remittances – Geo-Mexico, the geography of Mexico

Remittances in 2015 exceed oil revenues

Mexico's geography in the Press 3 Responses »

Feb 042016

Remittances sent home by Mexican migrants (almost all of them residing in the USA) rose to $24.8 billion last year, up 4.75% compared to 2014.

The average remittance sent to Mexico in 2015 was $292.00, a slight decline. Almost all remittances (97%) are now sent via electronic transfer.

Figure 1 of Pew Report. Shaded area is period of recession.

Low oil prices have led to a sharp decline in the value of Mexico’s oil exports. Oil revenues last year totaled $23.4 billion, which means that remittances now exceed oil revenues as a source of foreign exchange. Before the implementation of NAFTA in 1994, oil revenues accounted for around 80% of all Mexico’s foreign exchange. In 2015, that figure was less than 20%, showing the degree of economic diversification that has been achieved post-NAFTA.

The value of oil exports in 2015 was also significantly lower than the value of manufactured goods exports, or the value of agricultural exports.

Want to learn more about remittances?

Mexican migrants and remittances: an introduction
How important are remittances to Mexico’s economy?
Have Mexicans given up on the dream of moving to the USA? (Jul 2012)
Migration and remittances: an index page – a comprehensive index page listing Geo-Mexico posts related to migration and remittances

Remittances on the rise

Mexico's geography in the Press 2 Responses »

May 282015

Remittances sent home by Mexican migrants (almost all of them residing in the USA) rose to $2.26 billion in March 2015, 7.6% higher than the same month a year earlier. This was the highest monthly figure since May 2012, and the highest ever figure for March.

The average remittance sent to Mexico in March 2015 was $311.30, the highest figure since July 2012, and the number of transfers was 7.25 million.

The March figure brought the total remittances for the first quarter of this year to $5.7 billion, 4.9% higher than the same period in 2014.

Workers in California sent remittances worth $1.59 billion home during the first three months of this year, more than the workers in any other state. Texas came in second place with $763.9 million and Illinois placed third at $199.3 million.

The three main receiving states in Mexico were:

Michoacán – $603 million
Jalisco – $539 million
Guanajuato – $509 million

For an introduction to the topic of remittances, with links to some of the key posts on this blog, see

A comprehensive index page listing all the posts oon Geo-Mexico related to migration and remittances can be found at Migration and remittances: an index page.

Remittances fell 3.75% in 2013 but look set to rise in 2014

Mexico's geography in the Press Comments Off

Feb 062014

Figures from Mexico’s central bank (Banco de México) show that the value of remittances sent home by Mexicans working in the USA fell 3.75% in 2013, compared to the previous year.

Annual remittance totals in billions of dollars:

2013 – 21.596
2012 – 22.438
2011 – 22.802
2010 – 21.303

Trends in remittance payments are closely linked to trends in the US economy, so the slight fall in the past two years is no great surprise, as the US economy struggles to regain growth following the 2008 financial crisis.

There are some positive signs. Despite the decline over the year as a whole, the month of December saw remittances entering Mexico of 1.8 billion dollars, higher than any December since 2007.

In the last quarter of 2013, remittance payments were 3.46% higher than for the same period in 2012 (mainly due to a higher number of remittance payments), suggesting that remittance payments may now be on the rise again. The average amount remitted during the last quarter of 2013 was 285.34 dollars, 3.8% less than the average for the equivalent period in 2012.

Note: These remittance figures quantify only remittances sent via “formal” channels such as banks, and do not include informal payments carried directly back to Mexico by family or friends.

Related posts:

Remittances to Mexico from USA decline slightly in 2013

Updates to Geo-Mexico Comments Off

Nov 232013

Using recent World Bank data, the Pew Research Center conducted an in-depth analysis of remittances sent from the USA to Latin American countries.

Remittances to Mexico peaked at over $30 billion in 2006, but as a result of the Great Recession, have declined by roughly 29% to an estimated $22 billion in 2013. (The analysis is based on constant 2013 US dollars).

Figure 1 of Pew Report. Shaded area is period of recession.

On the other hand, remittances to all other Latin American countries reached almost $31 billion in 2008, declined slightly but were up to almost $32 billion in 2013 (see graph).

Note that the data are for remittances sent through formal channels such as banks and formal money transfer businesses. The average cost of sending these formal remittances is significant, an estimated 7.3% in late 2013. If all informal remittances were included, the remittances to Mexico would be an estimated 50% higher, or over $30 billion.

The study focuses particular attention on Mexico because it receives more than 40% of all remittances from the USA to Latin America. Mexico ranks 4th worldwide in total remittances, behind India ($71 billion), China ($60 billion) and the Philippines ($26 billion). These three other countries get remittances from many countries throughout the developed world while 98% of Mexico’s remittances come from the USA. The remaining 2% come mostly from Spain and Canada. No other country in Latin America receives more than 90% of their remittances from the USA. Spain is a bigger source of remittances than the USA for Argentina, Bolivia, Paraguay and Uruguay. This is a bit surprising given the horrible current economic situation in Spain. Many Spaniards are now migrating to Mexico in search of work.

The USA is by far the largest source of all worldwide remittances with $123 billion, followed by Saudi Arabia $28 billion and Canada $24 billion. However, on a per capita basis or percentage of GDP basis, Saudi Arabia, Canada and many other countries send significantly more in remittances than the USA.

The main reason why remittances to Mexico declined after 2006 is that the Great Recession very seriously hurt the construction industry, a main source of jobs for Mexican immigrants. Related to this, the overall loss of jobs in the USA meant that many immigrants returned to Mexico. In recent years it appears that more have returned to Mexico than have migrated to the USA. Thus the number of Mexican-born residents in the USA is declining very slightly for the first time since the Great Depression in the 1930s.

While remittances are extremely important to specific Mexican households, particularly rural households in western Mexico, remittances are not as important to the overall Mexican economy as they are to some other countries. Remittances account for about 2% of the overall Mexican GDP compared to 17% in El Salvador, 16% in Honduras and 10% in both Guatemala and Nicaragua.

The average amount of remittances sent by Mexican immigrants is rather low compared to immigrants from other countries. On average immigrants from Mexico over age 18 sent $2,115 in remittances per year, compared to $5,558 for immigrants from Guatemala, $5,231 for Honduras, $3,076 for Dominican Republic and $2,939 for El Salvador. We do not know if immigrants from these other countries had higher paying jobs than those from Mexico.

Source:

D’Vera Cohn, Ana Gonzalez-Barrera and Danielle Cuddington, “Remittances to Latin America Recover – but Not to Mexico”, Pew Research Center, November 15, 2013.

For more detail about remittances in Mexico, see:

Value of remittances entering Mexico declines in 2012

Updates to Geo-Mexico Comments Off

Feb 042013

Mexico’s central bank has released figures showing that remittances entering Mexico in 2012 totalled $22.446 billion, 1.57% less than the $22.803 billion recorded in 2011. [All figures in US dollars.]

The central bank registered 71.62 million remittance movements in 2012, 2.52% more than the year before. The average remittance fell by about 4% from $326 in 2011 to $313 in 2012.

The state receiving most remittances was Michoacán which accounted for $2.209 billion, almost 10% of the total.

Remittances are the second largest source of foreign exchange after oil and gas revenues and are a vital source of funding for millions of people.

Related posts:

Mexican migrants and remittances: an introduction (with dozens of links to other posts)

Remittances are on the rise

Updates to Geo-Mexico Comments Off

Jun 092012

The annual total of remittances sent back to families in Mexico by migrant workers in the USA increased year-on-year to 22.731 billion dollars in 2011, and looks set to rise again this year.

Mexico’s central bank (the Bank of Mexico) recently released figures showing that remittances to Mexico increased in April 2012 by more than 8% compared to the same month a year earlier, bringing the cumulative total for the first four months of this year to 7.4 billion dollars, 6% higher than in the same period in 2011.

These increases in remittance flows come despite increasing evidence that the net flow of migrants leaving Mexico to work in the USA has come to a standstill: Net migration flow from Mexico to the USA falls close to zero or has possibly reversed.

For more detail about remittances in Mexico, see:

Mapping remittance flows to Mexico, a practical exercise

Books and resources, Teaching ideas Comments Off

Jan 262012

Looking for a practical exercise about migration and remittance flows to challenge your students?

Click for printable pdf map

Remittances (the funds sent by migrant workers back to their families) are a major international financial flow into Mexico. Remittances bring more than 20 billion dollars a year into the economy, an amount equivalent to 2.5% of Mexico’s GDP. On a per person basis, Mexico receives more worker remittances than any other major country in the world. An estimated 20% of Mexican residents regularly receive some financial support from relatives working abroad. Such remittances are the mainstay of the economies of many Mexican families, especially in rural areas of Durango, Zacatecas, Guanajuato, Jalisco and Michoacán.

Two data tables [see link] included in the World Bank Working Paper by Raúl Hernández-Coss, referred to in several previous posts, offer an ideal starting-point for practical mapping and analysis exercises for students. (The data is from 2004 but we are more interested in general patterns than precise values). The data tables are here:

Hernández-Coss-2005-Table-VIA1+TableVIA2 [small pdf file]

A ready-made printable base map, showing the state boundaries of Mexico and USA, can be found here:

Base map for mapping distribution of migrants and/or remittance flows [pdf file]

Suggested mapping exercises:

1. Which US areas have most Mexican migrants?

Use Column 2 (Mexican nationals living in this jurisdiction) of Table VI.A.1 and draw proportional circles on a base map to show which areas have most migrants. [To draw circles where the area of each circle is in direct proportion to the number of Mexican nationals, the first step is to calculate the square root of each number. These square roots are then used as the basis for working out the diameter (or radius) of the circle you draw for each location. The area of each circle is then proportional to the number of migrants. Remember to choose the most appropriate scale for the circles, so that it is easy to compare places. (If you draw very small circles, or super-large circles, they will be difficult to compare!)

2. Which US areas send the highest value of remittances back to Mexico?

Use column 4 of Table VI.A.1 to show the value of total “annual remittance flows” on a base map. You may be able to superimpose this information on the same base map you drew for Q1 which would make it very easy to see if the areas with most Mexican nationals send the most remittances back to Mexico each year. Can you see any anomalies on your map, either where an area sends far more remittances back than might be expected from the number of migrants, or where an area sends only a small value of remittances back despite having a very large number of Mexican nationals?

3. How does the “average remittance” (column 5 of Table VI.A.1 vary?

Use the available figures to see if you can identify any pattern to which areas send relatively large remittance payments, and which send much smaller average payments.

4. Where do all the remittance payments go?

Level One: Use the information from Table VI.A.2 to draw a map with arrows showing the largest single flows from each area in the USA to their corresponding state in Mexico.

Level Two: Work out the dollar value of the main remittance flows, by using the % figures given for some areas in Table VI.A.2 and their corresponding total annual remittance values from Table VI.A.1. (eg the value of the Los Angeles to Jalisco flow is 26% of $7,886.3 million). Then map the ten largest flows using flowlines (arrows where the width of each arrow is proportional to the value of remittances).

Look at the map or maps created and see if you can identify any patterns. If you can describe a pattern, then also look to see if you can find any anomalies, and try to explain your findings.

Related posts:

Mexican migrants and remittances: an introduction

Mexican Home Town Associations (HTAs) and their considerable effectiveness

Updates to Geo-Mexico Comments Off

Dec 292011

Home Town Associations (HTAs) are associations created by migrants to promote links between their hometown communities of origin (Mexico) and their communities of residence in the USA. Many HTAs raise money (via dances, raffles, beauty pageants and other events) to fund public works and social projects in Mexico.

Mexico offers important additional funding to multiply the impact of “collective remittances” sent home from HTAs. Every dollar sent home is matched by three dollars, one from each level of Mexico’s political administration: federal, state and municipal. This means that a relatively small input of dollars from an HTA can be the catalyst to fund a school or new road.

From 1993 to 2000, investments financed by the program totaled $16.2 million, for projects ranging from street paving, irrigation and drainage to new or revamped cemeteries, parks, plazas, community centers and athletic facilities. The average cost of these projects is $56,000; almost two-thirds of projects are in communities of fewer than 2000 inhabitants. [Source: “Migrant’s Capital for Small Scale Infrastructure and Small Enterprise Development in Mexico,” World Bank, January 2002.]

Case study of the 3×1 scheme: Atacheo de Regalado (Michoacán)

Atacheo de Regalado has a population of fewer than 2000 inhabitants, and is only 15 km. northeast of the large commercial city of Zamora, in the state of Michoacán.

Atacheo de Regalado has implemented five productive community projects under the “3 dollars for 1” scheme, based on remittances sent home from migrants in the USA, mainly in Illinois. The projects, involving 336 families, have been organized by the priests of a local church, and include a turkey farm, a goat farm, hydroponics green houses to grow vegetables and flowers for export, a factory for loudspeakers and baffles, and a bull-fighting ring. These five projects represent a total investment of about $1.5 million (dollars). The community exported 220 tons of tomatoes to the USA in 2003.

Two more projects, will need investments of about $2 million to complete, are planned:

1. A rastro (meat factory) to process up to 2000 turkeys a day for sale to supermarket chains.
2. A pasteurization plant for goat milk, to process up to 40,000 liters daily for export to the USA.

[This post is based on the World Bank Working Paper by Raúl Hernández-Coss, entitled “The U.S.–Mexico Remittance Corridor: Lessons on Shifting from Informal to Formal Transfer Systems”.]

Related posts:

The typical remittance, the last mile, and the effects of remittances on recipient communities

Updates to Geo-Mexico Comments Off

Dec 262011

What are the characteristics of a “typical” remittance? The average remittance amount has remained fairly stable in the past decade. Migrants sending remittances do so about once every month, and send between $280 and $370 each time. Remittance amounts tend to decrease over time; migrants who have lived in the USA for a long time send fewer dollars back home than those in their first year or two. Some migrants continue to send funds back home even after living for 20 years or more in the USA. [This post is based on the World Bank Working Paper by Raúl Hernández-Coss, entitled The U.S.–Mexico Remittance Corridor: Lessons on Shifting from Informal to Formal Transfer Systems.]

The recipients

Remittance payments do not only go to Mexico’s poorest families. Recent surveys show that the there is very little difference between the monthly income of recipients of remittances in Mexico and the national average monthly income. The educational level of recipients is also close to that of the overall population.

The last mile: how do recipients receive remittances?

Depending on how they are sent, remittances can be collected by recipients in Mexico in several different places. These include banks, some department stores, post offices, casas populares (akin to credit unions), microfinance institutions, neighborhood stores and currency exchange outlets.

Effects of Remittances on Recipient Communities

These effects can be examined at a variety of scales.

At the household level, remittances are believed to have an overall positive effect on the recipient economy. Some studies have reported that remittances from the USA account for 20% of the capital invested in micro-enterprises in Mexico. The spending of remittances has a multiplier effect in local communities. On the other hand, remittances may also have some negative effects on households. Some families may become overly dependent on regular remittance payments and lose the incentive to work or improve labor skills.

At the community level, remittances from the USA are often used for community projects in the migrants’ “home” towns and villages in Mexico. This implies a much greater degree of organization (than for household-level impacts) and carries socio-political implications. There are dozens of “Home Town Associations” in the USA, each linking migrants to their home community. In many cases, these give migrants an on-going, increasingly effective, voice in the decisions taken in their home communities.

On the flip side, remittances have inflated the price of land and property in some communities, as many migrants use remittances to purchase property in their native community with the intention of eventually returning to live there. In some villages, the large houses they have built remain empty most or all of the year, too expensive to rent at local rates.

Migrants have acquired some political power. This has been recognized by the Mexican government which has introduced mechanisms allowing Mexican migrants to register and vote in presidential elections.

Case study: remittances received by Tlacolula (Oaxaca).

The city of Tlacolula, in Oaxaca, has about 13,500 inhabitants and is a marketing center for surrounding municipalities. Remittance funds sent back to Tlacolula is first used to pay off any debts incurred in financing the trip to the USA. Most of the remainder is then used to build houses. In the past decade, the value of land and building materials has risen extremely rapidly. For instance, it is reported that a 400-square-meter building plot that cost $10,000 (dollars) a decade ago now costs about $60,000. Returning migrants do not always bring savings back with them, but do bring new skills, and possibly tools, such as those required to be an electrician or plumber.

Active participants in globalization

As the World Bank study states, “The families and communities affected by remittances are active participants in globalization. In addition to exchanging funds, they maintain ties between migrants and their origins, as people move north, and money moves south. The exchange does not stop with personal family remittances. Links between communities on either side of the border are also fostered through home town associations (HTAs).” We will look more closely at HTAs in a future post.

Related posts:

What factors influence the decision about how to send remittances home?

Other Comments Off

Dec 122011

In an earlier post –International financial flows: how do Mexican migrants send remittances back home?– we looked at some of the ways used by Mexican migrants to send remittance payments back to their families and friends in Mexico. The World Bank study headed by Raúl Hernández-Coss (2005) breaks down the discussion about how remittance payments are made into three distinct stages (see diagram):

1. First Mile – how the sender of a remittance payment decides where and how to initiate the transfer.
2. Transfer (intermediary stage) – several financial systems combine to transfer funds.
3. Last Mile – how the recipient gains access to the funds that have been sent.

Summary of remittance flows. Source: World Bank report (details in text)

This post looks at the “First Mile“.

What factors influence the choices made by the sender of the remittances?

The World Bank researchers conclude that several factors are important considerations for the senders of remittances.

the ease of access to formal channels. Is there a bank or credit union close to where they live or work?
their level of financial awareness. Many migrants have limited experience of international financial transactions. Many do not have bank accounts.
the perceived reliability of the service. Many Mexican do not trust banks.
familiarity with the company providing the service. This is strongly influenced by “cultural” familiarity. Sending a wire transfer from a US branch of a Mexican supermarket chain, for example, might be preferred over a US bank with an unfamiliar name.
the desire for anonymity. Using formal channels requires photo-identification. Some migrants prefer informal channels for this reason alone.
their knowledge of “the Final Mile”. If they are sending funds to a remote village, far from a bank, they may opt to rely on a friend or relative carrying cash on their behalf back to their families, rather than involve their family in a lengthy and potentially costly trip to the nearest bank. This factor is becoming less of an issue. In recent years, formal banking channels have extended into many (though not yet all) small towns in the migrants’ home states in Mexico, offering recipients of remittances easier access to funds sent through formal channels.
the costs (see below) of the alternative transfer methods available
their legal status. For formal transfers, some form of photo-identification is normally required. Undocumented migrants do not normally have this option. (but see below)

Two recent trends are worth examining in more detail:

1. The declining cost of making a remittance transfer

Remittance senders have to take into account the relative expenses associated with competing transfer options. The average cost of making transfers has dropped dramatically in recent years. The sharpest falls came about a decade ago. For example, the average fee fell from $26.12 in 1999 to $12.84 in 2003, a drop of more than 50%.

Why has this happened?

The Mexican government has policies that encourage lower fees at the recipient’s end of the transfer.
Increased competition among private sector companies for a share of the international transfer market has forced prices down.
Improved technologies have made transfers faster (close to instantaneous), and lowered administrative costs associated with transfers [think automatic computerized systems instead of paper-pushing clerks!]

Lower prices have made it less attractive to use unregulated informal methods. In many cases informal methods are now significantly more expensive than most of the options involving a formal bank-to-bank transfer.

2. High-security consular certificates

In order to make it easier for undocumented workers to send funds back home safely, the Mexican government issues an official identity document through its consulates in the USA.

Mexican consulates began issuing these certificates as long ago as 1871! The certificates are now called the Matrícula Consular de Alta Seguridad (MCAS). The Mexican government negotiated for their acceptance by US authorities, including homeland security.

The current high-security version of the MCAS, recognized by international law, is accepted in more than 30 states, 400 cities, 1,000 police agencies and 280 banking institutions, including Wells Fargo, Bank of America, US Bank, Citibank and HSBC. It has allowed many Mexicans to access, for the first time, formal channels for sending remittances back home.

There are four basic requirements to get an MCAS:

Proof of nationality (eg Mexican birth certificate, passport, or formal declaration of Mexican nationality)
Proof of identity (any official ID card issued in Mexico or elsewhere, including any passport, drivers licenses, voter card, official school records, etc)
Proof of residency (a utility bill or official correspondence with that address)
Payment of a processing fee of $26.

Related posts:

Mexican migrants and remittances: an introduction – this has numerous links to many aspects of USA-Mexico remittances

International financial flows: how do Mexican migrants send remittances back home?

Books and resources Comments Off

Nov 302011

Remittance payments are one of the world’s major international financial flows. Mexican migrants in the USA send more than 20 billion dollars a year in total back to their families and friends. But how exactly are remittance payments made?

A 2005 World Bank study led by Raúl Hernández-Coss entitled “The U.S.–Mexico Remittance Corridor: Lessons on Shifting from Informal to Formal Transfer Systems” answers these questions, with a detailed analysis of the mechanisms and constraints of remittance transfers between USA and Mexico.

The mechanisms used to send money home can be broadly divided into two categories: formal and informal. Formal transfers use the regulated financial systems of the two countries concerned, in this case of USA and Mexico. Formal transfers include those made via banks, credit unions, wire transfer services and postal services. For formal transfers, migrants choose between direct “electronic” transfers from one bank to another, or sending a bank check by post or with a friend, or providing the recipient access to a bank account via an ATM card.

Informal transfers are all the other ways in which funds are repatriated: via ethnic stores, travel agencies, unregistered money changers, courier services, hawala-type systems (informal value transfer systems) and hand-delivery.

Funds sent via formal channels are better monitored and more secure than funds sent via informal channels. Does this mean that personal remittances might be a good way to repatriate drug profits? The researchers involved in the World Bank study do not believe so:

“Personal remittances, such as migrant worker remittances, have not been widely associated with money laundering schemes, with the exception of “smurfing” (dividing transfers into smaller packages to evade reporting requirements on larger amounts). Larger transfers, such as those related to trade, generally have higher utility for money laundering schemes than do personal transfers of small amounts.”

Trends in methods used for remittance transfers. Credit: World Bank, 2005

The statistics for the value of remittances are based largely on formal transfers. One clear trend, reflected in data from Mexico’s central bank (Banxico), is that migrants are increasingly choosing to send funds using direct electronic transfers (see graph), rather than by personal checks or money orders.

In a future post, we will try to answer the question, “What factors affect migrants’ decisions about the best way to send their money back to Mexico?”

Related posts:

Mexican migrants and remittances: an introduction – this has numerous links to many aspects of USA-Mexico remittances

Mexican migrants and remittances: an introduction

Books and resources, Index page Comments Off

Nov 072011

On a per person basis, Mexico receives more worker remittances than any other major country in the world. An estimated 20% of Mexican residents regularly receive some financial support from relatives working abroad. Such remittances are the mainstay of the economies of many Mexican families, especially in rural areas of Durango, Zacatecas, Guanajuato, Jalisco and Michoacán.

The causes and consequences of mass out-migration and large remittance payments are varied, and sometimes disputed. For background, causes and trends, try:

For some impacts of Mexican migrants on the USA (of varying importance), see:

The four subtitles used in the Atlantic Magazine article are useful reminders of some of the other major aspects of international migration from Mexico. Again, links are given to previous Geo-Mexico posts which look at good examples.

“Branching Out” emphasizes the links that exist between communities, often referred to as “migration channels”.

“The Hollow States” identifies the five major “states of origin”—Guanajuato, Jalisco, Michoacán, San Luis Potosí and Zacatecas—which receive almost 50% of all remittance payments.

“Staying Put” points out that improved economic conditions in Mexico in recent decades, have restricted out-migration from certain areas, especially the border region. Recent developments in Mexico’s war on drugs have, however, led to an increase in the number of border residents moving to bigger, safer cities further south, or seeking to emigrate to the USA.

“Community Development” stresses the important link between “hometown associations” (groupings, found in many US cities, of Mexican migrants sharing a common area of origin) and their related villages and towns in Mexico. Many community development projects in areas of high out-migration have been financed by remittances. In many cases, the three levels of Mexican government—municipal, state and federal—provide matching funds for such projects, meaning that remittances only pay for 25% of the total costs.

How important are remittances to Mexico’s economy?

In future posts, we will examine some of these aspects of remittances in more detail, and take a much closer look at the precise mechanisms used to make the international financial transfers involved.

Remittances sent back to Mexico rose only 0.12% in 2010

Updates to Geo-Mexico Comments Off

Feb 122011

The graph below shows the trend in the total value of remittance payments sent home by Mexican migrant workers employed in the USA.

Remittances to Mexico, 2003-2010

The graph shows how the total value of remittances sent home to Mexico rose rapidly from 2003 to 2007 before declining slightly in 2008 and then crashing in 2009 as the full effects of the recession in the USA became apparent. The good news for 2010 is that remittances have increased slightly; the bad news is that the increase is very, very small. Remittances remain well below their 2007 level.

The total value of remittances in 2010 was 21.271 billion dollars. Given change in the dollar-peso exchange rate over the year, and even before considering the impact of inflation, families that received the same number of dollars in 2010 as in 2009 were actually significantly worse off, with the lowest income families hit disproportionately hard.

Of the 32 states, the following 13 states all had lower remittances in 2010 than in 2009:

Chiapas
Hidalgo
Veracruz
State of México
Nuevo León
Tamaulipas
Tabasco
Chihuahua
Querétaro
Campeche
Nayarit
Puebla
Oaxaca

The “winners” who received more remittances in 2010 than in 2009 were:

Baja California
Baja California Sur
Sonora
Aguascalientes
Colima.

Related posts on this bog:

Migration between Mexico and the USA is the focus of chapter 25 of Geo-Mexico: the geography and dynamics of modern Mexico. Ask your library to buy a copy of this handy reference guide to all aspects of Mexico’s geography today! Better yet, order your own copy…

The US Bracero guest worker program

Excerpts from Geo-Mexico 2 Responses »

Aug 092010

The Bracero program started in 1942 as a way to alleviate the severe US labor shortage during the second world war. It gave selected Mexicans renewable six-month visas to work temporarily on US farms. Most workers came from Michoacán, Jalisco, and Guanajuato. Many US farmers became very dependent on the productive and relatively cheap Mexican labor.

Many Mexican workers also entered the USA without visas and easily found well-paying jobs in agriculture and other sectors. Numerous US industries began to depend on these undocumented workers. The US government and public accepted this reality; they were preoccupied fighting a war.

The Bracero Program was considered such a success that it continued long after the war ended. It was finally repealed in 1964, largely as a result of pressure from labor unions, who felt it held down farm wages, and Latino groups which felt it impeded the upward mobility of US Hispanics.

An estimated 4.5 million Mexican Bracero workers legally entered the USA between 1942 and 1964. At its height in the late 1950s, more than 500,000 workers migrated each year. Most were temporary migrants who returned to Mexico within a year. Migration to the USA became an integral part of the socio-economic fabric of many rural communities in west central Mexico. In many cases, families and villages became trans-national. Workers divided their time between work in the USA and their families in Mexico.

The Bracero program set the stage for the continued high volume of Mexican labor migration to the USA. Closure of the Bracero program had minimal impact on migration, which continued to grow steadily through the 1960’s and 1970’s before accelerating rapidly after 1980.

For more information about the Bracero program: The Bracero Archive

For previous posts about remittances, the funds sent home by migrant workers, see:

The 10 states in Mexico with the highest percentage of homes receiving remittances

Maps, Teaching ideas Comments Off

Jul 212010

The table and map show the ten states which have the highest percentage of homes receiving remittances. (Data for 2005)

Rank	State	% of homes that receive remittances, 2005
1	Zacatecas	12.2
2	Michoacán	10.4
3	Guanajuato	9.6
4	Morelos	7.5
5	San Luis Potosí	7.4
6	Durango	7.3
7	Hidalgo	7.1
8=	Guerrero	6.8
8=	Nuevo León	6.8
10	Aguascalientes	6.7

States where a high % of households receive remittances

These data portray where remittances are most critical in terms of maintaining household finances. If a high percentage of homes in a state receive remittances, that suggests that people living in the state are likely to be quite dependent on remittances.

The local economy in many towns and villages in these states may be significantly boosted by incoming remittances. These places are likely to suffer most in times of economic down-turn when the US economy is suffering, employment is harder to find, and when fewer remittance payments are sent back home.

(a) What do the 10 states where a high percentage of homes receive remittances have in common?

(b) What factors might help explain why lots of households in some states receive remittances, but only very few households in other states?

(d) Suggest which sectors of the economy would be most likely to benefit from incoming remittance payments. Try to find evidence to support (or refute) your ideas.

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The 10 states in Mexico receiving the most remittances in total

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Jul 162010

The table shows the 10 states which receive the highest total remittances.

Rank	State	Remittances ($ millions), 2005
1	Michoacán	2,595
2	Guanajuato	1,715
3	Jalisco	1,693
4	State of México	1,675
5	Puebla	1,174
6	Veracruz	1,155
7	Federal District	1,452
8	Oaxaca	1,002
9	Guerrero	957
10	Hidalgo	718

States receiving the most remittances (highest value)

The data show very clearly that all the states receiving high total amounts of remittances are in the southern half of Mexico.

(a) What factors might explain this pattern?

(b) Compare this map with a map of the states with highest per person remittances. Why are some states only shown on one of the maps, and not on the other?

(c) Find a table showing the total population of each state in Mexico. To what extent do the total population figures for each state help to explain whether or not they are in the top 10 states for receiving remittances?