Health spending lags as counties set budgets, education takes priority
Kenya’s health spending averaged just 1.9% of GDP from 2018/19 to 2022/23, dropping to 1.4%, while education met UNESCO benchmarks. Counties set health priorities but budgets remain limited.
Counties independently allocate their health budgets according to local priorities, while both national and county governments jointly own more than half of all health facilities.
Despite this, government spending on health has remained low, averaging 1.9 per cent of GDP between 2018/19 and 2022/23, before dropping further to 1.4 per cent in 2022/23.
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By contrast, education receives higher priority, accounting for an average of 17.9 per cent of total government expenditure—or about 4.8 per cent of GDP—meeting UNESCO benchmarks. Its share of GDP declined in preceding years but saw a slight recovery in 2022/23.
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