The United States remains the largest source of remittances into Kenya, accounting for 55.9 percent of remittances in March 2021 which hit Ksh.31 billion.
This is according to new data from the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK), which has for the first time detailed the remittance data by source country from the previous categorization by region.
Other top source countries in the period were the United Kingdom (11.2 percent), Saudi Arabia (4 percent) and Canada and Australia at 2.9 percent respectively.
According to the analysis of the backdated remittances by source country covering 2020, remittances from the US stood at Ksh.179.9 billion ($1.67 billion).
This is an equivalent 53.7 percent of all remittances to Kenya during the year which were estimated at Ksh.334.8 billion ($3.1 billion).
In March, the dollar flows stood at Ksh.31.4 billion ($290.8 million) representing a 27.1 percent growth rate from Ksh.24.7 billion ($228.8 million) at the same time last year.
Remittance inflows continue to prove an essential source of foreign exchange for Kenya.
Last year, Kenyans abroad sent home Ksh.341 billion at the then exchange rate, defying the devastation of the COVID-19 pandemic on global economies.
The CBK has attributed the significant growth of the inflows to financial innovations which have delivered more efficient channels to support the transactions.
The reserve bank is currently conducting an anonymous online diaspora remittance survey which runs to May 17 this year.
The survey focuses on the costs and efficiency of sending remittances, the difficulties encountered in sending cash or non-cash remittances, how remittances are used by the recipients and the availability of information on investment opportunities in Kenya.
