economic survey Stories

Kenya Power adds 134,630 rural users but sees first revenue dip since 2020
Maureen Kinyanjui  |  May 09, 2025

This drop in earnings from rural power use marks the first such decline since the financial year ending June 2020, when electricity sales dropped by S...

Kenya’s trade deficit narrows by Sh10bn in 2024 as export growth outpaces imports
Alfred Onyango  |  May 09, 2025

Earnings from re-exports grew by 77.3 per cent to Sh180.2 billion in 2024, primarily due to increased re-exports of kerosene-type jet fuel.

Roads take lead again as state boosts budget to Sh171.9 billion in infrastructure push
Maureen Kinyanjui  |  May 09, 2025

The survey reveals that most of the funds have been channelled toward improving trunk and primary roads, upgrading secondary and minor roads, and main...

Kenya’s health budget to rise by Sh14bn as govt boosts access and infrastructure
Lucy Mumbi  |  May 09, 2025

This marks a 13.5 per cent increase from the Sh107.52 billion allocated in the 2023/24 financial year.

Education spending to fall despite rising enrolment, more schools
Lucy Mumbi  |  May 08, 2025

Total funding for the education sector is expected to fall from Sh601.5 billion in 2023/24 to Sh594.2 billion in 2024/25, representing a 1.2 per cent...

International firms, hospitality, finance sectors lead Kenya’s top payers
Alfred Onyango  |  May 08, 2025

In the public sector, the hospitality sector, emerged as the highest-paying, with an employee earning an average annual wage of Sh2.9 million in 2024.

Somalis, South Sudanese lead in refugee population in Kenya as numbers surge to over 800,000
Lucy Mumbi  |  May 08, 2025

The number of refugees and asylum seekers rose by 19.1 per cent to 823,932 in 2024, highlighting the country’s growing role as a regional safe haven.

Kenya records more male births than female for tenth straight year
Maureen Kinyanjui  |  May 07, 2025

The Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) reported a sex ratio of 106 male births for every 100 female births in 2024, marking the highest male-t...

Confusion over President Ruto’s 250,000 housing jobs as sector shrinks
Maureen Kinyanjui  |  May 07, 2025

According to the 2025 Economic Survey, private construction firms shed 2,900 jobs, reducing the number of people they employ from 226,300 in 2023 to 2...

Respiratory illnesses, malaria lead hospital visits in Kenya
Maureen Kinyanjui  |  May 07, 2025

Chest-related illnesses made up the largest share of cases reported in outpatient departments last year, contributing 30.2 per cent of the total 66.2...

High interest rates, poor weather hold back Kenya’s economic progress
Maureen Kinyanjui  |  May 07, 2025

Even though large investments were made in the farming sector, its growth dropped to 4.4 percent in 2024 from 7.7 percent the previous year.

Kenya records sharp rise in drug busts, firearm recoveries decline - KNBS
Bashir Mbuthia  |  May 07, 2025

The quantity of drugs seized has generally been rising since 2020, when 10,909 kilogrammes were recovered.

Nairobi records highest number of crimes as cases drop nationally- KNBS
Bashir Mbuthia  |  May 07, 2025

The report shows that 9,717 crimes were reported in the Nairobi precinct, a decline from 11,108 in 2023. Kiambu and Meru Police Command Stations ranke...

Over 66,000 textile jobs at risk as AGOA trade deal nears expiry
Maureen Kinyanjui  |  May 07, 2025

This job growth marked a strong recovery after the sector lost over 8,200 jobs in 2023. Employment had dropped by 12.46 per cent from 66,260 in 2022 d...

Nairobi leads in teen pregnancies as cases drop nationally to 241,228 in 2024
Maureen Kinyanjui  |  May 07, 2025

Older teens aged 15 to 19 registered 231,102 cases, showing a 4.3 per cent decline. These figures offer hope that ongoing efforts to address teenage p...

Funding gap leaves over 300,000 students without HELB loans
Maureen Kinyanjui  |  May 07, 2025

According to KNBS, out of the 324,828 applicants who were not successful, 292,751 were students from public universities, 12,159 were from private uni...

Kenyans ditch international SMS for online messaging- KNBS
Margaret Wanjiru  |  May 06, 2025

The Economic Survey 2025 reveals that domestic SMS traffic rose by 4.4 per cent, from 52.4 billion messages in 2023 to 54.7 billion in 2024.

Kenya’s economic output rises 8 per cent to hit Sh16.22 trillion in 2024
Alfred Onyango  |  May 06, 2025

This is from Sh15.03 trillion in 2023, representing an eight per cent year-on-year growth.

Kenya's small businesses hope for a better 2025 after struggling in 2024
Alfred Onyango  |  Dec 29, 2024

The Institute of Economic Affairs growth will remain moderate and uneven in the coming year unless significant structural reforms are implemented.

600,000 Kenyans abandon mobile money services - economic survey
Barack Oduor  |  May 20, 2024

The drop represents a decrease of 1.55 per cent in Kenya's mobile money subscriptions.

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