The report, presented Friday by the Inter American Development Bank (IDB) also suggested that the remittances are being used less for buying basic necessities and more for savings and education.

The central bank had previously estimated 2006 remittances at a record US$23 billion - a 15 percent increase over the previous year.

But Sergio Bendixen, president of U.S. polling firm Bendixen & Associates which carried out the study for the IDB, said about 99 percent of the remittances counted by the central bank were electronic or wire transfers - while the study found that about 19 percent of remittances are mailed back home or carried in person.

The survey reported that from 2003 to 2006, the amount of remittances spent on food, clothing or other basic necessities fell from 78 percent to 57 percent in that time period.

Meanwhile, an increasing portion of remittances were set aside for savings, education and business over those three years.

The study surveyed 2,415 adults across Mexico between August and September 2006, and had a margin of error of 2 percentage points. A similar study using the same methodology was carried out by the firm in 2003.

Migrants´ families also said they wanted the government or private firms to offer more ways for them to use the money they receive to get loans, invest or start businesses.

Donald Terry, director of the IDB´s Multilateral Investment Fund, said that interest shows that "we have to channel these funds toward more productive activities."

Remittances from Mexicans living abroad - including an estimated 11 million in the United States - represent the country´s second-largest source of foreign income after oil exports.