The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic impacted East Africa's poverty level. Extreme poverty rate in the region increased from ** percent in 2019 to ** percent in 2021. South Sudan and Brurundi had the highest share of population living on less than **** U.S. dollars per day, ** percent and ** percent, respectively.

In 2022, the international poverty (based on 2017 purchasing power parity (PPP)) and the lower-income poverty rate (3.65 U.S. dollars in 2017 PPP), was highest in Burundi within the East African region, with 83 percent and 96.6 percent, respectively. However, the upper middle-income poverty rate was highest in Somalia, at 98.8 percent.

In 2025, over **** million people in Madagascar lived in extreme poverty (less than **** U.S. dollars a day), the highest number within East Africa. However, this accounts for ** percent of the overall population living below the poverty line in the country. Uganda and Malawi followed, with almost **** million and more than **** million people living in destitution, respectively.

In 2025, *** percent of Kenya’s population live below **** U.S. dollars per day. This meant that over 8.9 million Kenyans were in extreme poverty, most of whom were in rural areas. Over *** million Kenyans in rural communities lived on less than **** U.S. dollars daily, an amount *** times higher than that recorded in urban regions. Nevertheless, the poverty incidence has declined compared to 2020. That year, businesses closed, unemployment increased, and food prices soared due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Consequently, the country witnessed higher levels of impoverishment, although improvements were already visible in 2021. Overall, the poverty rate in Kenya is expected to decline to ** percent by 2025. Poverty triggers food insecurity Reducing poverty in Kenya puts the country on the way to enhancing food security. As of November 2021, *** million Kenyans lacked sufficient food for consumption. That corresponded to **** percent of the country's population. Also, in 2021, over one-quarter of Kenyan children under five years suffered from chronic malnutrition, a growth failure resulting from a lack of adequate nutrients over a long period. Another *** percent of the children were affected by acute malnutrition, which concerns a rapid deterioration in the nutritional status over a short period. A country where prosperity and poverty walk side by side The poverty incidence in Kenya contrasts with the country's economic development. In 2021, Kenya ranked among the ten highest GDPs in Africa, at almost *** billion U.S. dollars. Moreover, its gross national income per capita has increased to ***** U.S. dollars over the last 10 years, a growth of above**** percent. Generally, while poverty decreased in the country during the same period, Kenya still seems to be far from reaching the United Nation's Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to eliminate extreme poverty by 2030.

Poverty rate at national poverty line of Kenya leapt by 6.93% from 36.1 % in 2015 to 38.6 % in 2021. Since the 22.86% drop in 2015, poverty rate at national poverty line jumped by 6.93% in 2021. National poverty rate is the percentage of the population living below the national poverty line. National estimates are based on population-weighted subgroup estimates from household surveys.

In 2025, ** percent of the population in South Sudan and Burundi lived in extreme poverty (with less than **** U.S. dollars a day), the highest scores recorded in the East African region. Mauritius registered the lowest share, with *** percent of the population living in destitute conditions.

Kenya’s population has nearly tripled in the last 35 years, from 16.3 million in 1980 to about 47 million today yet majority of the population are below the poverty line. poverty in Kenya is a widespread problem concentrated in the rural areas. This data set shows poverty rates within the Kenyan counties.

Historical dataset showing Kenya poverty rate by year from 1992 to 2021.

Poverty rate of Kenya shot up by 36.28% from 32.2 % in 1997 to 43.9 % in 2005. Since the 0.07% climb in 1994, poverty rate soared by 38.52% in 2005. Population below $1.90 a day is the percentage of the population living on less than $1.90 a day at 2011 international prices.

Kenya KE: Poverty Headcount Ratio at $2.15 a Day: 2017 PPP: % of Population data was reported at 36.100 % in 2021. This records an increase from the previous number of 35.000 % for 2020. Kenya KE: Poverty Headcount Ratio at $2.15 a Day: 2017 PPP: % of Population data is updated yearly, averaging 29.400 % from Dec 1992 (Median) to 2021, with 7 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 36.700 % in 2005 and a record low of 25.400 % in 1997. Kenya KE: Poverty Headcount Ratio at $2.15 a Day: 2017 PPP: % of 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.WDI: Social: Poverty and Inequality. Poverty headcount ratio at $2.15 a day is the percentage of the population living on less than $2.15 a day at 2017 purchasing power adjusted prices. As a result of revisions in PPP exchange rates, poverty rates for individual countries cannot be compared with poverty rates reported in earlier editions.;World Bank, Poverty and Inequality Platform. Data are based on primary household survey data obtained from government statistical agencies and World Bank country departments. Data for high-income economies are mostly from the Luxembourg Income Study database. For more information and methodology, please see http://pip.worldbank.org.;;The World Bank’s internationally comparable poverty monitoring database now draws on income or detailed consumption data from more than 2000 household surveys across 169 countries. See the Poverty and Inequality Platform (PIP) for details (www.pip.worldbank.org).

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.

DATASET: Alpha version 2008 estimates of proportion of people per grid square living in poverty, as defined by the Multidimensional Poverty Index (http://www.ophi.org.uk/policy/multidimensional-poverty-index/), and associated uncertainty metrics. REGION: Africa SPATIAL RESOLUTION: 0.00833333 decimal degrees (approx 1km at the equator) PROJECTION: Geographic, WGS84 UNITS: Proportion of residents living in MPI-defined poverty (poverty dataset); 95% credible interval (uncertainty dataset) MAPPING APPROACH: Bayesian model-based geostatistics in combination with high resolution gridded spatial covariates applied to GPS-located household survey data on poverty from the DHS and/or LSMS programs. FORMAT: Geotiff (zipped using 7-zip (open access tool): www.7-zip.org) FILENAMES: Examples - ken08povmpi.tif = Kenya (ken) MPI poverty map for 2008. ken08povmpi-uncert.tif = uncertainty dataset showing 95% credible intervals. DATE OF PRODUCTION: January 2013 CITATION: Tatem AJ, Gething PW, Bhatt S, Weiss D and Pezzulo C (2013) Pilot high resolution poverty maps, University of Southampton/Oxford.

Kenya KE: Poverty Headcount Ratio at National Poverty Lines: % of Population data was reported at 36.100 % in 2015. This records a decrease from the previous number of 46.800 % for 2005. Kenya KE: Poverty Headcount Ratio at National Poverty Lines: % of Population data is updated yearly, averaging 41.450 % from Dec 2005 (Median) to 2015, with 2 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 46.800 % in 2005 and a record low of 36.100 % in 2015. Kenya KE: Poverty Headcount Ratio at National Poverty Lines: % of 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.WDI: Poverty. National poverty headcount ratio is the percentage of the population living below the national poverty lines. National estimates are based on population-weighted subgroup estimates from household surveys.; ; World Bank, Global Poverty Working Group. Data are compiled from official government sources or are computed by World Bank staff using national (i.e. country–specific) poverty lines.; ; This series only includes estimates that to the best of our knowledge are reasonably comparable over time for a country. Due to differences in estimation methodologies and poverty lines, estimates should not be compared across countries.

Poverty ratio at $5.5 a day of Kenya slipped by 1.93% from 88.3 % in 2005 to 86.6 % in 2015. Since the 10.89% surge in 1994, poverty ratio at $5.5 a day improved by 2.49% in 2015. Poverty headcount ratio at $5.50 a day is the percentage of the population living on less than $5.50 a day at 2011 international prices. As a result of revisions in PPP exchange rates, poverty rates for individual countries cannot be compared with poverty rates reported in earlier editions.

Kenya Survey Mean Consumption or Income per Capita: Bottom 40% of Population: Annualized Average Growth Rate data was reported at -1.180 % in 2021. Kenya Survey Mean Consumption or Income per Capita: Bottom 40% of Population: Annualized Average Growth Rate data is updated yearly, averaging -1.180 % from Dec 2021 (Median) to 2021, with 1 observations. The data reached an all-time high of -1.180 % in 2021 and a record low of -1.180 % in 2021. Kenya Survey Mean Consumption or Income per Capita: Bottom 40% of Population: Annualized Average Growth Rate 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: Social: Poverty and Inequality. The growth rate in the welfare aggregate of the bottom 40% is computed as the annualized average growth rate in per capita real consumption or income of the bottom 40% of the population in the income distribution in a country from household surveys over a roughly 5-year period. Mean per capita real consumption or income is measured at 2017 Purchasing Power Parity (PPP) using the Poverty and Inequality Platform (http://www.pip.worldbank.org). For some countries means are not reported due to grouped and/or confidential data. The annualized growth rate is computed as (Mean in final year/Mean in initial year)^(1/(Final year - Initial year)) - 1. The reference year is the year in which the underlying household survey data was collected. In cases for which the data collection period bridged two calendar years, the first year in which data were collected is reported. The initial year refers to the nearest survey collected 5 years before the most recent survey available, only surveys collected between 3 and 7 years before the most recent survey are considered. The coverage and quality of the 2017 PPP price data for Iraq and most other North African and Middle Eastern countries were hindered by the exceptional period of instability they faced at the time of the 2017 exercise of the International Comparison Program. See the Poverty and Inequality Platform for detailed explanations.;World Bank, Global Database of Shared Prosperity (GDSP) (http://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/poverty/brief/global-database-of-shared-prosperity).;;The comparability of welfare aggregates (consumption or income) for the chosen years T0 and T1 is assessed for every country. If comparability across the two surveys is a major concern for a country, the selection criteria are re-applied to select the next best survey year(s). Annualized growth rates are calculated between the survey years, using a compound growth formula. The survey years defining the period for which growth rates are calculated and the type of welfare aggregate used to calculate the growth rates are noted in the footnotes.

Kenya Proportion of Population Pushed Below the 60% Median Consumption Poverty Line By Out-of-Pocket Health Expenditure: % data was reported at 1.250 % in 2015. This records a decrease from the previous number of 1.420 % for 2005. Kenya Proportion of Population Pushed Below the 60% Median Consumption Poverty Line By Out-of-Pocket Health Expenditure: % data is updated yearly, averaging 1.335 % from Dec 2005 (Median) to 2015, with 2 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 1.420 % in 2005 and a record low of 1.250 % in 2015. Kenya Proportion of Population Pushed Below the 60% Median Consumption Poverty Line By Out-of-Pocket Health Expenditure: % 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: Social: Poverty and Inequality. This indicator shows the fraction of a country’s population experiencing out-of-pocket health impoverishing expenditures, defined as expenditures without which the household they live in would have been above the 60% median consumption but because of the expenditures is below the poverty line. Out-of-pocket health expenditure is defined as any spending incurred by a household when any member uses a health good or service to receive any type of care (preventive, curative, rehabilitative, long-term or palliative care); provided by any type of provider; for any type of disease, illness or health condition; in any type of setting (outpatient, inpatient, at home).;Global Health Observatory. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2023. (https://www.who.int/data/gho/data/themes/topics/financial-protection);Weighted average;This indicator is related to Sustainable Development Goal 3.8.2 [https://unstats.un.org/sdgs/metadata/].

Kenya Multidimensional Poverty Headcount Ratio: World Bank: % of total population data was reported at 38.500 % in 2021. This records a decrease from the previous number of 45.400 % for 2015. Kenya Multidimensional Poverty Headcount Ratio: World Bank: % of total population data is updated yearly, averaging 41.950 % from Dec 2015 (Median) to 2021, with 2 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 45.400 % in 2015 and a record low of 38.500 % in 2021. Kenya Multidimensional Poverty Headcount Ratio: World Bank: % of total 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.WDI: Social: Poverty and Inequality. The multidimensional poverty headcount ratio (World Bank) is the percentage of a population living in poverty according to the World Bank's Multidimensional Poverty Measure. The Multidimensional Poverty Measure includes three dimensions – monetary poverty, education, and basic infrastructure services – to capture a more complete picture of poverty.;World Bank, Poverty and Inequality Platform. Data are based on primary household survey data obtained from government statistical agencies and World Bank country departments. Data for high-income economies are mostly from the Luxembourg Income Study database. For more information and methodology, please see http://pip.worldbank.org.;;The World Bank’s internationally comparable poverty monitoring database now draws on income or detailed consumption data from more than 2000 household surveys across 169 countries. See the Poverty and Inequality Platform (PIP) for details (www.pip.worldbank.org).

This dataset contains information on County poverty rates estimates which is based on Kenya Integrated Household Budget Survey ( KIHBS) data for Constituencies in 2005/6

This data was used in Chapters 2 and 8 in Nature's Benefits in Kenya: An Atlas of Ecosystems and Human Well-Being in Kenya. Data are downloadable at www.planning.go.ke. Cautions Data set is not for use in litigation. While efforts have been made to ensure that these data are accurate and reliable within the state of the art, WRI, cannot assume liability for any damages, or misrepresentations, caused by any inaccuracies in the data, or as a result of the data to be used on a particular system. WRI makes no warranty, expressed or implied, nor does the fact of distribution constitute such a warranty. Citation Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS), Kenya Ministry of Planning and National Development. 2003. Geographic Dimensions of Well-Being in Kenya, Where are the Poor? From Districts to Locations, Volume 1. Nairobi, Kenya: CBS.

Gathered for the GAFSP Open Data Services activity. This file contains summary statistics of poverty by county. Data collected by the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics with support from the World Bank and published in "Basic Report on Well-Being in Kenya - Based on the 2015/16 Kenya Integrated Household Budget Survey (KIHBS)."