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Mexico's Remittances Are Growing Again. They Are Still $3 Billion Below the Peak.

Mexico's remittances stopped falling. That is genuinely the good news. The bad news is that the number of people sending them is still shrinking, and no growth rate fixes that.

Key takeaways

Family remittances to Mexico reached $30.759 billion in the first half of 2026, up 3.1% year on year.
That follows a 4.6% contraction in 2025, when the total fell to $61.79 billion from the record $64.75 billion of 2024.
The 2025 fall ended an eleven-year streak of uninterrupted growth, the longest in Mexico's modern remittance history.
The cause was demographic rather than economic: fewer Mexican senders in the United States, with more than 146,000 Mexicans removed during the period.
Analysts expect around $60 billion for 2026 in total, still below both 2025 and the 2024 peak, with the new US 1% excise tax, a stronger peso and weak low-wage growth all pulling in the same direction.

Family remittances to Mexico reached $30.759 billion in the first half of 2026, up 3.1% year on year (Mexico Business News). After a year of falling numbers, that is a genuine turn.

It is also worth keeping in proportion. Mexico received $61.79 billion in 2025, down 4.6% from the record $64.75 billion of 2024, and forecasters expect roughly $60 billion this year. A recovery that lands below both of the previous two years is a stabilisation, not a rebound.

Mexico remittances surge 3.1% to US$30.76 billion in 1H26

Family remittances expanded 3.1% during the first half of 2026 to US$30.759 billion, recovering from a 2025 annual contraction driven by US immigration enforcement.

Mexico Business News

The numbers, in one place

$30.759 billion in H1 2026, up 3.1% year on year.
$61.79 billion in 2025, down 4.6% from 2024.
$64.75 billion in 2024, the all-time record.
Eleven years of uninterrupted growth ended in 2025.
~$60 billion is the analyst expectation for full-year 2026.

Why 2025 fell, and why the recovery is fragile

1. Fewer senders, not smaller transfers

This is the distinction that matters and the one most coverage skips. The 2025 decline rested mainly on a fall in the number of Mexican senders in the United States, not on each sender giving less. More than 146,000 Mexicans were removed during the period, and new arrivals slowed sharply (Inter-American Dialogue). A flow driven by headcount recovers only when headcount recovers.

2. The new 1% excise tax

From 1 January 2026 the United States charges a 1% excise tax on remittance transfers funded with cash, money orders or cashier's cheques, with bank-account and card-funded transfers exempt (BBVA Research). The Mexican corridor is the most cash-heavy of the large ones, which makes Mexico the single most exposed receiving country to this measure.

3. A stronger peso quietly shrinks every transfer

Peso strength does not change the dollar figure that gets reported, but it changes what the family receives. A household getting the same $300 every month has been receiving fewer pesos for it, which is why the recovery in the headline number has not been felt as a recovery on the ground.

4. Wages at the bottom are not moving

Most Mexican remittance senders work in construction, agriculture, hospitality and care. Wage growth in those sectors has been subdued, so even senders who stayed have less headroom (Border Report).

Mexico: 2026 begins with a new remittance tax

BBVA Research on the 1% US excise tax on cash-funded remittance transfers and its expected effect on flows to Mexico.

BBVA Research

The honest read

Read the 3.1% carefully. It is measured against the weakest half in over a decade, so a positive number was close to arithmetically guaranteed. The level, not the growth rate, is the honest measure, and the level is still roughly $3 billion a year below where it was in 2024.

The deeper point is that Mexico's remittance flow has stopped being an economic variable and become a demographic one. It now tracks how many Mexicans live and work in the United States, which is set by policy in Washington rather than by wages, exchange rates or transfer fees. No amount of improvement in the remittance industry offsets a shrinking sender base.

Ways to send money to Mexico in 2026, compared

The World Bank puts the global average cost of sending $200 at 6.36%, while the cheapest quartile of providers averages 3.29% (Remittance Prices Worldwide). Every point of that gap is a choice, not a fact of life. These are the routes money actually takes, and where each one quietly takes its cut.

Route	How fast	Where the cost hides	Suits
Bank wire (SWIFT)	1 to 5 business days	Sending fee, correspondent bank fee, receiving bank fee, plus the exchange-rate spread	Large one-off transfers where a paper trail matters
Cash at an agent counter	Minutes	Usually the highest headline fee band, plus the spread. Mexico is the most cash-heavy large corridor, so the 1% US excise tax bites hardest here	Recipients without a bank account
Online remittance apps	Same day to 2 days	Mostly the exchange-rate markup, and promotional first-transfer rates that do not repeat	Regular monthly transfers to a bank account
Bank or wallet payout inside Mexico	Minutes to hours	The payout exchange rate, plus any cash-out fee at the counter	Regular household support
Stablecoin (USDT) with payout to bank or card	Minutes	Blockchain network fee plus the on-ramp and off-ramp spread at each end	Senders who want speed and a rate visible before confirming

Sending to Mexico, corridor by corridor

The overwhelming majority of Mexico's inflow comes from the United States, with Canada and Spain a distant second and third. Because the corridor is so cash-heavy, the practical advice differs from other countries: if you currently fund transfers with cash at a counter, moving to a bank-account or debit-card funded transfer removes the 1% excise tax entirely, since the tax applies only to cash, money orders and cashier's cheques. Compare the pesos that land either way. Note that Fizen is not offered to US Persons, so for the main corridor here the comparison is between conventional providers.

If you are the one sending

The forces above are macroeconomics. The route is the one part of this that sits with the sender, and it is where a surprising share of the cost hides: not in the advertised fee, but in the exchange rate, the days in transit, and what the receiving side pays to turn the money into local currency.

If you send from Canada, Spain or elsewhere outside the United States, it is worth pricing. Fizen moves money as USDT across 64 countries and more than 30 chains, arriving in minutes rather than days, with payout to a bank transfer or a Visa card where the corridor is supported. The balance sits in a self-custody wallet, so no company in the middle decides when it is released, and it is backed by a strategic investment from Tether. One thing to know up front: Fizen is not offered to US Persons.

Whatever you choose, compare the pesos that lands, not the fee on the front page. A route advertising zero fees can still deliver less than one charging a visible fee, because the exchange rate is doing the charging quietly.

Frequently asked questions

How much did Mexico receive in remittances in 2026?

Family remittances reached $30.759 billion in the first half of 2026, up 3.1% year on year. Analysts expect around $60 billion for the full year, which would still be below the $61.79 billion of 2025 and the record $64.75 billion of 2024.

Why did remittances to Mexico fall in 2025?

Mainly because there were fewer people sending. The decline rested on a drop in the number of Mexican senders in the United States, with more than 146,000 Mexicans removed during the period and fewer new arrivals, rather than on existing senders sending smaller amounts. The 4.6% fall ended eleven consecutive years of growth.

Does the US 1% remittance tax apply to money sent to Mexico?

Yes, when the transfer is funded with cash, money orders or cashier's cheques. Transfers funded from a US bank account or a US-issued debit or credit card are exempt. Mexico is the most exposed of the large receiving countries because its corridor is the most cash-heavy.

How can senders in the US avoid the 1% remittance tax legally?

The tax applies only to transfers funded with cash, money orders or cashier's cheques. Funding the same transfer from a US bank account or a US-issued debit or credit card falls outside the tax as written. This is general information based on the published rules, not tax advice; check your provider's terms and your own circumstances.

What is the cheapest way to send money to Mexico?

Compare the pesos that land, not the advertised fee, and check the funding method: paying in cash at a counter now adds 1% in tax on top of the fee and spread. The World Bank puts the global average cost of sending $200 at 6.36%, against 3.29% for the cheapest quartile of providers.

Send it once. It lands in minutes.

Fizen sends USDT across 64 countries and 30+ chains, with payout to a bank transfer or a Visa card where the corridor is supported. Self-custody, so nobody in the middle holds the money. Backed by a strategic investment from Tether. Not available to US Persons.

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Terms and conditions

Availability. Fizen is not offered to US Persons. Supported corridors, payout methods and limits vary by country and can change without notice. Check what is available for your route in the app before you rely on it.
Not advice. This article is news and analysis. It is not investment, tax, legal or financial advice, and nothing here is a recommendation to buy, sell or hold any asset. Tax treatment of transfers depends on your own circumstances and country.
Figures. All data is as reported on 26 August 2026 by the sources linked in this article. Official statistics are revised; check the source before quoting.
Transfers. On-chain transfers are irreversible once confirmed. Blockchain network fees and third-party on-ramp and off-ramp spreads apply and are not set by Fizen. Confirm the network and send a small test amount first.
Self-custody. You hold your own keys. No one, Fizen included, can restore your wallet if you lose your recovery phrase.
Rates and comparisons. Any comparison of ways to send money to Mexico is general and illustrative. Costs change daily and by provider, amount, funding method and corridor. Always compare the amount that actually lands.
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Figures as of 5 August 2026 from Banco de Mexico data via Mexico Business News, with analysis from BBVA Research, the Inter-American Dialogue and Border Report. News coverage, not investment or tax advice.