Time flies with great content! Renew in to keep enjoying all our premium content.
Prime
United Kingdom loses grip as top source of Kenya’s diaspora inflows
North America remained the largest source, contributing 47.1 percent of total cash remittances, largely driven by the United States, which alone sent Sh388.1 billion in cash and Sh17.3 billion in goods.
The United Kingdom’s long-held position as one of Kenya’s biggest sources of diaspora remittances is steadily fading, with new data showing that it has slipped behind emerging migration destinations such as Germany, Australia and even South Sudan.
A joint survey by the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK), the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) and Financial Sector Deepening (FSD) Kenya shows Kenyans in the UK sent home Sh35.9 billion in cash and in-kind remittances in the year to May 2025, placing Britain eighth among individual source countries.
The UK trailed the United States (Sh405.4 billion), Germany (Sh86 billion), Australia (Sh62.6 billion), Saudi Arabia (Sh49.2 billion), Qatar (Sh40.5 billion), Spain (Sh36.8 billion) and South Sudan (Sh36.8 billion).
“In Western Europe, Norway and the United Kingdom contributed 2.8 percent and 2.4 percent of total cash remittance inflows, equivalent to Sh24 billion and Sh20.8 billion, respectively,” the survey said.
The findings mark a sharp shift from historical trends when Britain was Kenya’s dominant migration destination outside Africa and the United States, driven by colonial links, education and trade.
The survey estimates Kenyan households received Sh931.8 billion in remittances between June 2024 and May 2025, including formal cash transfers and previously undercounted informal and in-kind remittances.
Cash transfers accounted for 91 percent of the total, while banks and mobile money platforms handled more than 92 per cent of cash inflows.
North America remained the largest source, contributing 47.1 percent of total cash remittances, largely driven by the United States, which alone sent Sh388.1 billion in cash and Sh17.3 billion in goods.
Germany has emerged as Kenya’s second-largest remittance source, accounting for Sh86 billion or 9.2 percent of total inflows—more than double the UK’s contribution.
The rise reflects growing migration to Germany, Australia and Gulf countries, where demand for healthcare workers, engineers, ICT professionals and skilled tradespeople has expanded.
The Gulf’s importance is also rising, with Saudi Arabia contributing Sh49.2 billion, Qatar Sh40.5 billion and the United Arab Emirates Sh23.4 billion, underscoring the changing geography of Kenya’s diaspora and the country’s evolving labour migration patterns.
