{"id":2000123090,"date":"2026-08-20T08:38:14","date_gmt":"2026-08-20T06:38:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/?p=2000123090"},"modified":"2026-08-20T08:54:45","modified_gmt":"2026-08-20T06:54:45","slug":"rwandan-diaspora-remittances-rise-to-640-million","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/rwandan-diaspora-remittances-rise-to-640-million\/","title":{"rendered":"Rwandan diaspora remittances rise to $640 million"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The sharp increase highlights the growing financial contribution of Rwandans living abroad, whose remittances support households while also helping finance businesses, property purchases and other investments in Rwanda.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Investments by Rwandans abroad have contributed to projects such as Inn of The Lac on the shores of Lake Kivu, Isange Estate and Imara Properties, among others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another initiative, Girinzu, aims to help Rwandans in the country and abroad access affordable housing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Speaking to Rwandans living abroad during a meeting on August 14, 2026, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Olivier Nduhungirehe thanked the diaspora for its continued contribution to Rwanda\u2019s development.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Remittances nearly double in five years<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

BNR figures show that diaspora remittances to Rwanda have generally increased over the past five years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2021, Rwandans living abroad sent $379 million to Rwanda up from $65 million of 2010. The figure rose to $461 million in 2022 and reached $505 million in 2023.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Remittances declined slightly to $502 million in 2024 before recording their strongest annual growth in 2025, when they increased by 27.3% to reach $640 million.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This represents growth of about 69% between 2021 and 2025, bringing diaspora remittances close to twice their 2021 level.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The continued increase underscores the growing role of the diaspora in supporting households and contributing to investment in Rwanda.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The 2024 FinScope survey found that 65% of adults in Rwanda had either sent or received money, with domestic transfers accounting for the largest share.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

About 3% of adults received money from outside Rwanda, while 1% sent money abroad. The report found that, for both domestic and international transfers, the proportion of people receiving money was higher than that of those sending it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Non-bank channels remain the most commonly used means of transferring money. Around 63% of people used non-bank channels, compared with 4%, equivalent to about 309,000 people, who used banks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mobile Money was the most widely used channel for sending and receiving funds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For recipients, remittances are primarily used to meet everyday household needs. About 53% used the money to buy food and clothing, while 10% used it to start businesses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another 9% used the funds to pay school fees, 5% invested them, and 4% used them to pay for medicines and other healthcare-related expenses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The figures show that while diaspora remittances remain an important source of household support, part of the money is also being directed towards businesses, property and other investments, strengthening the economic ties between Rwandans abroad and their home country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Some remittances sent by Rwandans living abroad are channelled into investments in Rwanda.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Rwandan diaspora remittances surged 27.3% in 2025 to a record $640 million, according to figures from the National Bank of Rwanda (BNR), bringing the total close to twice the amount recorded five years earlier.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":2000123100,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[47],"tags":[151,70],"byline":[170],"hashtag":[],"class_list":["post-2000123090","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-economy","tag-editors-choice","tag-main-home-ighlight","byline-igihe"],"bylines":[{"id":170,"name":"IGIHE","slug":"igihe","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":8}],"contributors":[{"id":170,"name":"IGIHE","slug":"igihe","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":8}],"featured_image":{"id":2000123100,"url":"https:\/\/cdn.igihe.com\/en\/2026\/08\/53506635241_7ac95dc575_k-71d6f.jpg","alt":"","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","width":1000,"height":690,"sizes":{"thumbnail":{"url":"https:\/\/cdn.igihe.com\/en\/2026\/08\/53506635241_7ac95dc575_k-71d6f.jpg","width":1000,"height":690},"medium":{"url":"https:\/\/cdn.igihe.com\/en\/2026\/08\/53506635241_7ac95dc575_k-71d6f.jpg","width":1000,"height":690},"medium_large":{"url":"https:\/\/cdn.igihe.com\/en\/2026\/08\/53506635241_7ac95dc575_k-71d6f.jpg","width":1000,"height":690},"large":{"url":"https:\/\/cdn.igihe.com\/en\/2026\/08\/53506635241_7ac95dc575_k-71d6f.jpg","width":1000,"height":690},"full":{"url":"https:\/\/cdn.igihe.com\/en\/2026\/08\/53506635241_7ac95dc575_k-71d6f.jpg","width":1000,"height":690}}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2000123090","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2000123090"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2000123090\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2000123106,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2000123090\/revisions\/2000123106"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2000123100"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2000123090"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2000123090"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2000123090"},{"taxonomy":"byline","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/byline?post=2000123090"},{"taxonomy":"hashtag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hashtag?post=2000123090"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}