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Mexico’s Afores Log Ninth Straight Gains as January Jobless Withdrawals Set Record

Larger balances alongside wage growth are driving bigger withdrawals.

Overview

  • Workers withdrew about 3.41 billion pesos from retirement accounts in January, a record for that month, with 162,250 people using the unemployment option.
  • Afores posted investment gains of 158,471 million pesos in January, extending a nine‑month streak, though returns were 7.82% below January 2025 and are expected to moderate this year.
  • Amafore attributes the higher withdrawn amounts mainly to larger account balances and rising wages rather than a surge in unemployment, consistent with rules that cap withdrawals by salary and savings.
  • Regulator Consar reiterated warnings about unauthorized intermediaries who charge workers and can engineer larger withdrawals, with cases involving fees near 10,000 pesos for roughly 35,000‑peso payouts.
  • By provider, Coppel saw the largest January withdrawals, followed by Azteca and Banamex, while Amafore notes the sums are small relative to SAR assets exceeding 8.5 trillion pesos.