Nairobi is a city of migrants, with nearly half its population born outside the county. Nairobi offers numerous opportunities for jobs, education, and higher incomes, which attracts migrants from all other counties. In 2019, Nairobi had a migration rate of 455 people per 1,000.
Almost half of the population in Nairobi was born elsewhere
Lifetime migration is the movement of people in and out of a county at any point between their birth and the time of the census. In 2019, it was found that 2,569,222 people living in Nairobi had migrated from other counties. In the same period, 570,480 people born in Nairobi had left for other counties.[1]
Nairobi, therefore, had an in-migration of 2,569,222 and an out-migration of 570,480. Nairobi's net migration – arrived by subtracting out-migration from in-migration, was 1,998,742.
Overall, 455 people out of every 1,000 living in Nairobi City were born elsewhere. Mombasa had the second-highest migrants, with 354 per 1000 people moving in from elsewhere. Kajiado and Kiambu also had high migrant flows, with 344 and 226 people per 1000, respectively, being migrants from other counties.
Are people starting to move out of Nairobi?
Despite having the highest number of migrants, Nairobi faces numerous challenges that may push residents to move elsewhere. For instance, it has the highest population density in the country but with limited social amenities to cater to the incoming population. As a result, Nairobi had a lifetime out-migration of 570,480 people in 2019. These people were born in Nairobi but left for other counties.
However, recent migration data reveals that the trend of migrating out of Nairobi is a new phenomenon. Recent migration in or out of a county is defined as migration one year before the census.
In Nairobi, out of the 570,480 lifetime migrants, 411,790 or 72.2%, moved out within a year of the census.
Migration into Nairobi is diverse, with people from all counties coming in at different rates.
Nairobi is home to people from all counties. However, migrants are more likely to come from some counties than others. Looking at recent migratory patterns, 49,539 people from Kakamega County moved into Nairobi a year before the census. Additionally, 44,364 people were from Machakos, 37,618 from Kiambu, 34,421 from Kitui, 34,375 from Murang'a, and 32,813 from Kisii. The chart below shows recent migratory flows into Nairobi.
Most recent migrants in Nairobi have attained a more than primary education.
The chart below shows the education attainment of recent migrants in Nairobi County. A majority had attained a secondary education as their highest verifiable level of education at 237,764, followed by those with a primary education at 203,009. In addition, 127,775 had a tertiary education.
Some migrants in Nairobi had pursued informal education and were 15,958, while 65,287 had no education.
See Also
References
[1] 2019 Kenya Population and Housing Census: Analytical report on migration. Vol. VIII.
