# Money sent home: remittances to Somalia > How much money Somalis abroad send home, how it travels (hawala, banks, mobile money), who receives it and what it costs, with Central Bank data. Source page: https://calankii.com/en/economy/remittances-in-numbers/ Last checked: 2026-11-12 Publisher: Calankii (https://calankii.com) ## How much comes in Total money sent into Somalia reached **$6,786 million in 2025**, up 5 percent from $6,434 million in 2024 ([Central Bank of Somalia, Annual Report 2025](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Annual-Report_2025.pdf)). The Central Bank splits it into four kinds: - **Money sent by individuals to families:** $3,134 million, up 15 percent. This is about 46 percent of the total and about 24 percent of GDP. - **Business transfers:** $2,454 million (36 percent). - **Aid agency (NGO) transfers:** $936 million (14 percent). - **Other bank (SWIFT) transfers:** $262 million (4 percent). All four figures: [Central Bank of Somalia, Annual Report 2025](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Annual-Report_2025.pdf). The Central Bank calls family remittances "the largest and most stable source of inflows" (same source). They are larger than all aid and larger than all exports. ## How the money travels Two channels carry almost all of it: - **Money transfer businesses (hawala companies)** handled $3,077 million in 2025. Seven in ten dollars they carried were family remittances ($2,141 million). - **Commercial banks** handled $3,709 million. Most of it was business money ($1,952 million). Banks carried $993 million of family remittances. Source for both: [Central Bank of Somalia, Annual Report 2025](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Annual-Report_2025.pdf). In December 2025 the Central Bank licensed 14 money transfer businesses (same source). See [Hawala and money transfer companies](/en/economy/hawala-and-money-transfer-companies/). ## Who receives it The 2022 national household survey found that **20.7 percent of households** received money from someone living outside the household in the year before. About 22 percent of town and village households received it, against 10.8 percent of nomadic households ([Somali National Bureau of Statistics, SIHBS 2022](https://nbs.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/SOMALIA-INTEGRATED-HOUSEHOLD-BUDGET-SURVEY.pdf)). The same survey found the money arrives through **hawala (55.4 percent)** and **mobile money (41.5 percent)**. Towns use hawala more (62 percent). Nomadic families mostly use mobile money (72.3 percent) (same source). Typical family support is $50 to $200 a month ([Hiiraan Online, July 2025](https://hiiraan.com/news4/2025/July/202205/u_s_remittance_tax_threatens_1_7_billion_somali_lifeline.aspx)). ## What it pays for Most remittance money pays for food, rent, school and health. The Central Bank says remittances "underpinned the spending base and cushioned the pull-back in donor support" in 2025 ([Central Bank of Somalia, Annual Report 2025](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Annual-Report_2025.pdf)). It also keeps dollars flowing in, which pays for imports. ## What it costs Sending money to Somalia cost about **6.6 percent** of the amount on average in late 2024. The UN goal is 3 percent ([Hiiraan Online, July 2025](https://hiiraan.com/news4/2025/July/202205/u_s_remittance_tax_threatens_1_7_billion_somali_lifeline.aspx)). Since 1 January 2026 the United States charges a **1 percent tax** on money sent abroad when it is paid in cash, money order or cashier's cheque. Transfers paid from a US bank account or US debit or credit card are not taxed ([RSM US](https://www.rsmus.com/insights/tax-alerts/2025/excise-tax-on-cross-border-remittances)). ## Times the channel was nearly closed - **2001:** after 11 September, the United States shut down Al-Barakaat, then the largest Somali transfer company, on suspicion of terrorist links, which the company denied ([The East African](https://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/tea/business/amid-the-chaos-money-transfer-is-booming-business-in-somalia-1300076)). - **2013:** Barclays, the last big UK bank serving Somali transfer companies, said it would close the accounts of all but 19 of its 165 remittance clients. Dahabshiil won a court order delaying the closure, and diaspora campaigners, backed by Oxfam, got Barclays to postpone four times ([Oxfam](https://www.oxfam.org/en/node/7954); [COMPAS, University of Oxford](https://www.compas.ox.ac.uk/2014/saving-the-lifeline-studying-the-somali-diaspora-involvement-in-the-2013-14-campaign)). ## Sources disagree The World Bank has often given about $1.7 to $2 billion a year for remittances ([African Business](https://african.business/2025/08/african-banker/reforming-somalias-banking-sector-amid-crisis-and-opportunity)). The Central Bank's newer series gives $3.1 billion for individuals alone in 2025. The difference comes from what is counted and from better reporting by transfer companies. --- I want to help with this: email hello@calankii.com. Fix this page: email hello@calankii.com with the page link and your source.