Background on Afores and Unemployment Withdrawals
Afores, or Occupational Savings Accounts, are retirement savings accounts in Mexico managed by private financial institutions. These Afores accumulate funds from workers’ salaries, which are then used to provide retirement benefits. Unemployment withdrawals from Afores allow workers who have lost their jobs to access a portion of their savings during periods of unemployment.
Record-Breaking Unemployment Withdrawals in Q1 2025
According to data from the National Commission for the Savings System for Retirement (Consar), unemployment withdrawals from Afores reached a record-breaking 11,287 million pesos in the first four months of 2025. This figure surpasses the 11 billion pesos mark for the first time in history within the same period.
Comparison with Previous Year
The 11,287 million pesos figure represents an 11% growth compared to the same period in 2024, a year when unemployment withdrawal amounts already reached historic highs.
Withdrawal Trends
- In Q1 2025, a total of 582,698 withdrawals were made, with an average withdrawal amount of 19,369 pesos.
- In comparison, Q1 2024 saw 599,724 withdrawals (17,026 more than 2025) with an average amount of 16,939 pesos.
Fraudulent Practices and Regulatory Measures
Despite regulators’ efforts to curb fraudulent practices in unemployment withdrawals, the record-breaking figures were still achieved. Fraudulent activities involved simulating high-salary employment for a short period, followed by termination to qualify for larger unemployment withdrawals.
Afore advisors and false managers offered workers the opportunity to withdraw thousands of pesos from their accounts in exchange for substantial commissions.
In response, Consar introduced a validation mechanism for unemployment withdrawals in late July 2024. This mechanism reviewed the last registered salary of the worker during their time under the Social Security system to prevent falsification of information by advisors or managers.
Although this validation mechanism reduced withdrawals in August and September 2024, the numbers surged again in subsequent months, culminating in a record-breaking Q1 2025 figure.
Key Questions and Answers
- What are Afores? Afores, or Occupational Savings Accounts, are retirement savings accounts in Mexico managed by private financial institutions.
- What are unemployment withdrawals from Afores? Unemployment withdrawals allow workers who have lost their jobs to access a portion of their Afore savings during periods of unemployment.
- Why were there record-breaking withdrawals in Q1 2025? Despite regulatory measures, fraudulent practices continued to inflate unemployment withdrawal figures.
- What were the fraudulent practices? Fraudsters simulated high-salary employment for short periods, followed by termination to qualify for larger unemployment withdrawals.
- How did regulators respond? Consar implemented a validation mechanism to review workers’ last registered salaries before unemployment withdrawals, aiming to prevent falsification.
