Mexico | Remittances fall 4.6%, but flows to Latin America are booming

Summary

In May 2025, remittances to Mexico fell 4.6 % compared to the same month of the last year, to 5,360 million dollars. In contrast, remittances to Guatemala (2,281 million, +15.2 %), Honduras (1,055 million, +19.1 %), and El Salvador (899 million, +17.7 %) reached record highs.

Key points

• Key points:
• In May 2025, remittances to Mexico fell 4.6 % compared to the same month of the last year, to 5,360 million dollars. In contrast, remittances to Guatemala (2,281 million, +15.2 %), Honduras (1,055 million, +19.1 %), and El Salvador (899 million, +17.7 %) reached record highs.
• The argument that border controls and raids in the U.S. explain the drop in remittances to Mexico does not appear to hold water, as between January and May 2025, remittances grew both to countries with more undocumented migration and to those with higher levels of documentation in their diasporas than the Mexican one.
• The working conditions of the Mexican migrants in the U.S. have not improved in the first five months of 2025, but there is no indication that they have been affected. In May 2025, their labor force participation rate stood at 66.2 %, the unemployment rate was 3.6 %, and the percentage of part-time workers reached 18.3 %. These figures reflect solid working conditions from a historical perspective.
• 2025 is set to be a boom year for remittances from (some) Latin American and Caribbean countries. Remittances to Honduras and Nicaragua are estimated to grow by around 20 % or more; for Guatemala, El Salvador, and Colombia, an increase of close to 15 % is projected, and for the Dominican Republic, an increase of more than 10 %.

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