Mexico: First in Emigration, Third in Remittances

According to the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) which studies emigration , Mexico is the biggest exporter of human beings, i.e., the biggest source of immigrants in the world.

However, on remittances, Mexico is #3, after China and India.

Alfonso Sandoval, of the UNFPA, says that the agency is carrying out a special analysis of Mexican emigration.

According to the article which reports this information,

“(Sandoval) emphasized that the remittances (to Mexico) have not become a real incentive for productive development in the regions of Mexico in which they are received.”

Mexican central bank chief Guillermo Ortiz recently said something quite similar, that remittances provide a social safety net but are not a key lubricant of the Mexican economy.

Here’s what I wrote about remittance money sent to Mexico in a VDARE.COM article back in 2001:

“… it does serve as a source of income for many families, and probably keeps a number of grocery stores afloat. But as a source of long-term job-creating investment, the effectiveness of remittances is more dubious. About 95% of the remittance money is spent on food and day-to-day supplies, not in meaningful investment which increases long-term job creation. A small percentage of the remittance money has been donated to local communities for paving projects and refurbishing churches, and a smaller percentage specifically targeted to investment, but most of it is eaten up in groceries.”

And as Ed Rubenstein explained in one of his VDARE.COM articles:

“Remittance receivers in Mexico are more likely to express an interest in emigrating to the U.S. (26%) than the general population (19 percent).”

As usual , you read these things first here at VDARE.COM.