What happened to Somalis after they left?

The UN counted 1,935,594 people born in Somalia living abroad in 2024, and most other estimates say about 2 million (UN DESA, International Migrant Stock 2024; Rift Valley Institute, 2022). Most live in nearby countries, and in 2025 individuals abroad sent home US$3.13 billion, about 24% of the economy (Central Bank of Somalia, Annual Report 2025).

How many Somalis live abroad?

UN DESA counts people by country of birth. Its 2024 figure for the Somalia-born abroad is 1,935,594, up from 599,233 in 1990 (UN DESA, 2024 origin and destination table). That 2024 table gives no Somalia-born figure for the United States or Germany, so the true total is higher (UN DESA, 2024).

Other counts, each with its own method:

• Pew Research Center (2016): about 2 million Somalia-born people abroad in 2015, up from about 850,000 in 1990 (Pew, 1 June 2016).
• Rift Valley Institute (2022): "two million people" living outside the Somali regions of the Horn (RVI, 2022).
• IOM and DEMAC: "an estimated 2 million people worldwide" (DEMAC, January 2024).

These counts leave out children born abroad to Somali parents. Counts by ancestry or ethnic group are higher than counts by birthplace in the same country (see the UK and US below).

Where do they live?

Most Somalia-born migrants live in Africa and the Middle East. UN DESA's 2024 figures for the largest host countries are (UN DESA, 2024):

• Kenya: 401,953
• Ethiopia: 389,246
• Yemen: 285,211
• United Kingdom: 119,728
• Libya: 117,956
• Djibouti: 99,940
• Sweden: 74,146
• Uganda: 65,070
• Egypt: 50,036
• Saudi Arabia: 48,099
• South Africa: 42,516
• Canada: 34,668
• Norway: 32,285
• Türkiye: 27,594
• Netherlands: 25,826

Smaller communities in the same table include Finland (14,208), Belgium (12,989), Italy (12,642), Denmark (10,486), Austria (9,719), Australia (9,578) and the UAE (9,109) (UN DESA, 2024). Türkiye grew fastest among these, from 3,382 in 2015 to 27,594 in 2024 (UN DESA, 2024).

Counts outside the UN table:

• United States: 193,061 people reported Somali ancestry in 2024, 76,320 of them in Minnesota, Bloomberg reported from Census data (Bloomberg, 29 January 2026). Minnesota Compass counts 79,449 Somali Minnesotans for 2019 to 2023 (MN Compass).
• Germany: almost 67,000 Somali nationals were on the Central Register of Foreigners at the end of May 2025 (German Bundestag, hib 303/2025).
• England and Wales: 176,645 people identified as Somali in the 2021 census (ONS, 4 October 2023).

How many are still refugees?

UNHCR counts 805,917 refugees from Somalia in the region at the end of October 2026 (UNHCR Somalia situation):

• Ethiopia: 368,165
• Kenya: 334,733
• Uganda: 48,340
• Yemen: 40,982 (August 2026)
• Djibouti: 13,697 (August 2026)

In Kenya, 276,986 Somali refugees are in Garissa county, home to the Dadaab camps (UNHCR, Kenya). Pew found refugees made up about 55% of the Somali diaspora in both 1990 and 2015 (Pew, 2016). For refugee papers, see Refugee papers and status.

What is the second generation like?

In England and Wales, 43.5% of people who identified as Somali in 2021 were born in England, and 43.1% in Somalia (ONS, 2023). Almost half (48.2%) were under 21, against 24.2% of all residents (ONS, 2023). English was the main language for 67.8%, and Somali for 28.6% (ONS, 2023).

In Sweden, Somali was among the ten largest languages taught as a mother tongue in 2017/18. It had the highest take-up of the ten, with almost four in five eligible pupils taking part (Swedish Government Official Reports, SOU 2019:18).

Some families send young people back to relatives or to centres in Somalia or Kenya, a practice called dhaqan celis. A 2025 Danish government report found abuse in some centres, while some youth reported good experiences with relatives (Danish Immigration Service, June 2025).

How do Somalis abroad do in school and work?

The fullest official data is from the 2021 census of England and Wales (ONS, 2023):

• Work: 34.1% employed (all residents: 59.6%); 10.3% unemployed (4.4%); 47.1% economically inactive (24.7%), of whom 21.7% were students.
• Qualifications: 23.9% held a degree-level (Level 4) qualification (33.8%); 26.9% had none (18.2%).
• Housing: 72.0% lived in social rented homes (16.6%), and 58.8% in overcrowded homes (8.4%).
• Place: 62.4% lived in London.

Somali Americans entered public office. Ilhan Omar became the first Somali American elected to a US state legislature in 2016, and to the US Congress in 2018 (Star Tribune, November 2018).

How much money do Somalis abroad send home?

The Central Bank of Somalia's figures (Annual Report 2024; Annual Report 2025):

• Individual remittances: US$1,339.3 million in 2019; US$2,719.1 million in 2024 (22% of GDP); US$3,134 million in 2025 (24% of GDP).
• All inward transfers: US$6,786 million in 2025, including business, NGO and other transfers. The 2024 total was first reported as US$6,230 million, then as US$6,434 million in the 2025 report.
• Channels: money transfer businesses handled US$3,077 million in 2025, of which US$2,141 million was individual remittances.

Older estimates were lower. A 2013 FAO study estimated at least US$1.2 billion a year (FSNAU and FAO, Family Ties, 2013). The Atlantic Council cited US$1.3 billion a year in 2015 (Atlantic Council, 11 February 2015).

The money mostly pays for food, rent, school fees and medicine, the FAO study found (FSNAU, 2013). Of households receiving it, more than 80% relied on just one relative abroad (FSNAU, 2013). For the trend, see Record money coming home.

What is xawaalad, and why did banks close its accounts?

Xawaalad (also spelled xawilaad or hawala) is the Somali money transfer system. Researcher Anna Lindley calls it "a sophisticated infrastructure" that carries economic activity where there is no domestic banking system (Lindley, SOAS). A Rift Valley Institute briefing says the system runs on trust, so payouts happen within hours (RVI, March 2014).

Western banks began closing transfer firms' accounts, citing money laundering and terror financing rules:

• Barclays, UK, 2013: it moved to close money transfer accounts, including Dahabshiil's. The High Court granted Dahabshiil an interim injunction on 5 November 2013 (Dahabshiil v Barclays, [2013] EWHC 3379 (Ch)).
• Merchants Bank of California, 2015: it stopped Somali transfers on 6 February 2015, after handling up to 80% of money sent from the US to Somalia (Atlantic Council, 2015).

How many have returned?

Kenya, Somalia and UNHCR signed a Tripartite Agreement in November 2013 for voluntary return from Kenya (UNHCR, 5 August 2015). Assisted returns began in December 2014, and 2,969 refugees had returned by early August 2015 (UNHCR, 2015). The 2015 plan foresaw about 425,000 returns over five years (UNHCR, 2015).

By May 2025, UNHCR had helped 96,625 Somali refugees return since December 2014, from all countries (UNHCR Somalia returnees dashboard, May 2025). Another 44,324 were recorded returning on their own, for 140,949 in all (UNHCR, May 2025).

Diaspora Somalis also return, often from the West. Data on how many is lacking, the Heritage Institute says (HIPS, 2014). Its study of returnees in Mogadishu, Garowe and Hargeisa found return is "rarely permanent but often circular" (HIPS, 2014).

• Who can return: mainly people with Western citizenship, money and professional networks in Somalia, the same study says (HIPS, 2014).
• Offices for them: Somaliland and Puntland each set up a diaspora office in 2010. The federal foreign ministry opened a Department of Diaspora Affairs in October 2013 (HIPS, 2014).
• Business: in 2013, diaspora Somalis registered 35% of 260 new companies in Mogadishu over four months (RVI and HIPS, 2017).

Many returnees try to reclaim homes they left. See What did Somalis leave behind when they fled?.

How do Somalis abroad keep ties with home?

• Phone calls: in a Puntland and Somaliland survey, 76% kept regular contact with relatives abroad, and 96% of them by telephone (FSNAU, 2013).
• Duty to help: 90% said they felt obliged to support relatives, for reasons of religion, family bonds and honour (FSNAU, 2013).
• Weddings and emergencies: money from abroad also pays for weddings, family emergencies and community projects (FSNAU, 2013).
• Language: Somali is taught as a mother tongue in Swedish schools, with high take-up (SOU 2019:18).
• Media: the BBC Somali Service has broadcast since 18 July 1957 (Wikipedia, backup).

Why it matters (Calankii)

The banner carried since 1895 did not stay inside the borders. About two million Somalis abroad send money, call home and return, keeping one nation across many countries. Young Somalis born abroad are part of that same story, with the same right to it.

Related pages

Country and city pages: Australia · Bristol · Calgary · Denmark · Djibouti · Edmonton · Ethiopia · Finland · Germany · Kenya · Netherlands · Norway · Ottawa · Saudi Arabia · South Africa · Sweden · Toronto · Türkiye · UAE and Dubai · United States · Yemen

Across the section:

• Why and how Somalis left
• Somali refugees by the numbers
• What did Somalis leave behind when they fled?
• Record money coming home

Sources

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2. Phillip Connor and Jens Manuel Krogstad. "5 facts about the global Somali diaspora." Pew Research Center, 1 June 2016. pewresearch.org. Checked 2026-11-12.
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21. UNHCR. "116 Somali refugees return from Dadaab camps to Mogadishu, spearheading new phase of voluntary repatriation." 5 August 2015. data.unhcr.org. Checked 2026-11-12.
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