Mexico’s remittance income hit record highs in March and in the first quarter of the year, a welcome development after inflows declined 4.6% annually in 2025.
The Bank of Mexico reported on Monday that incoming remittances totaled US $5.39 billion in March, an annual increase of 4.9%. The vast majority of remittances to Mexico are sent by Mexican workers in the United States.
Between January and March, inflows totaled $14.45 billion, an increase of 1.4% compared to the first quarter of 2025.
The totals for March and the first quarter of 2026 are the highest on record for the corresponding periods.
The annual increase in March — the second consecutive gain this year — was the best result for any month since November 2024. The annual increase in the first three months of the year was the best first-quarter result since 2023.
The incoming remittances total in March was easily the highest this year, 20.7% above the February total ($4.46 billion) and 17.4% above the January total ($4.59 billion).
Juan José Li Ng, senior economist at BBVA Research in Mexico, said that the 4.9% annual increase in remittances in March breaks the pattern of negative or low growth in recent months and “could be a sign of a possible recovery” of inflows to Mexico in 2026. He said that the increase could be partially attributed to the decline in March in the value of the Mexican peso, which depreciated amid conflict in the Middle East. A weaker peso can encourage Mexicans abroad to increase the size of their transfers to Mexico as they get more bang for their buck.
The 4.6% decline in incoming remittances last year was the worst result in 16 years and the first downturn in more than a decade.
Analysts partially attributed the decline in 2025 to fear of going out to work among U.S.-based Mexicans, of whom 4.3 million are “unauthorized” immigrants, according to the bank BBVA.
That fear is the product of the Trump administration’s aggressive deportation agenda.
Mexico is the world’s second-largest recipient of remittances after India, with annual inflows representing around 4% of Mexico’s GDP.
Remittances data in detail
- In the 12 months to the end of March, Mexico received $61.97 billion in remittances, a 0.4% increase compared to the total in the year to the end of February.
- The $5.39 billion in remittances sent to Mexico in March came in 12.93 million individual transfers. The total number of transfers declined 3.6% compared to March 2025. The average individual transfer was $417, a year-over-year increase of 8.9% and a record high for March.
- The $14.45 billion in remittances sent to Mexico in the first quarter of 2026 came in 35.71 million transfers. The total number of transfers declined 4% compared to the first quarter of 2025. The average individual transfer in the period was $405, an annual increase of 5.6%.
- In the first quarter of 2026, 99% of all remittances were sent to Mexico electronically. The remaining 1% came in money orders (0.2%) and cash and kind (0.8%).
- Michoacán and Guanajuato were the top recipients of remittances in the first quarter of 2026, with each state receiving $1.24 billion in the period, according to Li Ng, the BBVA economist. Jalisco ranked third for incoming remittances ($1.19 billion), followed by Mexico City ($1.15 billion).
- Almost one-third (32.4%) of the money sent to Mexico in remittances in the first quarter of the year came from California ($4.68 billion). Around 14% of the total came from Texas ($2.03 billion). Thus, almost half (46.4%) of Mexico’s remittances total between January and March was sent from California and Texas, both of which have large populations of Mexican residents.
- Remittances totaling $291 million were sent out of Mexico in the first quarter of 2026, an annual increase of 1.1%.
With reports from El Financiero, El Economista, La Jornada, López-Doriga Digital and Reforma
