NAIROBI, Kenya, Oct 28-The principal secretary, state department for economic planning PS James Muhati, officially launched the annual state of world and Kenya population report where he highlighted and addressed key issues regarding the population of Kenya.
The PS noted that Kenya had made tremendous progress in reducing rapid population growth and since 2009 , where the country registered a population size increase with almost one million people per year from 37.7 million in 2009 to 47.6 million in 2019.
The population growth rate had declined from 2.9 per cent per annum, between 1989 and 2009 to 2.3 per cent per annum between 2009 and 2019 and a the fertility level had declined from an average seven(7) children to three (3) children per woman since 1989.
“Kenya has made a tremendous progress in reducing her rapid population growth that was identified by Sessional Paper Number 10 of 1965 on African Socialism and its Application to Planning in Kenya as an impediment for the realization of national development aspirations,” stated PS Muhati.
“Since 2009 Kenya registered impressive improvement in demographic indicators with population size increasing with almost one million people per year from 37.7 million in 2009 to 47.6 million in 2019,” added the PS.
According to the report, Kenya has also registered population growth in youths(18-34) who make up 29 per cent of kenya’s population, from 3, 201, 192 in 1989 to 13,177,600 in 2019 and it is projected to increase upto 18,966,737 by 2035.
Working ages(15-64) has increased from 53 in 2009 to 57 in 2019 percent while that of the elderly has increased from 1,943,715 in 2019 to 2, 740,040 in 2019 accounting to an increase of 5.8 per cent from 5% per cent which he described to be an improvement of the life expectancy among the elderly in Kenya.
“The older persons are the fastest growing population segment in the country as a result of the improvement in the life expectancy that has increased among men from 58 years in 2009 to 61 years in 2019 and for women from 62 years in 2009 to 67 years in 2019,” PS Muhati stated.
The mortality rate in the country has declined and increasing deaths are as a result of Non communicable diseases, accidents and injuries. Between 2020 and November 2022, Kenya recorded 340,431 positive cases of COVID-19 and 5,680 deaths.In 2021 3,138 children aged 0-14 died of AIDS-related illness, where 60 per cent were children below five.
Urbanization has seen the increase of urban centers from 47 in 1969 to 372 in 2023 and has led to increase of urban population where the population is seen to increase from 5.3% in 1948 to 31.2 % representing 14.8 million people in 2019.
Spotlighting the four main cities(Nairobi, Kisumu, Mombasa and Nakuru) The migration of people in those cities has made it difficult to provide infrastructure thus resulting to the emergence of informal settlements where one million people were enumerated during the 2019 population and housing census.
