Mexico City, Oct 2 (IANS/EFE): Mexico received in August nearly $1.9 billion in remittances, representing an 11.6 percent drop compared with the same month in 2011, the country's central bank said Monday.

It was the largest interannual decline in remittances in 30 years, according to the Banco de Mexico.

Nonetheless, the accumulated amount of remittances from January to August was $15.61 billion, a figure 2.5 percent higher than in the same period of 2011.

The average remittance in August stood at $303.90, a decrease of 10.6 percent from the $340 that those living abroad sent to Mexico in the same month of 2011.

Some 6.2 million remittances were sent, mostly by means of electronic transfers, a figure slightly lower than the 6.3 million transactions carried out in August of the previous year.

Remittances sent by Mexicans living abroad - mainly in the US - are the country's second-largest source of foreign exchange after oil exports and help cover the living expenses of millions of people.