Life expectancy in Kenya steady with six million hitting 78 years
By Samuel Kariuki, March 12, 2025The number of Kenyans above 64 years has hit six million as the country continues to experience improved life expectancy from an average of 67 years in 2021 to the current 78 years.
Women continue to live longer than men with their life expectancy increasing from 69 years in 2021 to 80 in 2024 while that of their male counterparts also rose from 64 to 75 years during the same period.
National Council for Population and Development (NCPD) has attributed the growth to policies that Kenya has implemented aiming to integrate population factors into development planning.
World Health Organisation (WHO) data showed that as of 2023, Kenya’s population was 55,339,003 and is projected to increase by 51 per cent to 83,593,239 by 2050.
The global health body indicated that in 2023, Kenyans of over 65 years were 3.8 per cent of the population, children of up to 14 years were 19.4 per cent while those between 15 to 64 years were the majority with 76.8 per cent.
According to the NCPD, investment in programmes in key sectors like education, security and health has enabled Kenya to attain a high quality of life for the population.
“Through these policies, the country has registered a notable achievement, including improved life expectancy, reduction in fertility, mortality, and population growth,” NCPD Director General Mohamed Sheikh said.
NCPD data shows that Kenya experienced a decline in fertility from five children per woman in 2003 to four children in 2014, which it attributed to the increase in contraceptive use, whose prevalence rose from 39.3 per cent of married women in 2003 to 58 per cent in 2014.
The Council explained that the effect of increased contraceptive use and decline in fertility was the decline in population growth rate from 2.9 percent to 2.2 percent between 2009 and 2019, respectively.
However, Sheikh, who spoke during the inaugural Population and Development Conference yesterday, said that the improvement in contraceptive uptake and the subsequent decline in fertility rate has changed the population structure.
He said that the government should not focus much on controlling the numbers, but to improve the livelihood of the people to ensure they live a quality life.
“The proportion of children being born is declining, the number of working age population is increasing, and with an increase in life expectancy the number of elderly people is also increasing. The country therefore must respond with the appropriate policy and programmes,” he emphasized.
Sheikh noted that there is a growing concern in Kenya over the increase in aging population, youth unemployment, migration, urbanization, humanitarian crisis, climate changes, conflicts, decrease in financing and funding cuts for the population programmes which could roll back the gains made in providing quality life to Kenyans.
“The youth, who are 75 per cent of population, are below the age of 35 years and this population will continue to exist for the next 50 years. When we go to independence, elderly persons above the age of 64 years were only 200,000. Today we are talking about almost six million people and the next few years, that population also increased,” he said.
“So we may have a combination of a very youthful population, a child-based population, but at the same time an elderly population. That’s why focusing on human capital presently is very important.”
The DG said the three-day conference will provide a dynamic forum for stakeholders to explore key population and development challenges as the country navigates future population dynamics.
“It’s also an opportunity to identify alternative financial resources for the implementation of the policies in view of the dwindling financial support, particularly from the development partners,” he emphasized.
Among the priority areas that the stakeholders will brainstorm on are: the intersections between population trends and sustainable development, fertility, maternal and sexual reproductive health to address family planning, healthcare, migration, climate change, urbanization and population data.
Public Service Principal Secretary Amos Gathecha pointed out that the population growth should be matched with proper planning to deflate pressure exacted on natural resources, social services, housing and infrastructure.
“Rapid growing population is also likely to hinder human capital development and overall development by straining resources allocated towards provision essential services such as education and healthcare, leading to lower quality education, less access to health care, and ultimately limiting the potential of the workforce,” Gathecha said
“This is likely to result in a vicious cycle where we have a less skilled population which is struggling to contribute to economic growth further exacerbating development challenges.”
To ensure that a growing population translates into a productive workforce to economic growth, the PS said that the government is enhancing access to quality education, including vocational training programs tailored to meet the various market demands.
“People are the most dynamic resource among all the resources of an organization. We need to strategically invest in our population to achieve high levels of knowledge, skills, competencies and abilities. A more knowledgeable manpower is critical for both domestic and external markets,” PS Gathecha noted.