More Kenyan women working and living abroad supported relatives and friends than men in 2025, underscoring their growing contribution to household welfare.
A new official survey on remittances shows that 680,207 Kenyan women in the diaspora sent support home, 52 percent more than the 447,475 men who said they assisted relatives and friends through cash transfers, in-kind support or both.
The survey, which polled 4,400 households, was conducted in August 2025 by the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS), in collaboration with the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) and Financial Sector Deepening Kenya (FSD Kenya). It marks the first comprehensive nationwide assessment of household remittance flows in Kenya.
“Among males, cash remittances were the most common, with 338 thousand males sending cash, compared to 84 thousand who sent in-kind remittances and 24 thousand who sent both types,” the survey said.
Changing patterns
“This trend differed for females, the majority of whom reported sending in-kind support, with 403 thousand individuals providing in-kind support compared to 241 thousand who sent cash. Overall, a larger number of individuals (580 thousand) sent cash remittances while 488 thousand sent in-kind support,” it added.
In-kind remittances are non-cash transfers sent by migrants or diaspora members to their home countries. Instead of sending money, they purchase and ship physical goods such as clothing, electronics, farm equipment or building materials directly to families or communities.
The shift is particularly pronounced in non-cash transfers.
More than 403,000 women reported sending in-kind support such as food, clothing, medicines and other household essentials, compared with 84,000 men.
The trend challenges the traditional perception of remittances as being largely driven by male breadwinners. Women also outnumbered men in the overall number of remittance senders.
Cash dominance
Men, however, remained the dominant senders of cash remittances.
More than 338,000 men reported sending cash to relatives and friends, compared with 241,000 women, highlighting their continued lead in direct monetary support.
Remittance inflows in cash stood at Sh848.4 billion, while in-kind transfers totalled Sh83.5 billion.
Women are also emerging as the leading recipients of remittances among Kenyan households.
According to the KNBS, CBK and FSD Kenya survey, six million women reported receiving cash or in-kind support in 2025, compared with 4.7 million men.
Women also dominated among recipients of multiple forms of support, with 467,527 reporting receipt of both cash and in-kind transfers, compared with 320,452 men.
The data shows that women are increasingly at the centre of the financial and social support networks linking Kenyan households to relatives living abroad.
While men’s receipt of remittances is heavily concentrated in early and middle adulthood, women remain consistently reliant on support across the life cycle, including in older age groups.
In contrast, men in their 30s and 40s account for a large share of in-kind-only transfers, suggesting strong intra-household support flows even among working-age males.
