Mexico’s Cash Cow: Remittances from the US & Other Countries Surge to New Record


The total amount Mexico received in “remittances” — transfers of money by workers of Mexican descent mostly in the US but also other countries to individuals in Mexico — surged by 10.5% in 2018 to $33.4 billion, the highest figure registered since records began, back in 1995, and beating the prior records set in 2016 and 2017, according to the Bank of Mexico.
The cash remittances are a lifeline for Mexico’s economy, accounting for 2.7% of Mexico’s GDP, up from 1.9% in 2009. Most of them get spent very quickly in the Mexican economy. In some Mexican states, they can represent as much as 10% of total revenues. In 2018, they provided more funds than the $29.3 billion in export revenues that state-owned oil company, Pemex, obtained from its exports of crude oil and other hydrocarbon products, and they provided more funds than foreign direct investment in Mexico ($30.7 billion).


Every single year between 1995, the year the Bank of Mexico began tracking the movement of funds between Mexican workers in the U.S. and their families back in Mexico, and 2006, a fresh annual record was registered. Between 2000 and 2001 the total amount sent grew by around 35%, from $6.57 billion to $8.89 billion. In 2003 the rate of growth surpassed 50%.