Mexico City. 97 percent of the Mexican population that emigrates from the country lives in the United States, and of that total, almost a third are undocumented, revealed a new report prepared by the research department of BBVA Mexico, the bank with the largest presence among those operating in the country.
“There are 12.3 million Mexican migrants living in the world. This makes Mexico the second most important country that expels migrants internationally, only surpassed by India. It is estimated that 1 in 23 migrants worldwide are of Mexican origin and 97 percent reside in the United States,” he said.
According to the bank, the geographic proximity, the size of the economy of the neighboring country to the north, economic, commercial, cultural and family ties, and the large wage gap between the two countries are the reasons why the United States is the preferred destination for people leaving the country.
The report estimates that 87,000 Mexicans live in Canada, 61,000 in Spain, 20,000 in Germany, 19,000 in Guatemala, and 14,000 in France.
At the same time, BBVA stated that of the 12 million Mexicans living in the United States, 4.1 million are undocumented.
He said that between 1995 and 2007 there was “a very significant increase in the Mexican migrant population in the United States, from 7 million to 11.8 million. Later, due in part to the global financial crisis caused by real estate bonds, Mexican migration entered a phase known as zero net migration.”
Thus, he explained, from 2007 to the present, the average size of the Mexican migrant population in the United States is around 12 million and that “does not mean that there is no more Mexican emigration, on the contrary, it continues to be of a very significant magnitude.”
“Zero net migration” refers to the fact that the flow of Mexicans arriving in the neighboring country to the north is of a similar magnitude to the flow of migrants who return or die.
BBVA stated that over the past 30 years there has been an aging process in the Mexican migrant population. In 1995, the median age of a male migrant was 30 years old and 31 years old for women. By 2010, the median age for both male and female Mexican migrants rose to 37 years old, and in 2022, the median age for women rose to 46 years old, while for men it was 44 years old.
The labor sectors
Regarding the sector of economic activity and according to figures taken from the Current Population Survey (CPS), Mexican male migrants are highly concentrated in the construction sector with 31.3 percent of those employed.
Next in importance are professional and administrative services, manufacturing, and hospitality and leisure. Thus, “these four sectors account for 2 out of every 3 jobs of the Mexican male migrant population with employment during 2023.”
As for Mexican migrant women, they work mainly in five sectors that account for more than 3 out of 4 jobs, which are: educational and health services, hospitality and recreation, professional and administrative services, manufacturing and commerce.
California, the preferred state
BBVA data highlights that California has been, for at least 50 years, the main state of residence for the Mexican migrant population in the United States, with Texas being the second.
“Arizona and Illinois are the third and fourth destination states for Mexican migration. Although they have had their fluctuations, both states have not registered significant changes in their participation as destinations for the Mexican migrant population in the last 50 years,” the bank added.
#Mexican #migrants #undocumented #BBVA
– 2024-09-01 12:07:24
