Diaspora Remittances

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A remittance is money sent by a person in a foreign land to his or her home country. Due to the huge sums involved, remittances are now being recognized as an important contributor to the country's growth and development.

The Central Bank of Kenya conducts a survey on remittance inflows every month through the formal channels that include commercial banks and other authorised international remittances service providers in Kenya.

Commentary on Remittances for March 2013

The remittance inflow in March 2013 was USD 1.021 million (or 1.0 percent) higher than the February 2013 inflow of USD 102.4 million. In the 12 months to March 2013, average remittance inflows increased to USD 98.3 million from USD 82.9 million average remittance inflows for the year to March 2012(Table 1 and Chart 1). Monthly remittances inflows have stabilised in Q1 of 2013 at a relatively lower level compared to the spike in December 2012 (usually attributed to seasonality).

Table 1: (Figures are in US$ '000)

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Remittance Inflows by Source Market

North America accounted for nearly a half (estimated at 49 percent share) of the remittance inflow in March 2013, while Europe and the rest of the World accounted for 28 percent and 23 percent, respectively. The dominant position of North America reflects the large numbers of Kenyan with gainful economic activities in the region. The monthly shares by source region were maintained through-out Quarter 1 of 2013 (Table 2).

 Table 2: Remittance Inflows by Source, January-March, 2013