Life in Kenya

What these numbers mean

A newborn in Kenya can expect to live 63.8 years, far below the dataset median of 74.7 years. Infant mortality runs at 34.2 deaths per 1,000 live births (2024), so roughly 34 in every thousand babies do not reach their first birthday. Output per person, adjusted for purchasing power, is $6,650 (2024) — which puts the country in the lower half of the dataset on purchasing power, and it is what sets the scale of every income the simulation can offer. The fertility rate is 3.17 births per woman (2024) — above the replacement level, so a family in the simulation is likely to have several children. 45.5% of the population lives below the national poverty line (2022), so the lower income tiers in the simulation represent a large share of real households. Public spending on education is 4.0% of output (2024), which is the share of national resources the simulation's schooling decisions are competing for. 31.9% of people live in urban areas (2024), so most lives here begin in a village or a small town, and moving is one of the larger decisions available.

In the simulation, income is expressed as a share of what an average worker in Kenya earns, so the same household choice buys very different amounts in different countries. Median output per person across this dataset is $21,026.

Background groups in Kenya

These are the official classifications this country publishes. The simulation applies a difference between them only where a published statistic supports one — it never treats any group as better or worse than another.

• Other Kenyan households
  Basis: Residual category in Kenya census and household surveys · 84% of the population

  The majority category, with outcomes close to the national averages.

  Source: Kenya National Bureau of Statistics; World Bank Poverty & Equity Brief

• Pastoralist and livestock-keeping households
  Basis: Livelihood-based grouping drawn from national survey classifications · 16% of the population

  Pastoralist communities face documented barriers to schooling during dry-season livestock movements, which is reflected in lower completion rates.

  Source: Kenya National Bureau of Statistics; World Bank Poverty & Equity Brief

Where Kenya sits within Sub-Saharan Africa

Of the 48 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa that report life expectancy, Kenya sits below the regional median, at 63.8 years against a regional median of 64.3. 28 countries report a higher figure and 19 report a lower one.

Ranges cover every country in the region that reports the indicator, in the year each country last reported it. Medians are unweighted, so a large country and a small one count the same.