This archive report was first published on 20 November 2019.
Published on November 20, 2019, data from the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) revealed that the number of employed Kenyans earning more than Sh100,000 per month rose by 4.1 percent last year to hit 79,982.
According to the data, top earners increased by 3,178 members, with the 4.1 percent growth outpacing all the other income groups whose ranks rose by a range of 0.3 percent to 3.8 percent.
Those earning more than Sh100,000 accounted for 2.89 percent of the 2.70 million formal workers captured in the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) database.
Top income earners include professionals with several years of experience, State officers, managers, and individuals with one or more postgraduate qualifications.
At a minimum of Sh100,000, their pay is nearly six times the gross monthly per capita income of Sh16,833.
However, nearly three quarters or 74.58 percent of formal sector workers earned below Sh50,000, reflecting the income inequality.
The earnings inequality has partly been attributed to the previous centralized system of government, which guided sharing of resources since independence.
The devolved system of government, which took off in 2013, raised hopes of addressing the economic imbalance, as analysts say there is a need to offer incentives to attract private investors to counties and spread wealth.
KRA has consistently questioned data showing a measly 2.8 percent of workers are paid Sh100,000 and above, pointing to a larger share of high-income earners whose lifestyles are not in tandem with the taxes they pay or their declared income.
Men dominate the top wage bracket as they do in other levels, the data shows.
