10 Richest, 10 Poorest Counties in Kenya

A new report released by the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) has ranked the richest and poorest counties in Kenya.

In the report, Nairobi has been ranked as the county with the lowest share of poor population, with only 17 people in every 100 living in poverty. Following closely is Nyeri and Meru with 19 each, while Kirinyaga (22) and Narok (23) close the list of top five richest counties.

In the counties of Kiambu and Machakos, 23 in every 100 residents are poor, while Tharaka-Nithi, Murang’a and Mombasa make it to the ten rich list with 24,25 and 27 persons in 100 struggling with life respectively.

On the other hand, Turkana was named the poorest county, with more than 79 in every 100 of its residents living in poverty. Mandera (78), Samburu (76), Busia (69) and Garissa (66) close the list of top five poorest counties.

Marsabit (63.7), Wajir (62.6), Tana River (62.6), West Pokot (57.4) and Isiolo (51.9) also fall in the 10 poorest counties, with residents struggling to meet basic needs.

Kenya National Bureau of Statistic's report defines households living in poverty as ones earning a monthly salary of less than Sh3,252 in rural areas and Sh5,995 per month in major urban centres.

The report further indicates that 16.4 million Kenyans lived in poverty in the year ended June 2016, a significant drop from 16.6 million persons 10 years ago.

“The overall national poverty headcount rate (proportion of poor individuals) dropped from 46.6 per cent in 2005/06 to 36.1 per cent in 2015/16,” the KNBS survey based on feedback from 24,000 households established.