This archive report was first published on 4 November 2019.
Kenya's population has grown significantly over the last decade, reaching 47.6 million people as of this year, an increase of 9.9 million from the previous decade.
According to the 2019 Kenya Population and Housing Census results, the total population enumerated during the census exercise conducted in August this year was 47,564,296 persons.
The census report, presented to President Uhuru Kenyatta at State House Nairobi, shows that the female population accounts for 50.5 percent of the total population, with 24,014,716 females, while the male population is 23,548,056 persons.
The most populous county in the country is Nairobi, with a population of 4.4 million people, followed by Kiambu (2.4 million), Nakuru (2.16 million), Kakamega (1.87 million), and Bungoma (1.67 million).
On the other hand, the least populous counties are Lamu (143,920), Isiolo (268,002), Samburu (310,321), Tana River (315,943), and Taita Taveta (340,671).
Speaking at the launch of the census report, President Kenyatta emphasized the importance of the findings in guiding the planning and implementation of government development initiatives, including the Big Four Agenda programmes.
He directed the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) to release other census reports as scheduled and urged all arms of government to utilize the results in their planning processes.
“These results now provide us with a unique opportunity to realign our development strategies, policies, and programmes,” the President said.
The 2019 census was the first to be conducted under the 2010 constitution and the first to fully deploy technology in the exercise, with mobile devices assembled by local universities and data capture software developed internally by the KNBS.
