The analytical approach proposed in this article comes from the area of regional econ-omy. The main aim of this paper is to detail the business structure of Mexico in terms of employment in the manufacturing subsectors and at the regional level in the period 1988-2018. The traditional shift-share methodology is used to describe performance by type of company across the large division of manufacturing industry activity, in order to establish the most dynamic subsectors. Additionally, expanded shift-share is incorporated as a methodological proposal to weight the level of contribution of the business structure. The results establish that in msmes the food industry registers the best performance, while for large companies the metal products industry does best. It is corroborated that msmes specialize in traditional activities with a greater presence in the Central, Pacific and Southern regions. Meanwhile, large companies concentrate on modern and highly technical activities with greater growth in the Northern Border and North-Central regions. This makes it necessary to develop sectoral policies to im-prove the performance of each manufacturing division.