Why Saccos Are Reducing Dividends and Interest on Deposits - Report

Sacco members have seen the returns on their savings and share capital decline over the past three years, with both average dividends and interest rates falling between 2023 and 2025.

According to the SACCO Supervision Annual Report 2025 by the Sacco Societies Regulatory Authority (SASRA), the decline is linked to Saccos retaining a larger proportion of their surpluses to strengthen their capital bases as well as providing a cushion against unexpected events.

As detailed in the report, the average dividend paid by regulated SACCOs on members' share capital fell from 10.92% in 2023 to 10.46% in 2024 and 10% in 2025.

The average interest paid on members' deposits followed a similar trend, falling from 7.45% in 2023 to 7.14% in 2024 and 6.72% in 2025.

“The decline in this average payout rate shows that Regulated SACCOs are increasingly retaining a large proportion of their surpluses to build their capital bases not only to enhance institutional resilience for long-term sustainability and stability but also to cushion against any unexpected eventuality,” read the report in part. 

Deposit-taking SACCOs, commonly known as DT-SACCOs, recorded an average dividend rate of 10.21% in 2025, down from 10.54% in 2024.

Also Read: Kenya's Richest Saccos By their Assets [2026]

On the other hand, non-withdrawable deposit-taking SACCOs recorded an even larger decline, with the average dividend rate falling from 10.37% in 2024 to 9.76% in 2025.

DT-SACCOs therefore maintained a higher average dividend rate than their NWDT-SACCO counterparts in 2025.

The same pattern was seen in interest paid on members' deposits. DT-SACCOs recorded an average rate of 7.02% in 2025, down from 7.14% in 2024.

For NWDT-SACCOs, the average rate fell more sharply, from 7.14% in 2024 to 6.41% in 2025.

SASRA attributes the relatively higher returns among DT-SACCOs to their financial structure and broader sources of income.

The regulator says DT-SACCOs generally have stronger financial performance, larger asset bases and higher levels of operational efficiency.

“The DT-SACCOs' ability to maintain comparatively higher returns may be attributed to their relatively stronger financial performance, larger asset base and higher levels of operational efficiency,” read the report in part.

“In addition, DT-SACCOs generally have more diversified income streams and higher volumes of deposits arising from FOSA business, which enhance their capacity to generate surpluses and sustain higher returns to members while still maintaining adequate capital and liquidity buffers, as will be observed later in this report. This is contrary to NWDTs, which only rely on one stream of business of lending.” 

Also Read: 1.9 Million Sacco Members Stop Savings - Report

2026 Sacco Statistics 

At the end of 2025, there were 357 regulated Saccos in Kenya with members reaching 7.89 million.

Total assets among the regulated saccos were Ksh1.21 trillion, while member deposits hit Ksh832.74 billion.

Outstanding loans held by members at the end of 2025 were Ksh948.67 billion. Out of this, Ksh596.54 billion was disbursed in 2025.

“The Authority further notes that Regulated SACCOs disbursed loans amounting to Ksh596.54 billion in 2025 towards the eight (8) key sectors of the economy,” read the report in part.

“During the year, Land and Housing remained the largest beneficiary, receiving Ksh157.20 billion, followed by the Education and Agriculture sectors, which received Ksh124.51 billion and Ksh110.74 billion respectively. The Human Health sector received the least funding in loans disbursed during the year, amounting to Kshs. 14.65 billion.”