In 2022, Kenya scored 0.60 points in the Human Development Index (HDI), which indicated a medium level of development. An overall improvement was recorded from 2000 onwards. That year, Kenya's score was 0.49, meaning that the country had a low level of human development. The categorization changed from low to medium in 2008; however, it fell back into the low HDI category the following year. Since 2010, Kenya has remained in the medium category.

Kenya Human Development Indices per county

In 2022, Mauritius and the Seychelles scored just over 0.8 points on the Human Development Index (HDI), which indicated a very high level of development. Moreover, this was the highest score achieved in the East African region. Kenya followed, with an HDI of 0.6 points. Conversely, Somalia and South Sudan recorded the lowest in the region with 0.38 points, which signifies low human development.

Compared to other African countries, Seychelles scored the highest in the Human Development Index (HDI) in 2022. The country also ranked 67th globally, as one of the countries with a very high human development. This was followed by Mauritius, Libya, Egypt, and Tunisia, with scores ranging from 0.80 to 0.73 points. On the other hand, Central African Republic, South Sudan, and Somalia were among the countries in the region with the lowest index scores, indicating a low level of human development.

The aim of the Human Development Report is to stimulate global, regional and national policy-relevant discussions on issues pertinent to human development. Accordingly, the data in the Report require the highest standards of data quality, consistency, international comparability and transparency. The Human Development Report Office (HDRO) fully subscribes to the Principles governing international statistical activities.

The HDI was created to emphasize that people and their capabilities should be the ultimate criteria for assessing the development of a country, not economic growth alone. The HDI can also be used to question national policy choices, asking how two countries with the same level of GNI per capita can end up with different human development outcomes. These contrasts can stimulate debate about government policy priorities. The Human Development Index (HDI) is a summary measure of average achievement in key dimensions of human development: a long and healthy life, being knowledgeable and have a decent standard of living. The HDI is the geometric mean of normalized indices for each of the three dimensions.

The 2019 Global Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) data shed light on the number of people experiencing poverty at regional, national and subnational levels, and reveal inequalities across countries and among the poor themselves.Jointly developed by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative (OPHI) at the University of Oxford, the 2019 global MPI offers data for 101 countries, covering 76 percent of the global population. The MPI provides a comprehensive and in-depth picture of global poverty – in all its dimensions – and monitors progress towards Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 1 – to end poverty in all its forms. It also provides policymakers with the data to respond to the call of Target 1.2, which is to ‘reduce at least by half the proportion of men, women, and children of all ages living in poverty in all its dimensions according to national definition'.

Explore The Human Capital Report dataset for insights into Human Capital Index, Development, and World Rankings. Find data on Probability of Survival to Age 5, Expected Years of School, Harmonized Test Scores, and more.

Low income, Upper middle income, Lower middle income, High income, Human Capital Index (Lower Bound), Human Capital Index, Human Capital Index (Upper Bound), Probability of Survival to Age 5, Expected Years of School, Harmonized Test Scores, Learning-Adjusted Years of School, Fraction of Children Under 5 Not Stunted, Adult Survival Rate, Development, Human Capital, World Rankings

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Last year edition of the World Economic Forum Human Capital Report explored the factors contributing to the development of an educated, productive and healthy workforce. This year edition deepens the analysis by focusing on a number of key issues that can support better design of education policy and future workforce planning.

The index provides the only comprehensive measure available for non-income poverty, which has become a critical underpinning of the SDGs. Critically the MPI comprises variables that are already reported under the Demographic Health Surveys (DHS) and Multi-Indicator Cluster Surveys (MICS) The resources subnational multidimensional poverty data from the data tables published by the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative (OPHI), University of Oxford. The global Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) measures multidimensional poverty in over 100 developing countries, using internationally comparable datasets and is updated annually. The measure captures the severe deprivations that each person faces at the same time using information from 10 indicators, which are grouped into three equally weighted dimensions: health, education, and living standards. The global MPI methodology is detailed in Alkire, Kanagaratnam & Suppa (2023)

In 2018, the average inflation rate in Kenya amounted to about 4.69 percent compared to the previous year, a significant decrease from 7.99 percent the year prior. Forecasts see Kenya’s inflation levelling off at around five percent in the near future.

Kenya sees economic growth

Kenya’s economic growth has been quite steady these past few years and is still on the rise – except for a little dip in 2017, which is no real reason for concern. Gross domestic product (GDP) is forecast to almost double by 2024, and unemployment, although still above 10 percent, is on the decline. Although Kenya may not be among the leading countries on the Human Development Index (HDI) yet, but these economic trends plus demographic key factors like a declining infant mortality rate and a life expectancy at birth that has increased by a decade over the same time span show that Kenya is definitely on the way.

A brief look at Kenya’s economy

Kenya’s market-based economy is considered East Africa’s finance and transportation hub. Most of Kenya’s GDP is generated by services, especially travel and tourism, but agriculture is also quite successful, as it contributes about a third to GDP. The country exports less than it imports, and its leading exports are mostly commodities like tea and coffee. Imports include petroleum, machinery, and metals. Subsequently, Kenya’s trade balance is in the red, however, national debt is decreasing.

In 2025, nearly 11.7 percent of the world population in extreme poverty, with the poverty threshold at 2.15 U.S. dollars a day, lived in Nigeria. Moreover, the Democratic Republic of the Congo accounted for around 11.7 percent of the global population in extreme poverty. Other African nations with a large poor population were Tanzania, Mozambique, and Madagascar. Poverty levels remain high despite the forecast decline Poverty is a widespread issue across Africa. Around 429 million people on the continent were living below the extreme poverty line of 2.15 U.S. dollars a day in 2024. Since the continent had approximately 1.4 billion inhabitants, roughly a third of Africa’s population was in extreme poverty that year. Mozambique, Malawi, Central African Republic, and Niger had Africa’s highest extreme poverty rates based on the 2.15 U.S. dollars per day extreme poverty indicator (updated from 1.90 U.S. dollars in September 2022). Although the levels of poverty on the continent are forecast to decrease in the coming years, Africa will remain the poorest region compared to the rest of the world. Prevalence of poverty and malnutrition across Africa Multiple factors are linked to increased poverty. Regions with critical situations of employment, education, health, nutrition, war, and conflict usually have larger poor populations. Consequently, poverty tends to be more prevalent in least-developed and developing countries worldwide. For similar reasons, rural households also face higher poverty levels. In 2024, the extreme poverty rate in Africa stood at around 45 percent among the rural population, compared to seven percent in urban areas. Together with poverty, malnutrition is also widespread in Africa. Limited access to food leads to low health conditions, increasing the poverty risk. At the same time, poverty can determine inadequate nutrition. Almost 38.3 percent of the global undernourished population lived in Africa in 2022.