Kenyans Abroad Send KSh 53 Billion in July as CBK Conducts Remittance Survey
The Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) has reported a slight decline in diaspora remittances for July 2025 compared to the same month in 2024.
According to CBK, Kenya received USD 410.1 million (KSh 53.05 billion) in July 2025, down 1% from USD 414.3 million (KSh 53.56 billion) in July 2024.
“The 12-month inflows to July 2025 rose by 11.1% to USD 5,080 million (KSh 656.47 billion) compared to USD 4,572 million (KSh 591.06 billion) in 2024,” the regulator noted.
Remittances are an important source of foreign exchange, helping to stabilize the balance of payments and protect the shilling by boosting dollar reserves.
In June 2025, remittances had jumped to USD 423 million (KSh 54.68 billion), 13.8% higher than June 2024, taking the 12-month total to USD 5.08 billion (KSh 656.99 billion).
Dollar Reserves are Adequate
CBK has sufficient U.S. dollar reserves to cover imports for more than four months. As of August 14, usable reserves stood at USD 11,112 million (KSh 1.436 trillion), 4.9 months of import cover.
CBK, in partnership with the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) and Financial Sector Deepening Kenya (FSD Kenya), has launched the first-ever Remittance Household Survey (RHS). The survey runs from July to September 2025 and targets households that send or receive funds from abroad.
Please cooperate with the enumerators, the central bank urged selected families. The findings will provide valuable insights into remittance volumes, usage, costs and challenges. The data will also inform policy making as remittances become more important to the economy.
In 2024, Kenya received KSh 666.7 billion through official remittance channels including banks, money transfer operators and mobile services – 4% of GDP – up from KSh 586 billion in 2023.The US is still the biggest source of remittances to Kenya, 54%. But the sector has new challenges after the US government introduced a 1% remittance tax under President Donald Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill” on July 4, 2025.
Diaspora Remittances to Kenya Dip Slightly in July, CBK Reports