In 2023, around 20 million people were employed in Kenya, this was an increase of some 900,000 individuals from the previous year. The employees belonged mostly to the informal sector. Roughly 16.7 million worked in informal conditions, whereas close to 3.3 million were employed in the formal sector. The informal sector constitutes an important part of the Kenyan economy, being related to employment creation, production, and income generation. Trends in the informal labor market and economic sectors The largest employment activities for people in the informal sector were in wholesale and retail trade, as well as hotels and restaurants, with 9.32 million people employed in these areas in 2022. Moreover, the hospitality sector in the country was the fastest-growing economic sector with a quarterly growth rate of 21.5 percent of the GDP. However, the largest economic sector as an added value to the GDP was the agricultural sector. Navigating unemployment challenges in Kenya Kenya’s unemployment rate is following a decreasing trend, which dropped below five percent at the end of 2022. However, unemployment among the youth in the same period was fairly high at 13.4 percent. The cohort with the highest level of unemployment was among the age group between 20 to 24 years old, with an unemployment rate of over 15 percent.

Kenya Employment: WE: Public Sector (PU) data was reported at 790.200 Person th in 2017. This records an increase from the previous number of 736.300 Person th for 2016. Kenya Employment: WE: Public Sector (PU) data is updated yearly, averaging 672.700 Person th from Jun 2008 (Median) to 2017, with 10 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 790.200 Person th in 2017 and a record low of 596.600 Person th in 2008. Kenya Employment: WE: Public Sector (PU) data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by Kenya National Bureau of Statistics. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Kenya – Table KE.G005: Employment: by Sector and Industry: International Standard of Industrial Classification Rev 4.

The total number of people in the labor force in Kenya increased by 0.8 million people (+3.23 percent) in 2023. Therefore, the number of people in the labor force in Kenya reached a peak in 2023 with 25.5 million people. Notably, the number of people in the labor force continuously increased over the last years.The labor force is the total number of people aged 15 and older currently employed, those unemployed but seeking work, and first-time job-seekers. It excludes individuals who are unemployed and not seeking employment, such as students and retirees.Find more statistics on other topics about Kenya with key insights such as rate of adult literacy as share of the country's population 15 years and above.

Kenya Employment data was reported at 19,996.300 Person th in 2023. This records an increase from the previous number of 19,148.200 Person th for 2022. Kenya Employment data is updated yearly, averaging 15,162.050 Person th from Jun 2008 (Median) to 2023, with 16 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 19,996.300 Person th in 2023 and a record low of 10,012.500 Person th in 2008. Kenya Employment data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by Kenya National Bureau of Statistics. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Kenya – Table KE.G005: Employment: by Sector and Industry: International Standard of Industrial Classification Rev 4.

Unemployment Rate in Kenya increased to 5.70 percent in the fourth quarter of 2023 from 4.90 percent in the fourth quarter of 2022. This dataset provides - Kenya Unemployment Rate - actual values, historical data, forecast, chart, statistics, economic calendar and news.

People aged 25-29 years constituted the largest group in Kenya's labor force in the third quarter of 2020. Around 3.4 million Kenyans of this age group were currently employed, unemployed but seeking work, or unemployed but available to work. Among people between 30 and 39 years, nearly 3.3 million were under the same conditions. Overall, young Kenyans (15-29 years) accounted for 40 percent of the country's workforce.

Unemployment refers to the share of the labor force that is without work but available for and seeking employment.

Kenya’s unemployment rate was 5.57 percent in 2023. This represents a steady decline from the increase after the financial crisis. What is unemployment? The unemployment rate of a country refers to the share of people who want to work but cannot find jobs. This includes workers who have lost jobs and are searching for new ones, workers whose jobs ended due to an economic downturn, and workers for whom there are no jobs because the labor supply in their industry is larger than the number of jobs available. Different statistics suggest which factors contribute to the overall unemployment rate. The Kenyan context The first type, so-called “search unemployment”, is hardest to see in the data. The closest proxy is Kenya’s inflation rate. As workers take new jobs faster, employers are forced to increase wages, leading to higher employment. Jobs lost due to economic downturns, called “cyclical unemployment”, can be seen by decreases in the GDP growth rate, which are not significant in Kenya. Finally, “structural unemployment” refers to workers changing the industry, or even economic sector, in which they are working. In Kenya, more and more workers switch to the services sector. This is often a result of urbanization, but any structural shift in the economy’s composition can lead to this unemployment.

Kenya KE: Self-Employed: Modeled ILO Estimate: % of Total Employment data was reported at 61.974 % in 2017. This records a decrease from the previous number of 62.082 % for 2016. Kenya KE: Self-Employed: Modeled ILO Estimate: % of Total Employment data is updated yearly, averaging 65.284 % from Dec 1991 (Median) to 2017, with 27 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 68.145 % in 1991 and a record low of 61.974 % in 2017. Kenya KE: Self-Employed: Modeled ILO Estimate: % of Total Employment 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: Employment and Unemployment. Self-employed workers are those workers who, working on their own account or with one or a few partners or in cooperative, hold the type of jobs defined as a 'self-employment jobs.' i.e. jobs where the remuneration is directly dependent upon the profits derived from the goods and services produced. Self-employed workers include four sub-categories of employers, own-account workers, members of producers' cooperatives, and contributing family workers.; ; International Labour Organization, ILOSTAT database. Data retrieved in September 2018.; Weighted average; Data up to 2016 are estimates while data from 2017 are projections.

Kenya KE: Wage And Salary Workers: Modeled ILO Estimate: Male: % of Male Employment data was reported at 52.453 % in 2017. This records an increase from the previous number of 52.318 % for 2016. Kenya KE: Wage And Salary Workers: Modeled ILO Estimate: Male: % of Male Employment data is updated yearly, averaging 46.579 % from Dec 1991 (Median) to 2017, with 27 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 52.453 % in 2017 and a record low of 43.319 % in 1991. Kenya KE: Wage And Salary Workers: Modeled ILO Estimate: Male: % of Male Employment 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: Employment and Unemployment. Wage and salaried workers (employees) are those workers who hold the type of jobs defined as 'paid employment jobs,' where the incumbents hold explicit (written or oral) or implicit employment contracts that give them a basic remuneration that is not directly dependent upon the revenue of the unit for which they work.; ; International Labour Organization, ILOSTAT database. Data retrieved in September 2018.; Weighted average; Data up to 2016 are estimates while data from 2017 are projections.

Employment to population ratio, ages 15-24, female (%) (national estimate) in Kenya was reported at 27.62 % in 2021, according to the World Bank collection of development indicators, compiled from officially recognized sources. Kenya - Employment to population ratio, ages 15-24, female (national estimate) - actual values, historical data, forecasts and projections were sourced from the World Bank on March of 2025.

In 2021, the male labor force participation rate in Kenya was measured at 75.6 percent. This meant that nearly 77 in every 100 men aged 15-64 years were economically active. Among females, the rate was lower, at 71 percent.

The informal sector in Kenya employed roughly 16.7 million individuals in 2023. This corresponded with roughly 83.5 percent of the total number of people employed in the country. Service activities absorbed most individuals engaged in the informal sector: 9.7 million worked in wholesale and retail trade, hotels, and restaurants. Manufacturing came next, being the source of employment for roughly 3.4 million Kenyans. Kenya’s urban informal economy Employment in the informal sector comprehends people working in informal enterprises, those not registered by the registrar of companies. This includes informal traders and artisans that produce goods and services meant for the market. As of 2019, Kenya had nearly five million informal enterprises, most of them located in urban areas. Wholesale and retail trade, as well as repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles, made up the predominant activity, accounting for over 60 percent of the Kenyan informal establishments. Driver of employment generation The informal sector is critical for job creation in Kenya. It generated roughly 768 thousand new jobs in 2019, against 78.4 thousand created in the formal sector. In this scenario, informal businesses have become the main labor market entry for young Kenyans. As of 2019, individuals aged 18-34 years formed the majority of employees in informal enterprises in the country, with a nearly equal proportion between men and women.

The employment in the agricultural sector as share of total employment in Kenya decreased by 0.6 percentage points (-1.8 percent) compared to the previous year. As a result, the share in Kenya saw its lowest number in 2022 with 32.63 percent. Notably, the share is continuously decreasing over the last years.Employment in agriculture is the share of individuals working in agriculture, hunting, forestry, and fishing in order to produce a good or service for profit or pay from the total employed. The data covers people working in a certain period, or not working as a result of being temporarily absent from a job, or in a working-time arrangement.

Kenya Employment: WE: PR: Construction data was reported at 159.400 Person th in 2017. This records an increase from the previous number of 155.000 Person th for 2016. Kenya Employment: WE: PR: Construction data is updated yearly, averaging 105.150 Person th from Jun 2008 (Median) to 2017, with 10 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 159.400 Person th in 2017 and a record low of 64.600 Person th in 2008. Kenya Employment: WE: PR: Construction data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by Kenya National Bureau of Statistics. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Kenya – Table KE.G005: Employment: by Sector and Industry: International Standard of Industrial Classification Rev 4.

Abstract

The STEP (Skills Toward Employment and Productivity) Measurement program is the first ever initiative to generate internationally comparable data on skills available in developing countries. The program implements standardized surveys to gather information on the supply and distribution of skills and the demand for skills in labor market of low-income countries.

The uniquely designed modules in the Employer Survey aim to assess the structure of the labor force; the skills (cognitive skills, behavior and personality traits, and job-relevant skills) currently being used; the skills that employers look for when hiring new workers; the propensity of firms to provide training (including satisfaction with education, training, and levels of specific skills) and the link between skills and compensation and promotion. The survey also captures background characteristics (size, legal form, industry, full time vs. non-standard employment and occupational breakdown), performance (revenues, wages and other costs, profits and scope of market), key labor market challenges and their ranking relative to other challenges, and job skill requirements of the firms being interviewed.

The questionnaire can be adapted to address a sample of firms in both informal and formal sectors, with varying sizes and industry classifications.

Geographic coverage

Capital Nairobi and other urban areas.

Analysis unit

The units of analysis are establishments or workplaces - a single location at which one or more employees work. The larger legal entity may include multiple establishments. The firms on the list will have been randomly chosen, with probability proportional to the number of employees in the firm.

Universe

The universe of the study are non-government businesses registered with the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS), from 2016. Firms with at least five employees were selected from the following sectors: Manufacturing, Trade and Other Services.

Kind of data

Sample survey data [ssd]

Sampling procedure

The sampling objective of the survey was to obtain interviews from 500 non-government enterprise workplaces in the capital and urban regions of Kenya. Firms with less than five employees were excluded from the target population.

Two-stage stratified random sampling was used in the survey. A list of businesses registered with the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) from 2016, served as the sampling frame.

Detailed information about sampling is available in the Kenya Employer Survey Design Planning Report and Kenya Employer Survey Weighting Procedure, provided as Related Material.

Mode of data collection

Computer Assisted Personal Interview [capi]

Research instrument

The Questionnaire for the STEP Employer Survey consists of five modules:

Section 1 - Work Force Section 2 - Skills Used Section 3 - Hiring Practices Section 4 - Training and Compensation Section 5 - Background

In the case of Kenya, the questionnaire was adapted to the Kenya context and published in English and Swahili. It has been provided as Related Material.

Cleaning operations

STEP Data Management Process:

1) Raw data is sent by the survey firm

2) The World Bank (WB) STEP team runs data checks on the Questionnaire data. Comments and questions are sent back to the survey firm.

3) The survey firm reviews comments and questions. When a data entry error is identified, the survey firm corrects the data.

4) The WB STEP team again check to make sure the data files are clean. This might require additional iterations with the survey firm.

5) Once the data has been checked and cleaned, the WB STEP team computes the weights. Weights are computed by the STEP team to ensure consistency across sampling methodologies.

Response rate

An overall response rate of 72% was achieved in Kenya STEP Survey. Detailed distribution of responses by stratum can be found in the document Kenya Employer Survey Weighting Procedure, available as Related Material.

The agricultural sector accounted for 53.8 percent of the total employment in Kenya as of 2020. Despite being the industry with a higher employment level, the services sector is growing steadily as well, reaching a share of 38.7 percent in 2020. A similar tendency was registered in the manufacturing sector, which accounted for 7.4 percent of the employment in the same period.

As of 2022, females represented 49.7 percent of the total labor force in Kenya. The share has slowly increased in the last years. In 2010, women accounted for 48.8 percent of the economically active population aged 15 years and older.

The youth unemployment rate in Kenya decreased to 12.23 percent compared to the previous year. Nevertheless, the last two years recorded a significantly higher youth unemployment rate than the preceding years.The youth unemployment rate refers to the share of the workforce aged 15 to 24 that is currently not working but is actively searching for work. It does not include the economically inactive population, such as the long-term unemployed or full-time students.Find more key insights for the youth unemployment rate in countries like Somalia and Burundi.

As of March 2022, the employment level in Kenyan hotels was at 83 percent of the number of employees in February 2020, when the level was at 100 percent. Overall, employment in hotels has been recovering since harsh falls amid the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. In May 2020, the number of actives employees was at its lowest level among the surveyed hotels. That month, Kenya was under stricter measures against the spread of coronavirus. The posterior easing of restrictions led to a slowly recovery in the employment level as well as the bed occupancy rate.