How to send money to Somalia: ways, costs and rules

Who this is for

This page is for anyone abroad who supports family or friends in Somalia. About one Somali household in five receives money from someone outside the household (Somali National Bureau of Statistics, SIHBS 2022). We do not send money and do not recommend any company.

The ways to send

1. Through an agent of a Somali money transfer company. You pay cash or card at an office abroad, and the receiver collects cash from an agent in Somalia, usually within hours (Rift Valley Institute).
2. Through a company's app or website, paid into a mobile wallet. The money lands in the receiver's EVC Plus, Zaad, eDahab or Sahal account. In 2022, 41.5 percent of families who received money from abroad got it by mobile money, and 72.3 percent of nomadic families did (same survey, SIHBS 2022).
3. By bank transfer to a bank account in Somalia. Banks carried $993 million of family remittances in 2025, against $2,141 million carried by money transfer companies (Central Bank of Somalia, Annual Report 2025).

What it costs

The cost is the fee plus the exchange rate margin (the difference between the rate you get and the market rate).

• The average cost of sending money to Somalia was about 6.6 percent in late 2024, against a UN goal of 3 percent (Hiiraan Online).
• From the United States, the World Bank measured an average of 5.60 percent in early 2025 (World Bank, Remittance Prices Worldwide, US to Somalia).
• From Sweden, it measured 6.79 percent in the third quarter of 2025 (World Bank, Remittance Prices Worldwide, Sweden to Somalia).
• Prices for the UK, the Netherlands and Australia are on the same World Bank site (UK to Somalia).

Many Somali companies lower fees for large amounts, regular senders and during Ramadan (Rift Valley Institute). Most money is sent and paid out in US dollars, so there is often no currency change at the Somali end (Central Bank of Somalia, Annual Report 2025).

The US remittance tax

From 1 January 2026 the United States charges a 1 percent tax on money sent abroad when it is paid for in cash, money order or cashier's cheque. Transfers paid from a US bank account or a US debit or credit card are not taxed (RSM US).

What the receiver needs

• For cash pickup: the full name you gave, matching their ID, and the transfer code.
• For a mobile wallet: a registered EVC Plus, Zaad, eDahab or Sahal number. New financial accounts in Somalia must now be opened with a national ID, checked through the Hubiye eKYC platform (Central Bank of Somalia, Annual Report 2025).
• For a bank account: the bank name and account number.

How to check a provider

• Is it licensed where you live? In the UK, check the Financial Conduct Authority register. For example, Dahabshiil says it is regulated by the UK Financial Conduct Authority, Sweden's Financial Supervisory Authority and Canada's FINTRAC (Dahabshiil).
• Is it licensed in Somalia? The Central Bank had licensed 14 money transfer businesses and 6 mobile money operators by December 2025 (Central Bank of Somalia, Annual Report 2025).
• Compare the total cost, not only the fee.

How much Somalis send

Somalis abroad sent $3.13 billion to their families in 2025, up 15 percent on 2024 (Central Bank of Somalia, Annual Report 2025). See Remittances in numbers and Hawala and money transfer companies.