A total of US $61.79 billion flowed into Mexico in remittances in 2025, a 4.6% decrease compared to 2024, but nevertheless an exceptionally large amount of money.
It is common knowledge that the vast majority of the remittances to Mexico are sent from the United States, but where in the country does all the money go?
How important are remittances to the economies of Mexico’s 32 federal entities?
We answer both those questions in this week’s “Mexico in Numbers” article.
Which states received the most in remittances in 2025?
According to data published by the Bank of Mexico, Mexico’s largest recipient of remittances in 2025 was the state of Guanajuato.
A total of $5.51 billion flowed into Guanajuato last year, accounting for 8.9% of the total remittances amount sent to Mexico in 2025.
The next four biggest recipients of remittances in 2025 were:
- Michoacán, which received $5.39 billion (8.7% of the total).
- Jalisco, which received $5.14 billion (8.3%).
- Chiapas, which received $4.15 billion (6.7%).
- Mexico City, which received $3.88 billion (6.3%).
The five entities listed above together received 38.9% of the total amount of remittances sent to Mexico last year.
The high remittances total each entity received indicates that a significant number of people from those entities are working in the United States.
Ranking sixth to 10th for money received in remittances last year were:
- México state, which received $3.66 billion (5.9%).
- Oaxaca, which received $3.5 billion (5.7%).
- Puebla, which received $3.42 billion (5.5%).
- Guerrero, which received $3.39 billion (5.5%)
- Veracruz, which received $2.61 billion (4.2%).
Mexico’s 10 largest recipients of remittances together received $40.65 billion last year. That amount accounts for 65.8% of the remittances total sent to Mexico in 2025.
Which states received the smallest portions of the remittances pie?
The Bank of Mexico’s 2025 data shows that Baja California Sur received the smallest amount in remittances among Mexico’s 32 federal entities. The state received $143.9 million in remittances, an amount that accounts for just 0.2% of the 2025 total.
The other four states in the bottom five for remittances receipts in 2025 were:
- Campeche, which received $175.2 million (0.3% of the total).
- Tabasco, which received $330.2 million (0.5%).
- Quintana Roo, which received $355.7 million (0.6%).
- Tlaxcala, which $407.3 million (0.7%).
The five states listed above collectively received $1.41 billion in remittances last year, an amount that accounts for just 2.3% of the total.
Remittances are equivalent to more than 10% of the GDP of 4 states
According to BBVA Research, which compiled data from the Bank of Mexico and the national statistics agency INEGI, the total amount in remittances received by Guerrero in 2025 was equivalent to 13.9% of the southern state’s GDP.
The total in remittance Chiapas received last year was also equivalent to 13.9% of that state’s GDP.
Meanwhile, Oaxaca’s receipt of remittances in 2025 represented 10.7% of its GDP.
The three states with the greatest dependence on remittances, as represented by a percentage of their GDP, are also Mexico’s poorest states based on the proportion of their populations considered to be living in extreme poverty.
The only other state where the remittances total received in 2025 represented more than 10% of GDP was Michoacán. The $5.39 billion in remittances Michoacán received last year was equivalent to 10.5% of that state’s GDP.
Seven other states received remittances amounts last year that were equivalent to more than 5% of their GDP. They were:
- Zacatecas: 9.9%
- Guanajuato: 6.6%
- Nayarit: 6.4%
- Morelos: 6.0%
- Hidalgo: 5.5%
- Durango: 5.5%
- Puebla: 5.4%
The five states with the lowest intakes of remittances in 2025 as a percentage of their GDP were:
- Campeche: 0.7%
- Nuevo León: 0.8%
- Tabasco: 0.9%
- Baja California Sur: 1.0%
- Sonora: 1.2%
Mexico News Daily
