Demographics of Kenya

The Demographics of Kenya is monitored by the Kenyan National Bureau of Statistics. Kenya is a multi-ethnic state in East Africa. Its total population was at 47,558,296 as of the 2019 census.
A national census was conducted in 1999, although the results were never released. A new census was undertaken in 2009, but turned out to be controversial, as the questions about ethnic affiliation seemed inappropriate after the ethnic violence of the previous year. Preliminary results of the census were published in 2010.
Kenya's population was reported as 47.6 million during the 2019 census compared to 38.6 million inhabitants 2009, 30.7 million in 1999, 21.4 million in 1989, and 15.3 million in 1979. This was an increase of a factor of 2.5 over 30 years, or an average growth rate of more than 3 percent per year. The population growth rate has been reported as reduced during the 2000s, and was estimated at 2.7 percent, resulting in an estimate of 46.5 million in 2016. As of 2024 Kenya has 770,255 refugees and asylum seekers.

Population

According to, the total population was in compared to 6,077,000 in 1950, and around 1,700,000 in 1900. The proportion of children below the age of 15 in 2010 was 42.5%, 54.9% between the ages of 15 and 65, and 2.7% was 65 years or older. Worldometers estimates the total population at 48,466,928 inhabitants, a 29th global rank.
Population by Sex and Age Group :

Age group	Male	Female	Total	%
Total	19 192 458	19 417 639	38 610 097	100
0–4	3 000 439	2 938 867	5 939 306	15.38
5–9	2 832 669	2 765 047	5 597 716	14.50
10–14	2 565 313	2 469 542	5 034 855	13.04
15–19	2 123 653	2 045 890	4 169 543	10.80
20–24	1 754 105	2 020 998	3 775 103	9.78
25–29	1 529 116	1 672 110	3 201 226	8.29
30–34	1 257 035	1 262 471	2 519 506	6.53
35–39	1 004 361	1 004 271	2 008 632	5.20
40–44	743 594	732 575	1 476 169	3.82
45–49	635 276	637 469	1 272 745	3.30
50–54	478 346	477 860	956 206	2.48
55–59	359 466	352 497	711 953	1.84
60–64	295 197	298 581	593 778	1.54
65-69	183 151	207 612	390 763	1.01
70-74	160 301	179 000	339 301	0.88
75-79	99 833	118 675	218 508	0.57
80+	159 125	224 576	383 701	0.99
Age group	Male	Female	Total	Percent
0–14	8 398 421	8 173 456	16 571 877	42.92
15–64	10 191 627	10 514 320	20 705 947	53.63
65+	602 410	729 863	1 332 273	3.45
Unknown	11 478	9 608	21 086	0.05

Population by Sex and Age Group :

Age group	Male	Female	Total	%
Total	23 544 372	24 011 270	47 557 157	100
0–4	3 005 496	2 985 484	5 991 128	12.60
5–9	3 116 101	3 084 445	6 200 719	13.04
10–14	3 209 544	3 136 149	6 345 864	13.34
15–19	2 686 476	2 599 905	5 286 535	11.12
20–24	2 112 777	2 335 052	4 448 037	9.35
25–29	1 839 256	2 014 546	3 853 955	8.10
30–34	1 698 354	1 871 625	3 570 133	7.51
35–39	1 347 962	1 301 624	2 649 679	5.57
40–44	1 156 932	1 101 867	2 258 861	4.75
45–49	916 166	869 740	1 785 957	3.76
50–54	662 864	645 463	1 308 371	2.75
55–59	546 852	571 000	1 117 878	2.35
60–64	419 362	450 447	869 837	1.83
65-69	311 281	346 756	658 052	1.38
70-74	235 929	278 507	514 453	1.08
75-79	119 265	163 799	283 071	0.60
80-84	82 909	120 944	203 856	0.43
85-89	43 948	69 635	113 587	0.24
90-94	19 225	35 866	55 095	0.12
95-99	9 768	18 233	28 001	0.06
100+	3 905	10 183	14 088	0.03
Age group	Male	Female	Total	Percent
0–14	9 331 141	9 206 078	18 537 711	38.98
15–64	13 387 001	13 761 269	27 149 243	57.09
65+	826 230	1 043 923	1 870 203	3.93

Population by province in 2019 census

Province	2019
Kenya	47,564,296
Nairobi	4,397,073
Central	5,482,239
Coast	4,329,474
Eastern	6,821,049
North Eastern	2,490,073
Nyanza	6,269,579
Rift Valley	12,752,966
Western	5,021,843

UN population projections

Numbers are in thousands. UN medium variant projections

2015 46,332
2020 52,563
2025 59,054
2030 65,928
2035 73,257
2040 80,975
2045 88,907
2050 96,887
Vital statistics

United Nations estimates

Registration of vital events is in Kenya not complete. The Population Department of the United Nations prepared the following estimates.

Demographic and Health Surveys

Total Fertility Rate and Crude Birth Rate :
Fertility data as of 2014 :

Region	Total fertility rate	Percentage of women age 15–49 currently pregnant	Mean number of children ever born to women age 40–49
Coast	4.3	6.6	5.5
North Eastern	6.4	12.0	7.1
Eastern	3.4	4.6	4.7
Central	2.8	4.8	3.7
Rift Valley	4.5	7.0	5.5
Western	4.7	6.7	6.1
Nyanza	4.3	5.9	5.8
Nairobi	2.7	6.8	3.1

Ethnic groups

Kenya has a very diverse population that includes most major ethnic, racial and linguistic groups found in Africa. Bantu, Cushitic and Nilotic populations together constitute around 99% of the nation's inhabitants. People from Asian or European heritage living in Kenya are estimated at around 0.3% of the population.
Bantus are the single largest population division in Kenya. Most Bantu are farmers. Some of the prominent Bantu groups in Kenya include the Kikuyu, the Kamba, the Luhya, the Kisii, the Meru, and the Mijikenda.
In Kenya's last colonial census of 1962, population groups residing in the territory included European, African and Asian individuals. According to the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics, Kenya had a population of 47,564,296 by 2019. The largest native ethnic groups were the Kikuyu, Luhya, Kalenjin, Luo, Kamba, Somalis, Kisii, Mijikenda, Meru, Maasai, and Turkana. Foreign-rooted populations included Asians, Europeans with Kenyan citizenship, 26,753 without, and Kenyan Arabs. The number of ethnic categories and sub-categories recorded in the census has changed significantly over time, expanding from 42 in 1969 to more than 120 in 2019.

Bantu peoples

Bantus are the single largest population division in Kenya. The term Bantu denotes widely dispersed but related peoples that speak south-central Niger–Congo languages. Originally from Cameroon-Nigeria border regions, Bantus began a millennium-long series of migrations referred to as the Bantu expansion that first brought them south into East Africa about 2,000 years ago.
Most Bantu are farmers. Some of the prominent Bantu groups in Kenya include the Kikuyu, the Kamba, the Luhya, the Kisii, the Meru, and the Mijikenda. The Swahili people are descended from Wangozi Bantu peoples that intermarried with Arab immigrants.
The Kikuyu, who are one of the biggest tribes in Kenya, seem to have assimilated a significant number of Cushitic speakers. Evidence from their Y DNA shows that 18% of Kikuyu carry the E1b1b Y DNA.

Nilotic peoples

Nilotes are the second-largest group of peoples in Kenya. They speak Nilo-Saharan languages and went south into East Africa from Western Asia and North Africa by way of South Sudan. Most Nilotes in Kenya are historically pastoralists. The Nilotes are divided into the river lake Nilotes and the highland nilotes. These divisions are related to where they occupied after they relocated to Kenya. Where the Luo are affiliated with the river lake occupancy as they can be found near Lake Victoria. The Kalenjin along others are affiliated with the highland occupancy as they are found around the highland areas of the country. The most prominent of these groups include the Luo, the Maasai, the Samburu, the Iteso, the Turkana, and the Kalenjin. Similar to the Bantu, some Nilotic systems of governance bear similarities with those of their Cushitic neighbors.