Honduras Remittances Hit US$9.3 Billion, Up 11% as US Deportations Rise
HONDURAS · REMITTANCES
Key Facts
- —The country Honduras, Central America’s second-largest country, has about 11 million people, close to the US state of Georgia. Output per person is about US$3,600 a year, less than a twentieth of the US level.
- —Why it matters Money sent home by migrants, almost all of it from the United States, equals about 30 percent of the economy. More than 3.1 million Hondurans receive it.
- —Why now US deportations of Hondurans are rising, Washington has cancelled their temporary protected status, and a 1 percent US tax on transfers paid in cash took effect on 1 January.
- —What happened Honduras remittances reached US$9.33 billion between 1 January and Thursday 10 September, up 11.4 percent on a year earlier, the Banco Central de Honduras reported.
- —The numbers About 98 of every 100 dollars come from the US. The bank forecasts US$13.16 billion for 2026, after about US$12.2 billion in 2025.
- —What it means for you The flood of dollars keeps the lempira predictable. It has lost under 2 percent against the dollar this year, useful for visitors budgeting a trip or investors pricing costs.
- —Still open Whether lost protected status and more deportations cut the flow in 2027. Analysts’ estimates of the loss range from about US$310 million to US$700 million a year.
Honduras remittances, the money migrants send home, reached US$9.33 billion between 1 January and Thursday 10 September, the central bank reported. That is 11.4 percent more than in the same period of 2025.
The money now equals about 30 percent of the Honduran economy, one of the highest shares in the world. It keeps rising even as the United States deports more Hondurans and taxes some transfers.
What the central bank’s numbers show
The Banco Central de Honduras (BCH), the country’s central bank, tracks the foreign currency that banks and exchange agents buy and sell. Its weekly bulletin counts remittances from 1 January to each reporting date.
In that series, Honduras remittances were US$8.76 billion on 27 August, US$9.05 billion on 3 September and US$9.33 billion on 10 September. A year earlier, the 10 September figure was US$8.38 billion.
By the end of August the total was US$8.92 billion, the Tegucigalpa daily El Heraldo reported, citing the bank. Official monthly totals run slightly above the weekly series, which counts only currency traded through the financial system.
Month by month, the bank’s figures show more than US$1.1 billion arriving in every month from March to July. June was the largest, at US$1.22 billion, and July brought US$1.18 billion.
About 98 of every 100 dollars come from the United States. Honduran estimates put the number of Hondurans living there, with and without legal status, at 1.8 million to 2 million.
Why the money keeps coming despite deportations
Between 1 January and 20 August, the US, Mexico and Guatemala deported 30,965 Hondurans, the National Migration Institute says. Of those, 27,828 were flown home from the United States.
The International Organization for Migration, a UN agency, counted a 40 percent rise in returns in the first half of the year. Washington has also cancelled Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Hondurans, a decision US courts have so far let stand.
That permit let tens of thousands of Hondurans live and work legally in the US. Some Honduran analysts see fear as part of the reason the money keeps rising.
César Castillo, who coordinates a migration observatory at the National Autonomous University of Honduras, expected a short-term boom. His reasoning: migrants fearing removal would try to build up savings or property back home.
A new US tax has not stopped the flow either. Since 1 January, senders who pay with cash, money orders or cashier’s checks owe a 1 percent federal excise tax.
Transfers paid from a US bank account or with a US-issued debit or credit card are exempt, the Internal Revenue Service says. On the average monthly remittance of about US$500, the tax comes to about US$5 when it applies.
What the money means for a Honduran household
More than 3.1 million Hondurans receive money from relatives abroad, El Heraldo reports. That is close to three in every ten people in the country.
The central bank’s January 2026 survey of migrants found they send an average of US$506 a month. That is more than the country’s output per person, which the IMF puts at about US$300 a month.
Men send more than women, US$614 against US$362 a month on average. More than eight in ten migrants send money at least once a month.
Most of it is spent at once. In the survey, household upkeep came first, at 55.4 percent, and medical treatment second, at 23.8 percent.
Business investment drew just 0.8 percent. For many families the transfer is the grocery budget, the pharmacy bill and the school costs, not a savings plan.
What the dollars do for the lempira and the economy
Honduras remittances are the country’s largest single source of dollars. From January to July they brought in more than twice as much as exports of goods, central-bank data show.
That supply keeps the lempira steady, at a central-bank reference rate of 26.88 per dollar on 10 September. Market quotes on 25 September were about 26.86 lempiras per dollar.
The currency has lost 1.93 percent against the dollar since the end of 2025, the bank says. Net international reserves rose by US$1.35 billion over the same period, covering 6.7 months of imports.
For foreigners, a currency that has moved less than 2 percent this year makes local costs easier to plan. The wider rules are set out in Investing in Honduras as a Foreigner 2026: Property, Energy and the Rules After ICSID.
The World Bank credits record remittances and strong coffee for growth of 3.8 percent in 2025. It expected slower growth this year, with remittances dropping; so far they have kept rising.
The pace stands out in the region. Neighbouring El Salvador’s remittances rose 3.8 percent from January to August, and 4.66 percent in August alone, to US$863.4 million.
Mexico has had a bumpier year, as told in Mexico Remittance Rebound Reaches 3.8% as Latin America Braces for US Tax Vote.
A new government between Washington and the families
President Nasry Asfura won the November 2025 election and took office in January, succeeding Xiomara Castro. His government asked Washington for an orderly transition for Hondurans losing protection.
Asfura asked the US for more time and for work permits to stay valid for now. In early September, Foreign Minister Mireya Agüero said Washington had refused any further extension. She has ruled out an immediate mass return or a severe blow to remittances.
At home, the government plans to give each returning migrant 2,500 lempiras (about US$93) on a card usable at cash machines. No start date has been announced.
What comes next
The bank’s coming weekly bulletins will show whether growth holds near 11 percent into the autumn. Its official forecast, raised in July, is US$13.16 billion for 2026, about 7 percent above 2025.
If the trend holds, Honduras remittances would end the year above that forecast. El Heraldo estimates a close between US$13.38 billion and US$14 billion.
The larger risk lies in 2027, when the bank expects growth of just 2 percent. Jorge Henríquez of Fosdeh, a Honduran economic think tank, puts the cost of losing TPS at about US$310 million a year.
Migration specialist Ilis Cornejo estimates up to US$700 million a year once further deportations are added. Neither figure is an official forecast.
What the numbers do not show is a collapse, or proof that deportations are harmless. A record year says little about the next one, and the 1 percent tax’s effect cannot be read from the totals.
Families still depend on relatives abroad whose legal footing is weaker than a year ago. For now, the money is arriving faster than either the central bank or the World Bank expected.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much money do Hondurans abroad send home?
Honduras received US$9.33 billion between 1 January and 10 September 2026, 11.4 percent more than a year earlier. The full-year total for 2025 was about US$12.2 billion, according to the Banco Central de Honduras.
Why are Honduras remittances still growing despite deportations?
Deportations so far touch a small share of the roughly two million Hondurans in the US. Analysts expect the loss of TPS permits to cut flows mainly from 2027.
What is the US remittance tax?
Since 1 January 2026, transfers abroad paid for with cash, money orders or cashier’s checks carry a 1 percent federal excise tax. Transfers funded from a US bank account or a US-issued debit or credit card are exempt.
How important are remittances to Honduras?
They equal about 30 percent of the economy and are the largest source of dollars. More than 3.1 million Hondurans receive them, and most of the money pays for food, health care and schooling.
Sources: Banco Central de Honduras, weekly executive reports on financial-system indicators of 27 August, 3 September and 10 September 2026; Banco Central de Honduras monthly remittance figures via EFE, 27 August 2026; El Heraldo, 11 September 2026; La Tribuna, 9 August 2026; La Prensa (Honduras), 19 and 22 August 2026, including the central bank’s January 2026 migrant survey; Infobae, 3 and 12 September 2026; Hondudiario, 23 September 2026; US Internal Revenue Service and Federal Register notice on the remittance transfer tax, April 2026; World Bank Honduras overview and data; IMF World Economic Outlook; La Prensa Gráfica, 24 September 2026, on El Salvador and the International Fund for Agricultural Development.
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