The total population of Kenya was estimated at 52.44 million people in 2024. Following a continuous upward trend, the total population has risen by 36.72 million people since 1980. Between 2024 and 2030, the total population will rise by 5.54 million people, continuing its consistent upward trajectory.This indicator describes the total population in the country at hand. This total population of the country consists of all persons falling within the scope of the census.

The total population in Kenya was estimated at 52.4 million people in 2024, according to the latest census figures and projections from Trading Economics. This dataset provides the latest reported value for - Kenya Population - plus previous releases, historical high and low, short-term forecast and long-term prediction, economic calendar, survey consensus and news.

Kenya KE: Population: as % of Total: Female: Aged 15-64 data was reported at 57.169 % in 2017. This records an increase from the previous number of 56.815 % for 2016. Kenya KE: Population: as % of Total: Female: Aged 15-64 data is updated yearly, averaging 48.674 % from Dec 1960 (Median) to 2017, with 58 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 57.169 % in 2017 and a record low of 47.013 % in 1976. Kenya KE: Population: as % of Total: Female: Aged 15-64 data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Kenya – Table KE.World Bank.WDI: Population and Urbanization Statistics. Female population between the ages 15 to 64 as a percentage of the total female population. Population is based on the de facto definition of population, which counts all residents regardless of legal status or citizenship.; ; World Bank staff estimates based on age/sex distributions of United Nations Population Division's World Population Prospects: 2017 Revision.; Weighted average; Relevance to gender indicator: Knowing how many girls, adolescents and women there are in a population helps a country in determining its provision of services.

This statistic shows the total population of Kenya from 2013 to 2023 by gender. In 2023, Kenya's female population amounted to approximately 27.82 million, while the male population amounted to approximately 27.52 million inhabitants.

Gathered for the GAFSP Open Data Services activity. This file contains summary statistics of population and population density by county 2019. Data collected by The Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) and published in "The 2019 Kenya Population and Housing Census Volume I: Population by County and Sub-county."

Kenya KE: Population: Total data was reported at 49,699,862.000 Person in 2017. This records an increase from the previous number of 48,461,567.000 Person for 2016. Kenya KE: Population: Total data is updated yearly, averaging 22,252,232.000 Person from Dec 1960 (Median) to 2017, with 58 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 49,699,862.000 Person in 2017 and a record low of 8,105,440.000 Person in 1960. Kenya KE: Population: Total data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Kenya – Table KE.World Bank.WDI: Population and Urbanization Statistics. Total population is based on the de facto definition of population, which counts all residents regardless of legal status or citizenship. The values shown are midyear estimates.; ; (1) United Nations Population Division. World Population Prospects: 2017 Revision. (2) Census reports and other statistical publications from national statistical offices, (3) Eurostat: Demographic Statistics, (4) United Nations Statistical Division. Population and Vital Statistics Reprot (various years), (5) U.S. Census Bureau: International Database, and (6) Secretariat of the Pacific Community: Statistics and Demography Programme.; Sum; Relevance to gender indicator: disaggregating the population composition by gender will help a country in projecting its demand for social services on a gender basis.

In 2023, the annual population growth in Kenya was 1.98 percent. Between 1961 and 2023, the figure dropped by 1.75 percentage points, though the decline followed an uneven course rather than a steady trajectory.

Actual value and historical data chart for Kenya Population Density People Per Sq Km

Actual value and historical data chart for Kenya Rural Population Percent Of Total Population

Kenya's population was forecast to reach **** million people in 2050. According to the same forecast, the country had around **** million inhabitants in 2020, ranking among the most populated nations in Africa. In 2019, the last official census conducted in Kenya counted a population of some **** million people.

Kenya KE: Population: Male: Ages 80 and Above: % of Male Population data was reported at 0.374 % in 2017. This records an increase from the previous number of 0.368 % for 2016. Kenya KE: Population: Male: Ages 80 and Above: % of Male Population data is updated yearly, averaging 0.337 % from Dec 1960 (Median) to 2017, with 58 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 0.374 % in 2017 and a record low of 0.256 % in 1960. Kenya KE: Population: Male: Ages 80 and Above: % of Male Population data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Kenya – Table KE.World Bank: Population and Urbanization Statistics. Male population between the ages 80 and above as a percentage of the total male population.; ; World Bank staff estimates based on age/sex distributions of United Nations Population Division's World Population Prospects: 2017 Revision.; ;

Graph and download economic data for Population Growth for Kenya (SPPOPGROWKEN) from 1961 to 2024 about Kenya, population, and rate.

Actual value and historical data chart for Kenya Population Female Percent Of Total

As of 2024, the median age in Kenya reached **** years. The indicator has been increasing in the country, which indicates declining fertility rates and/or improvements in life expectancy. In 2015, the median age in Kenya stood by **** years.

Graph and download economic data for Population, Total for Kenya (POPTOTKEA647NWDB) from 1960 to 2024 about Kenya and population.

The largest population group in Kenya, as of 2020, comprised people aged **** years, accounting for nearly ** percent of the country's population. From a gender perspective, there were around **** million males and **** million females within this range of ages. The second biggest group consisted of inhabitants aged 25 to 54 years, with **** million men and **** million women. Among Tanzanians aged ***** years and 65 years and older, the female count was slightly higher than the male one.

Historical dataset showing total population for Kenya by year from 1950 to 2025.

Population density per pixel at 100 metre resolution. WorldPop provides estimates of numbers of people residing in each 100x100m grid cell for every low and middle income country. Through ingegrating cencus, survey, satellite and GIS datasets in a flexible machine-learning framework, high resolution maps of population counts and densities for 2000-2020 are produced, along with accompanying metadata. DATASET: Alpha version 2010 and 2015 estimates of numbers of people per grid square, with national totals adjusted to match UN population division estimates (http://esa.un.org/wpp/) and remaining unadjusted. REGION: Africa SPATIAL RESOLUTION: 0.000833333 decimal degrees (approx 100m at the equator) PROJECTION: Geographic, WGS84 UNITS: Estimated persons per grid square MAPPING APPROACH: Land cover based, as described in: Linard, C., Gilbert, M., Snow, R.W., Noor, A.M. and Tatem, A.J., 2012, Population distribution, settlement patterns and accessibility across Africa in 2010, PLoS ONE, 7(2): e31743. FORMAT: Geotiff (zipped using 7-zip (open access tool): www.7-zip.org) FILENAMES: Example - AGO10adjv4.tif = Angola (AGO) population count map for 2010 (10) adjusted to match UN national estimates (adj), version 4 (v4). Population maps are updated to new versions when improved census or other input data become available. Kenya data available from WorldPop here.

Key information about Kenya population

• The Kenya population reached 52.4 million people in Dec 2024, compared with the previously reported figure of 51.5 million people in Dec 2023
• The data reached an all-time high of 52.4 million people in Dec 2024 and a record low of 6.1 million people in Dec 1950

• In the latest reports, Kenya Unemployment Rate increased to 3.0 % in Dec 2020
• Monthly earnings of the Kenya population was 539.6 USD in Jun 2024
• Kenya Labour Force Participation Rate dropped to 66.7 % in Dec 2024

Abstract

The Kenya Demographic and Health Survey (KDHS) was conducted between December 1988 and May 1989 to collect data regarding fertility, family planning and maternal and child health. The survey covered 7,150 women aged 15-49 and a subsample of 1,116 husbands of these women, selected from a sample covering 95 percent of the population. The purpose of the survey was to provide planners and policymakers with data useful in making informed programme decisions.

OBJECTIVES

On March 1, 1988, 'on behalf of the Government of Kenya, the National Council for Population and Development (NCPD) signed an agreement with the Institute for Resource Development (IRD) to carry out the Kenya Demographic and Health Survey (KDHS).

The KDHS is intended to serve as a source of population and health data for policymakers and for the research community. In general, the objectives of the KDHS are to: assess the overall demographic situation in Kenya, assist in the evaluation of the population and health programmes in Kenya, advance survey methodology, and assist the NCPD strengthen and improve its technical skills to conduct demographic and health surveys.

The KDHS was specifically designed to: - provide data on the family planning and fertility behaviour of the Kcnyan population to enable the NCPD to evaluate and enhance the National Family Planning Programme, - measure changes in fertility and contraceptive prevalence and at the same time study the factors which affect these changes, such as marriage patterns, urban/rural residence, availability of contraception, breastfeeding habits and other socioeconomic factors, and - examine the basic indicators of maternal and child health in Kenya.

SUMMARY OF FINDINGS

The survey data can also be used to evaluate Kenya's efforts to reduce fertility and the picture that emerges shows significant strides have been made toward this goal. KDHS data provide the first evidence of a major decline in fertility. If young women continue to have children at current rates, they will have an average of 6.7 births in their lifetime. This is down considerably from the average of 7.5 births for women now at the end of their childbearing years. The fertility rate in 1984 was estimated at 7.7 births per woman.

A major cause of the decline in fertility is increased use of family pIanning. Twenty-seven percent of married women in Kenya are currcntly using a contraceptive method, compared to 17 percent in 1984. Although periodic abstinence continues to he the most common method (8 percent), of interest to programme planners is the fact that two-thirds of marricd women using contraception have chosen a modern method--either the pill (5 percent) or female sterilisation (5 percent). Contraccptive use varies by province, with those closest to Nairobi having the highest levels. Further evidence of the success in promoting family planning is the fact that more than 90 percent of married women know at least one modern method of contraception (and where to obtain it), and 45 percent have used a contraceptive method at some time in their life.

The survey indicates a high level of knowledge, use and approval of family planning by husbands of interviewed women. Ninety-three percent of husbands know a modern method of family planning. Sixty-five percent of husbands have used a method at some time and almost 49 percent are currently using a method, half of which are modern methods. Husbands in Kenya are strongly supportive of family planning. Ninety-one percent of those surveyed approve of family planning use by couples, compared to 88 percent of married women.

If couples are able to realise their childbearing preferences, fertility may continue to decline in the future. One half of married women say that they want no more children; another 26 percent want to wait at least two years before having another child. Husbands report similar views on limiting births--one-half say they want no more children. The desire to limit childbearing appears to be greater in Kenya than in other subSaharan countries. In Botswana and Zimbabwe, for example, only 33 percent of married women want no more children. Another indicator of possible future decline in fertility in Kenya is the decrease in ideal family size. According to the KDHS, the mean ideal family size declined from 5.8 in 1984 to 4.4 in 1989.

The KDHS indicates that in the area of health, government programmes have been effective in providing health services for womcn and children. Eight in ten births benefit from ante-natal care from a doctor, nurse, or midwife and one-half of births are assisted at delivery by a doctor, nurse, or midwife. At least 44 percent of children 12-23 months of age are fully immunised against the major childhood diseases, Almost all children benefit from an extended period of breastfeeding. The average duration of breastfeeding is 19 months and the practice does not appear to be waning among either younger women or urban women. Another encouraging piece of information is the high level of ORT (oral rehydration therapy) use for treating childhood diarrhoea. Among children under five reported to have had an episode of diarrhoea in the two weeks before the survey, half were treated with a homemade solution and almost one-quarter were given a solution prepared from commercially prepared packets.

The survey indicates several areas where there is room for improvement. Although young women are marrying later, many are still having births at young ages. More than 20 percent of teen-age girls have had at least one child and 7 percent were pregnant at the time of the survey. There is also evidence of an unmet need for family planning services. Of the births occurring in the 12 months before the survey, over half were either mistimed or unwanted; one fifth occurred less than 24 months after a previous birth.

Geographic coverage

The 1989 KDHS sample is national in scope, with the exclusion of all three districts in North Eastern Province and four other northern districts (Samburu and Turkana in Rift Valley Province and Isiolo and 4 Marsabit in Eastern Province). Together the excluded areas account for less than 4 percent of Kenya's population.

Analysis unit

• Household
• Women age 15-49
• Men age not specified

Universe

The population covered by the 1989 KDHS is defined as the universe of all women age 15-49 in Kenya and all husband living in the household.

Kind of data

Sample survey data

Sampling procedure

The sample for the KDHS is based on the National Sample Survey and Ewduation Programme (NASSEP) master sample maintained by the CBS. The KDHS sample is national in coverage, with the exclusion of North Eastern Province and four northern districts which together account for only about five percent of Kenya's population. The KDHS sample was designed to produce completed interviews with 7,500 women aged 15-49 and with a subsample of 1,000 husbands of these women.

The NASSEP master sample is a two-stage design, stratified by urban-rural residence, and within the rural stratum, by individual district. In the first stage, 1979 census enumeration areas (EAs) were selected with probability proportional to size. The selected EAs were segmented into the expected number of standard-sized clusters, one of which was selected at random to form the NASSEP cluster. The selected clusters were then mapped and listed by CBS field staff. In rural areas, household listings made betwecn 1984 and 1985 were used to select the KDHS households, while KDHS pretest staff were used to relist households in the selected urban clusters.

Despite the emphasis on obtaining district-level data for phoning purposes, it was decided that reliable estimates could not be produced from the KDHS for all 32 districts in NASSEP, unless the sample were expanded to an unmanageable size. However, it was felt that reliable estimates of certain variables could be produced lbr the rural areas in the 13 districts that have been initially targeted by the NCPD: Kilifi, Machakos, Meru, Nyeri, Murang'a, Kirinyaga, Kericho, Uasin Gishu, South Nyanza, Kisii, Siaya, Kakamega, and Bungoma. Thus, all 24 rural clusters in the NASSEP were selected for inclusion in the KDHS sample in these 13 districts. About 450 rural households were selected in each of these districts, just over 1000 rural households in other districts, and about 3000 households in urban areas, for a total of almost 10,000 households. Sample weights were used to compensate for the unequal probability of selection between strata, and weighted figures are used throughout the remainder of this report.

Mode of data collection

Face-to-face

Research instrument

The KDHS utilised three questionnaires: a household questionnaire, a woman's questionnaire, and a husband's questionnaire. The first two were based on the DHS Programme's Model "B" Questionnaire that was designed for low contraceptive prevalence countries, while the husband's questionnaire was based on similar questionnaires used in the DHS surveys in Ghana and Burundi. A two-day seminar was held in Nyeri in November 1987 to develop the questionnaire design. Participants included representatives from the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS), the Population Studies Research Institute at the University of Nairobi, the Community Health Department of Kenyatta Hospital, and USAID. The decision to include a survey of husbands was based on the recommendation of the seminar participants. The questionnaires were subsequently translated into eight local languages (Kalenjin, Kamba, Kikuyu, Kisii, Luhya, Luo, Meru and Mijikenda), in addition to Kiswahili.

Cleaning operations

Data