Remittances to Mexico Rise More Than 6% in First 8 Months of 2015

Latin American Herald Tribune: Remittances sent to Mexico by emigrants totaled $16.6 billion in the first eight months of 2015, up 6.07 percent compared to the same period last year, when they came in at $15.6 billion, the Bank of Mexico said.

The average remittance was $296 in the January-August period, slightly higher than the $294 average registered in the same period last year, the central bank said in a statement on Thursday. 

The number of transactions reached 55.98 million in the first eight months of 2015, up 5.39 percent from the same period last year, with the majority of remittances sent via electronic funds transfers.

Mexico received $23.64 billion in remittances in 2014, a figure that was up 9.6 percent compared to 2013, when emigrants sent $21.89 billion to their homeland.
Remittances sent by Mexicans living abroad, mainly in the United States, are the country’s second-largest source of foreign exchange, after oil and help cover the living expenses of millions of people.