Understanding the Growth in Unemployment Withdrawals
Withdrawals from Administrators of Funds for Retirement (Afores) have increased by 25% in 2025, reaching a historic high this year. However, this does not necessarily mean there is more unemployment in the country.
According to figures from the National Commission of the Retirement Savings System (Consar), unemployment withdrawals from January to November amounted to 35,104 million pesos, the highest figure recorded for a similar period.
In the first eleven months of the year, there were 1,753,998 unemployment withdrawals from Afores, which is 186,818 more than in the same period of the previous year.
In November 2025 alone, a total of 159,610 workers withdrew 3,290 million pesos.
Reasons for the Growth in Unemployment Withdrawals
Amafore clarified earlier that the increase in the amount withdrawn from Afores is due to the rise in the minimum wage as well as larger mandatory contributions to workers’ retirement savings accounts.
In reality, the number of unemployment withdrawals has remained stable since the Covid-19 pandemic; what has grown considerably in recent years is the amount withdrawn from Afores.
The number of unemployment withdrawals made in January-November 2025 decreased by 0.4% compared to those made in the same period of 2022.
However, apart from higher salaries and account balances, Consar has also acknowledged that the growth in withdrawn amounts is explained by “coyotes” or informal intermediaries who have “inflated” the retirement money withdrawn in recent years.
Previously, Consar’s president, Julio César Cervantes, explained in an interview that these “coyotes” were withdrawing up to 35,000 pesos from retirement savings accounts of some workers, leaving them empty in certain cases.
Coppel Leads in Unemployment Withdrawals
The Afore from which the most money has been withdrawn for unemployment is Coppel, with 7,381 million pesos withdrawn between January and November 2025, according to Consar data.
- Azteca: 6,052 million pesos
- Banamex: 5,343 million pesos
- XXI Banorte: 5,219 million pesos
- SURA: 4,027 million pesos
- Profuturo: 2,863 million pesos
- Invercap: 1,848 million pesos
On the other hand, the Afores from which the least money was withdrawn for unemployment in the first eleven months of 2025 were:
- PensionISSSTE: 199 million pesos
- Inbursa: 649 million pesos
- Principal: 1,522 million pesos
Risks Associated with Unemployment Withdrawals
Unemployment withdrawal is a right that all workers with an individual retirement savings account can exercise directly with their Afore after being unemployed for at least three months.
However, it’s crucial to understand the risks to your pension when making unemployment withdrawals from your Afore.
Arturo García, General Director of Afore Profuturo, warned that people should consider that when making unemployment withdrawals, they are removing money that will decrease their future savings and also lose cotization weeks necessary to retire.
Therefore, those who made an unemployment withdrawal have the opportunity to return the withdrawn amount to their retirement savings account once they regain employment stability, thus recovering not only the savings but also the cotization weeks that were deducted, García recalled.
