A report from the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) reveals that SMS usage in Kenya declined by 25.4 billion messages between 2020 and 2021, falling from 68.1 billion to 42.7 billion texts. The bureau attributes the drop to growing adoption of encrypted messaging platforms like WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, and Instagram, which have replaced traditional SMS for personal and commercial communication.
The decline coincided with Kenya's implementation of data protection regulations in late 2020, including the appointment of the country's first data commissioner, Immaculate Kassait. These rules restricted businesses and government agencies from collecting and using personal data for marketing, reducing the volume of promotional SMS messages.
"The total domestic SMS sent declined by 37.2% to 42.7 billion in 2021 compared to an increase of 4.3% in 2020," the KNBS reported. The decline was partly linked to fewer promotional messages from service providers and increased use of instant messaging apps.
Truecaller data shows Kenya ranks third globally for spam messages, with users receiving an average of 102 spam texts monthly. In response, Safaricom announced measures to hide contact details during Lipa na Mpesa transactions, aiming to prevent third-party exploitation of user data.
Telecom operators face declining SMS revenue as mobile data income surges. In 2018, SMS contributed 18% of total mobile service revenues (KSH 264.4 billion), while data services accounted for 20%. By 2019, SMS' share dropped to 7.1%, with data services rising to 21.9% of KSH 276.6 billion in mobile service revenues.
