2009 Census Results Highlights

I attended the release of the much awaited Population & Housing Census 2009 results which was held at KICC on 31/08/2010 and got the following highlights;

The launch was called to order at 10.40 am by the Master of Ceremony Dr. Collins Opiyo, Director for Population & Social Statistics.

After Prayers the Director General of KNBS Mr. A.K.M. Kilele gave the welcoming remarks where he pointed out that the Census was carried out to allow policy makers to carry out evidenced based policy planning. He did point out that his team administered 12 million questionnaires in this exercise to 1.2 million households and that the Publication of the Census results will be done in 4 Volumes. These 4 volumes will offer a more detailed account than the previous census reports.

The Development partners who financed 5% of the Ksh. 8.4 billion Census Budget were represented by representatives from Swedish Embassy, World Bank and UNRC. They were all in praise of KNBS for conducting a census that met the International standards and for being the first in the region to release the results within one year of conducting the census exercise.

The Planning Permanent Secretary, Dr. Edward Sambili who was also a National Census Officer and Chairman of Census committee gave some background information on the Census exercise paving way for Ambassador Francis Muthaura, Head of Public Service and Secretary to the Cabinet who observed that the office of the President was impressed by KNBS and Ministry of Planning for work done well. He did point out that the census results could not have come at a better time than this. This is because it will assist the government in the implementation of the new constitution.

Assistant Minister Peter Kenneth said the 2009 Census had taken several years of preparation and had a 90% participation rate. Plus, the Bureau had produced a Video on the census exercise.

The Minister of State for Planning, National Development & Vision 2030 Hon. Wycliffe A. Oparanya gave a presentation of the 2009 Census Results and Officially Launched the 2009 Census. The highlight of the presentation is that Kenya has a total population of 38,610,097 people.

Planning Minister with a copy of one of the launched census statistics volumes

Dr. Boniface K’Oyugi, the CEO, National Coordinating Agency for Population & Development gave the vote of thanks and the launch came to an end at 01.15 pm.

2009 Census Results in Figures & Numbers 

The total population of Kenya is lower than expected at 38.6 million. The expectation were that we had hit the 40 Million mark! This nevertheless reflects a population increase of over a third in the last ten years, similar to population growth rates of the previous decade.

At this rate of population growth, in order to sustain and continue to develop, the Kenyan economy would have to grow at a rate of more than 10% per annum, placing more pressure on successful implementation on Vision 2030. The country's blue print on economic development to make it a middle level country come the year 2030.

Population by Provinces

Map of Kenya

Province	Male	Female	Total
Nairobi	1,605,230	1,533,139	3,138,369
Central	2,152,983	2,230,760	4,383,743
Coast	1,656,679	1,668,628	3,325,307
Eastern	2,783,347	2,884,776	5,668,123
North Eastern	1,258,648	1,052,109	2,310,757
Nyanza	2,617,734	2,824,977	5,442,711
Rift Valley	5,026,462	4,980,343	10,006,805
Western	2,091,375	2,242,907	4,334,282
Total Population	19,192,458	19,417,639	38,610,097

In addition to the count, there is much social and economic data of the population. 

Only in Nairobi is there a majority of residents connected to sewers, whilst  residents in the vast majority of other regions use pit latrines while some region people still use the bush. But, most people have access to either piped or spring well/ borehole water throughout the country. 

Percentage households by main mode of Human Waste Disposal

	Rural	Urban
Main Sewer	0.2	19.5
Septic Tank	0.5	8.0
Cess Pool	0.1	0.7
VIP Pit Latrine	4.3	5.9
Pit Latrine (Covered/ Uncovered)	74.1	62.5
Bucket	0.1	0.6
Bush	20.7	2.6
Other	0.1	0.2
Total	100	100

Majority of Kenyans still live in rural areas (67%) while 63% of Kenyans have a mobile phone.  Free primary education has significantly boosted the number of students, however, only 19% go on to secondary schools, and out of this only 11% proceed to universities. 

Education

Population, 3 years and above attending school

	Pre-Primary	Primary	Secondary	University
Male	1,150,890	4,838,278	962,887	115,094
Female	1,096,181	4,587,112	833,580	83,025
Total	2,247,071	9,425,390	1,796,467	198,119

Population by tribe was also captured. The five largest tribes in Kenya were unchanged with Kikuyu being (17%), Luyha (14%), Kalejin (13%), Luo (10%), Kamba (10%). The release of tribe apportionment, often used to generate political division, has generated some criticism, but the argument in favour of compiling and releasing the data is that it has many positive, non-political uses.

During the launch it was pointed out that the census information will be used to more equitably address issues of poverty and infrastructure development by region.

Population by county

No.	COUNTY	MALE	FEMALE	TOTAL
1	NAIROBI	1,605,230	1,533,139	3,138,369
2	MOMBASA	486,924	452,446	939,370
3	KWALE	315,997	333,934	649,931
4	KILIFI	535,526	574,209	1,109,735
5	TANA RIVER	119,853	120,222	240,075
6	LAMU	53,045	48,494	101,539
7	TAITA TAVETA	145,334	139,323	284,657
8	GARISSA	334,939	288,121	623,060
9	WAJIR	363,766	298,175	661,941
10	MANDERA	559,943	465,813	1,025,756
11	MARSABIT	151,112	140,054	291,166
12	ISIOLO	73,694	69,600	143,294
13	MERU	670,656	685,645	1,356,301
14	THARAKA	178,451	186,879	365,330
15	EMBU	254,303	261,909	516,212
16	KITUI	481,282	531,427	1,012,709
17	MACHAKOS	543,139	555,445	1,098,584
18	MAKUENI	430,710	453,817	884,527
19	NYANDARUA	292,155	304,113	596,268
20	NYERI	339,725	353,833	693,558
21	KIRINYAGA	260,630	267,424	528,054
22	MURANGA	457,864	484,717	942,581
23	KIAMBU	802,609	820,673	1,623,282
24	TURKANA	445,069	410,330	855,399
25	WEST POKOT	254,827	257,863	512,690
26	SAMBURU	112,007	111,940	223,947
27	TRANS-NZOIA	407,172	411,585	818,757
28	UASIN GISHU	448,994	445,185	894,179
29	ELGEYO MARAKWET	183,738	186,260	369,998
30	NANDI	376,488	376,477	752,965
31	BARINGO	279,081	276,480	555,561
32	LAIKIPIA	198,625	200,602	399,227
33	NAKURU	804,582	798,743	1,603,325
34	NAROK	429,026	421,894	850,920
35	KAJIADO	345,146	342,166	687,312
36	BOMET	359,727	364,459	724,186
37	KERICHO	381,980	376,359	758,339
38	KAKAMEGA	800,989	859,662	1,660,651
39	VIHIGA	262,716	291,906	554,622
40	BUNGOMA	795,595	835,339	1,630,934
41	BUSIA	232,075	256,000	488,075
42	SIAYA	398,652	443,652	842,304
43	KISUMU	474,760	494,149	968,909
44	HOMA BAY	462,454	501,340	963,794
45	MIGORI	499,298	529,281	1,028,579
46	KISII	550,464	601,818	1,152,282
47	NYAMIRA	287,048	311,204	598,252
	TOTAL	19,192,458	19,417,639	38,610,097

Useful Links

1. Kenya National Bureau of Statistics Website
2. Ministry of Planning Website