Kenya Establishes Foundation for Evidence-based Labour Migration Governance through First National Statistics Report

NAIVASHA, Kenya (ILO News, 13–17 April 2026) The Kenyan State Department for Labour and Skills Development, in collaboration with the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) and with ILO support under the BRMM Programme, funded by the UK FCDO, convened a five-day (13 to 17 April 2026) technical workshop in Naivasha to finalise the country's first National Labour Migration Statistics Report. The workshop brought together 26 participants (9 F), representing the Directorate of Labour Migration Management, the Labour Department, the Directorate of Labour Market Research and Analysis, KNBS, the National Employment Authority, and the National Industrial Training Authority. The report consolidates migration data spanning 2021 to 2025 across multiple government agencies.

Kenya has experienced an increase in the number of workers seeking employment abroad, with more than 103,800 Kenyan migrant workers deployed internationally in the 2024/2025 fiscal year. Remittances reached USD 4.9 billion in 2024, making them one of the country's leading sources of foreign exchange. However, fragmented labour migration data siloed across various institutions and the absence of a consolidated national database have constrained evidence-based policy formulation, bilateral negotiations, and strategic planning.

Labour migration governance requires an integrated, multi-stakeholder effort. Data fragmentation across institutions has constrained evidence-based decision-making, but this report marks a turning point in Kenya's ability to manage labour migration strategically

Mr. Joel Mwanzia in his opening statement

The workshop followed a structured methodology across five working days. The first two days focused on reviewing datasets from multiple government sources, including job orders, attestations, airport desk records, and remittance flows from 2021 to 2025. Days three and four involved data consolidation, with the Directorate of Labour Migration Management and the Directorate of Labour Market Research and Analysis leading the integration of data into a coherent national report structure. The final day was used for validation and formal sign-off by all participating institutions, ensuring institutional consensus on baseline datasets and identified data gaps.

The Participants resolved to establish a National Technical Working Group (TWG) on Labour Migration Statistics to meet on a quarterly basis and coordinate ongoing data production, validation, and analysis to ensure institutionalized data collection, consolidation and reporting. Hence, the TWG will harmonise data collection tools, strengthen institutional capacity, and facilitate integration of fragmented systems, including NEAMIS, KLMIS, and NITAMIS. A need for a ToT for the frontline data collectors was also highlighted.

The workshop produced a validated draft National Labour Migration Statistics Report covering the period 2021 to 2025, with harmonised data from all key government agencies. The finalised report is expected to be published by June 2026 and will serve as the evidence base for bilateral labour negotiations, labour market planning, and Kenya's reporting to regional and international migration governance frameworks.