[Editor's Note: The following article presents analysis using data from Inside Facebook Gold, our data membership service tracking Facebook's traffic growth and demographic landscape in global markets.]

Over the course of this year, we’ve watched Mexico add new users to Facebook at a notably rapid pace.

So far, the Latin American country has averaged about a million users per month, quickly rising to become Facebook’s ninth-largest market and reaching 13.8 million monthly active users as of the beginning of this month.

Mexico’s growth this year is only the start, though. With just 12.9 percent penetration, the country has plenty of room to grow. If Mexico’s gains continue apace — and from here, it appears that they will — the country should pass Canada’s 15.8 million MAU by the end of the year, simultaneously moving up to become Facebook’s sixth or seventh largest market overall.

Such strong growth should be of interest to marketers and analysts, since Mexico’s culture and businesses are ever more entwined with the United States. There’s also a clear majority of the young among Mexican users; as we covered in July, over 80 percent of users are aged 13-34 with the greatest concentration in the 18-25 demographic. (The percentages have not changed in the intervening month.)

One challenge to dealing with these young Mexican users is that the information they give Facebook about themselves may be unreliable.

As an example, among the 13-17 age group, which comprises just over three million users, only 74,580 users list themselves as being in high school. Meanwhile, 135,220 profess to have graduated from college, and 90,180 claim to be married.

The numbers may be skewed by individuals who misreport their own age, rather than teens entering false information; but whatever the case, it’s difficult to form a clear picture of this group.

Still, it’s clear that Mexico will be an increasingly important market in the Facebook ecosystem going forward. As part of our Facebook Global Monitor report, we predict 16.5 million users for the country in three months, and over 28 million in a year. That latter number will be contingent on growth well above Mexico’s current 30 million internet users; but like other countries, where traditional web access falls short, mobile device access may well fill in the gaps.

The full Global Monitor report, as well as up-to-date global demographic and language data, is available through Inside Facebook Gold, our research and data membership service. To learn more, or to join the membership, please visit Inside Facebook Gold.