Mexican Migrants Sent Record $36B In Remittances In 2019

Instability in Mexico and Latin America drove a wave of migrant workers to send a record amount of remittances to their home countries in 2019. Mexico’s Central Bank reported that Mexican migrants working overseas sent home a record-high $36 billion in remittances in 2019, a 7 percent increase from 2018.

According to a study from the Inter-American Dialogue, between 2016 and 2017, remittances to Mexico increased by 12 percent, a sharp rise from previous years.

States with the largest population of Mexican-born immigrants rank highest in remittance transfers. The states with the highest transfers include California ($8.84 billion), Texas ($4.3 billion), Illinois ($1.4 billion), New York ($1.8 billion), Florida ($1.15 billion), and Georgia ($1.0 billion). California accounted for nearly 29 percent of the total remittances to Mexico from 2014 to 2017. During this same time period, the percentage of the Mexican-born population in the U.S. dropped slightly by 1.3 percent while remittances spiked to nearly 8 percent.

Beginning in the late 1980s, Mexico transitioned from a closed economy to a market-oriented economy. Mexico further accelerated its market-based economy by entering into the NAFTA agreement in 1994 and exports became a major source of revenue. Still, Mexico is highly dependent on the United States for exports and remittances. Remittances replaced oil exports as Mexico’s largest source of foreign exchange, according to a Congressional Research Service report.

Academics and CEOs dominate Fed advisory boards

28 for ’28: The open presidential race field could reach more than two dozen candidates

Nolan’s ‘The Odyssey’ is clumsy, anachronistic, and badly acted

China’s routing of Biden in chip war with US created a communist tech giant

Witnesses recount ‘scary’ NYC stabbing after suspect allegedly yelled ‘Allahu Akbar’ during attacks

Multiple injured after floatplane makes emergency landing, catches fire off Washington coast

California mayor’s hot mic catches candid exchange after audience sends meeting off rails

Never Forget Dems Supported Large-Scale Deportations Until Trump Took Up the Issue – Just Listen to What Obama Said in 2014

Massachusetts Democratic Party chairman admits to sufficient facts in June drunken driving case

Rubio unveils visa restrictions targeting cybercrime networks

House Democrats Furious at Their Own Campaign Arm Over Expensive Primary Blunder

Ex-Dem Legislator Arrested Over Child Porn, But It’s 7 Words from FBI Investigator That Will Make You Sick to Your Stomach

Hunter Biden Blasts CNN’s Jake Tapper as a ‘Poor Journalist’ and a Terrible Person in NSFW Comments

Dem’s stunning ideal standard for immigration detention conditions resurfaces amid Texas senate bid

Lauren Boebert Says She Missed Key House Vote Because She Was Misinformed by GOP Staffers

From foreign tourism, Mexico receives about $25 billion while only $22.4 billion in annual petroleum exports.

Mexico’s poverty rate remains high despite its openness to the international economic system. The poverty rate stands at 41.9 percent as of 2018 according to the International Monetary Fund. People working in the subsistence farming or informal sector of the economy are among Mexico’s poorest citizens and are especially reliant on remittances from the U.S. to pay for basic essential needs.

Remittance flows could remain high with Mexico’s economy projected to remain sluggish. The International Monetary Fund predicts meager economic growth for Mexico at 1 percent in 2020. Mexico’s 2019 third-quarter growth remained stagnant as well.

The rise in remittances from the United States to Mexico is happening alongside an overall downside trajectory in immigration from Mexican migrants to the U.S.

Across the wider Latin America region, remittances grew by 4.7 percent in 2019, according to a study published by Manuel Orozco, director of the Migration, Remittances, and Development Program at the Inter-American Dialogue.