Kenya is now officially the 7th most populous country in Africa just behind South Africa, according to new population census figures. This means so many things. First, it means that between 2009 and 2019, about 9.9 million people were added to Kenya’s population. Second, it means that there are now more women than men in the country. The results of the national census carried out from Aug. 24 to 31, indicated the country’s population now stands at 47.6 million, up from 37.7 million in 2009.

“These results now provide us with a unique opportunity to realign our development strategies, policies and programmes,’’ Kenyan President, Uhuru Kenyatta said. 

Here Is All You Need To Know

• According to the 2019 Kenya Population and Housing Census results presented to President Uhuru Kenyatta at State House Nairobi, the total population enumerated during the census exercise conducted in August this year was 47,564,296 persons.

More Women, Less Men

• The results indicate that the female population which stands at 24,014,716 accounts for 50.5 percent of the total population while the male population is 23,548,056 persons.

More People Live In Kenya’s Capital Than In Any Other Cities Or Places In Kenya

The 2019 census report, presented to the Head of State by Director General of the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) Zachary Mwangi again shows that Nairobi is the most populous county in the country with a population of 4.4 million people followed by Kiambu (2.4), Nakuru (2.16), Kakamega (1.87) and Bungoma (1.67).

The least populous counties are Lamu(143,920), Isiolo (268,002), Samburu (310,3217), Tana River (315,943) and Taita Taveta (340,671).

How Reliable Is The Figure?

Although this is the first official declaration of Kenya’s population since 2009, there have estimates of the number of people that live in the country from different organisations and agencies. The current figures may however look reliable since apart from being the first census under Kenya’s 2010 Constitution, it was also the first such exercise in the history of Kenya where technology was fully deployed.

“I am proud to note that the mobile devices used in the census were assembled by our local universities and data capture software was internally developed by the Bureau (KNBS),” the President said of the national exercise that was fully funded by the government.

Charles Rapulu Udoh

Charles Rapulu Udoh is a Lagos-based Lawyer with special focus on Business Law, Intellectual Property Rights, Entertainment and Technology Law. He is also an award-winning writer. Working for notable organizations so far has exposed him to some of industry best practices in business, finance strategies, law, dispute resolution, and data analytics both in Nigeria and across the world