population at risk, such as children and young people from 10 to 29 years of age.