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The survey notes that Rwandans are most impacted by the disparity between average household income and holiday costs.
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They spend 708 per cent of their monthly income and nearly 60 per cent of their annual income on the holiday.
As we inch closer to the Christmas holidays, malls are filled with shoppers while people make bookings for holidays.
A new survey by WorldRemits reveals that Kenyans spend more than half of their monthly income during the holiday.
This even as the world reels from the economic effects of the Covid-19 pandemic.
According to the global payments company, 54 per cent of Kenyan households spend their monthly income on traditional Christmas meals, decorations, and gifts.
The survey notes that Rwandans are most impacted by the disparity between average household income and holiday costs.
They spend 708 per cent of their monthly income and nearly 60 per cent of their annual income on the holiday.
Further, Mexico, Lebanon, Philippines, Cameroon, Nigeria, - spend 100 per cent or more of monthly income on Christmas, the survey shows.
According to World remit, this high spend means most of those households dip into savings, borrow, or receive support from friends and loved ones abroad through remittances to celebrate Christmas.
“ Without remittances into these countries, celebrating Christmas would be near impossible,” the survey states.
More than 244 million people are classified as immigrants around the world and account for large percentages of populations in countries like the United States (14.4 per cent of total population), UK (9 per cent), Australia (30 per cent) and Canada (21.5 per cent).
During the holidays, immigrants and overseas foreign workers are often unable to celebrate with their families in-person, and find themselves working to support not only themselves, but also their families and communities back home, World Remit notes.
The company therefore notes that due to this, Christmas is one of the primary reasons immigrants and migrants send money back to their home country.
“Because of the high cost of coveted seasonal items, food, and the overall impact Covid-19 has had on supply chain and inflation, it is vital for remittance senders to be able to support those dearest to them by helping make Christmas a reality for their loved ones,” it said
Accordingly, of the 14 countries observed that typically receive remittances, 10 spent more than 50 per ceet of their monthly household income on the holiday.
“A holiday that would be impossible without remittances, the season of giving becomes vital, where the world’s largest send markets typically only spend less than 3 per cent of their annual income on the holiday.”
World Remit which has a presence in more than 150 countries, processed over 50 million customer payments in 2020, worth approximately $10 billion (Sh1.08 trillion) in total.
Apart from the US, other key market sources of remittances to Kenya are the UK, Germany, and Canada.
Gulf states such as Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, and Bahrain have also emerged as important drivers of remittances, with an estimated three million Kenyans living abroad.