Report: Divorced women the most addicted to phone usage
By Samuel Kariuki, August 13, 2025Divorced and separated women living in urban areas, between the ages of 35 and 44 years, and with higher education, are the most addicted to mobile phone use, a new report has shown.
The number of separated and divorced women who use mobile phones frequently increased from 89.4 per cent and 84.5 per cent in 2019 to 94.2 per cent and 93.2 per cent respectively in 2024.
The report by the Communications Authority of Kenya (CA) on current trends on mobile phone use and ownership showed that mobile phone ownership at the national level increased to 53.7 per cent in 2023/2024 from 47.3 per cent in 2019, meaning that about six in every 10 Kenyans currently possess a phone.
Dubbed the 2023/24 Analytical Report on ICT, the document showed that the ownership of the gadgets in urban areas increased to 64.6 per cent, while in rural areas it increased to 48.6 per cent from 40.5 per cent.
Equitable access
Nine in every 10 Kenyans aged between 35 and 44 years own the highest number of phones at 89.8 per cent than any other age group
However, among Kenyan males, those aged between 25 and 34 owned the majority of phones at 90.5 per cent, compared to women, in the age group between 35 and 44 years at 89.5 per cent.
“Usage increased among youth and young adults, with 69.2 per cent of those aged 15–24 using mobile phones. This rate rose to over 93 per cent in the age groups 25–34, 35–44, and 45–54, representing the peak age bands for mobile phone use. Gender differences were minimal in these working-age groups, indicating widespread and equitable access to mobile technology among men and women,” CA said in the report.
And the proportion of the population in monogamous marriages reported mobile phone ownership at 89.1 per cent. Males in monogamous marriages reported mobile phone ownership at 91.6 per cent, while females who had separated and those who were divorced had higher ownership at 89.5 per cent and 87.8 per cent, respectively.
Interestingly, males (62 per cent) and females (57.8 per cent) who have never married reported the lowest mobile phone ownership.
Between 2019 and 2024, there was a slight difference on mobile ownership among both genders, with males owning the highest number of gadgets at 54.5 per cent compared to females at 52.9 per cent.
“The mobile phone ownership was different across urban and rural areas, with females in urban areas reporting 63.7 per cent against their rural counterparts at 47.9 per cent,” the report shows.
Among counties, Nairobi was in the lead after recording the highest proportion of population that own mobile phones at 67.7 per cent followed by Kirinyaga (65 per cent) and Nyandarua (63.9%) counties.
It was a different case for the three countries of West Pokot, Turkana and Marsabit with lowest mobile phone ownership.
West Pokot County reported the least mobile phone ownership at 29 per cent, with Turkana (29.4%) and Marsabit (34.8%) counties coming second and third last, respectively.
At the national level, data showed that mobile phone ownership among the youth (persons between age 18 and 34 years) was 81.5 per cent, with males (82.4 per cent) recording higher ownership than females (80.7 per cent).
Ownership among males (91.4 per cent) in urban areas was higher than in rural areas (75.8 per cent), with a similar trend noted among females in urban (90.9 per cent) and rural (74.6 per cent) areas.
“Nationally, the proportion of the youth who owned mobile phones was 81.5 per cent. Nairobi City County took the lead at 93.5 per cent, followed closely by Kiambu (92 per cent) and Laikipia (89.8 per cent) counties. West Pokot County came last at 52.1 per cent, with Turkana (53.3 per cent) and Marsabit (62.1 per cent) counties falling in second and third last positions, respectively,” the government statistics showed.
Additionally, data showed that mobile phone use among children between the age of three and 14 is still relatively low 13.6 per cent and ownership of the gadgets has been declining for the last four years among minors in this age.
Hearing challenges
The usage stood at 19.8 per cent for ages five to nine, and 27.6 per cent for ages 10 to 14.
“Minimal disparities were observed in these age brackets, with females slightly more likely to have used mobile phones in the youngest age group at 13.7 per cent compared to 13.5 per cent for boys.
On the other hand, males led in the 10–14 age range at 29 per cent compared 26.3 per cent among girls.
For people living with disabilities, mobile phone ownership was highest among the population that reported having mobility challenges at 69.7 per cent, with males reporting 66.4 per cent and females 72.1 per cent.
People with hearing and self-care challenges had the least mobile phone ownership at 36.1 per cent and 35.8 per cent, respectively.
“Among males, those with self-care challenges had the lowest mobile phone ownership, while females with hearing challenges had the least mobile phone ownership at 36.0 per cent. For all cases, females had the highest mobile phone ownership compared to their male counterparts, except for hearing,” the report indicated.
CA said that the data was collected across all 47 counties from 7th March to 17th May 2024, where out of the 25,900 households sampled for the survey, 23,166 were found to be eligible.