Narok County

Introduction

Narok County had a total population of 1,320,000 in 2024. According to the 2019 census, the county had 1,157,873 people and 241,125 households. The average household size in Narok County in 2019 was 4.8 people per household.

Narok had a total land area of 17,950.3 square kilometres and a population density of 65 people per square kilometre. 

Narok County is bordered to the North by Nakuru, the East by Kajiado, the South by Tanzania, and the West by Migori, Kisii, and Bomet.

Kajiado has seven sub-counties: Narok East, Narok North, Narok South, Narok West, Trans Mara East, Trans Mara West, and Mau Forest.

Narok County Economy

Narok County's average Gross County Product at current prices was Ksh 217.1 billion between 2018 and 2022, representing a five-year average country contribution to Gross Value Added of 1.7%.

Narok County's average contribution to agriculture, forestry, and fishing activities within the same period was 3.5%. In comparison, its contribution to manufacturing activities was 1%. Narok County also contributed 1.3% to service activities between 2018 and 2022 on average.

Narok County had a Gross County Product per capita of Ksh 173,883 in 2022.

Poverty Rates

The overall headcount poverty rate of Narok County in 2021 was 21.9%, with an estimated 276,000 people living in poverty. The national poverty rate in the same period was 38.6%.

In 2021, Narok's food poverty rate was 27.9%, lower than the national rate of 30.5%. This represents an estimated 352,000 people living in food poverty.

The estimated number of people living in hardcore poverty in Narok was 12,000 in 2021, with the county having a hardcore poverty rate of 1%. The country's hardcore poverty rate was 5.8% in 2021.

The map below shows the poverty rates by constituency in Narok County in 2019. Emurua Dikirr had a poverty rate of 16.1%, Kilgoris 16.8%, Narok East 13.3%, Narok North 18%, Narok South 14.9%, and Narok West 35.8%.

The mean monthly food and non-food expenditure in Narok County was Ksh 3,035 in 2021 and Ksh 3,283 in 2021, with 52.5% of expenditures going toward food and 47.4% going toward non-food expenditures. 

The major sources of household food consumption in Narok County were 79.1% purchase of stock, 15% own production, and 6% gifts.

The mean and median per adult equivalent consumption expenditure in Narok County in 2021 were Ksh 6,318 and Ksh 5,246, respectively. 

Narok County Demographics

Narok County had a total population of 1,157,873 people in 2019, consisting of 579,042 males, 578,805 females, and 26 intersex. Narok had a median age of 14 years in 2019.

The table below shows the distribution of the population in Narok County by Sex and sub-county.

Marital Status

The percentage distribution of women aged 12 and above in Narok County who were never married in 2019 was 33.9%, while those who were in monogamous marriages were 47.6%. Those married polygamously in the county was 11.2%, and the widowed were 3.4%. The county's share of divorced and separated was 0.6% and 1.2%, respectively.

Among men aged 12 and above in Narok County, the never married in 2019 was 49.1%, while those who married monogamously were 42.7%. The share of men married polygamously in Narok was 6.7%, with 0.3% being widowed, 0.3% divorced, and 0.6% separated.

According to the 2022 Kenya Demographic and Health Survey, the median age at first marriage among women aged 20-49 in Narok County was 19.1 years. Among women aged 25-49 years in Narok, the median age at first marriage was 18.5 years.

In men aged 30-54, the median age at first marriage in Narok was 25.7 years in 2022.

Polygyny

The distribution of currently married women aged 15-49 in Narok County who had one or more co-wives in 2022 was 18.2%. Those with one co-wife were 15.2%, while those with more than two co-wives were 2.9%. The share of women without co-wives was 79.9%.

Among men aged 15-49 in Narok County, the percentage distribution with more than two wives was 8.5%, while those with a single wife was 91.5%.

Marriage Registration

The percentage of currently married women in Narok County aged 15-49 whose marriage was registered with civil authorities in 2022 was 12.9%. Those whose marriage was registered with civil authorities and had a marriage certificate were 10.6%.

Teenage Marriages

The proportion of married males aged 12-15 in Narok County was 5.4% in 2019. The proportion of married females of the same age group in 2019 was 5.9%. However, among women aged 12-18, the proportion that was married was 9.9%.

According to the 2022 KDHS, the percentage of teenage pregnancies in Narok County, consisting of women aged 15-19 who have ever been pregnant, was 28.1%.

Total Fertility Rate

Narok County had a Total Fertility Rate (TFR) of 4.6 births in 2019, a 26.7% decline from 6.3 births in 2009. Kenya’s total fertility rate in the same year was 3.4 births, a 28.6% decrease from 4.8 births in 2009.

The total fertility rate among the youth aged 15-24 in Narok County was 1.6 births, compared to a national youth TFR of 1 birth per woman in 2019.

Narok County had a Crude Birth Rate of 32.9 births per 1,000 people in 2019, a 36% decline from 51.3 births in 2009. By comparison, Kenya's Crude Birth Rate in 2019 was 27.9 births per 1,000 population, a drop of 27.2% from 38.4 births per 1,000 population in 2009.

Place of Birth and Notification Status

The share of recent births in Narok County that occurred in a health facility in 2019 was 60.6%, while those in a non-health facility were 39.1%. By comparison, the share of recent births in Kenya that occurred in a health facility in 2019 was 85.8%, while those that occurred in a non-health facility were 14%.

The share of recent births in Narok County that were notified in 2019 was 79.9%, while those that were not notified were 19.7%. In Kenya, the share of notified recent births was 90.4%, while non-notified births were 9.3%.

Place of Death and Notification Status

In 2019, 57% of deaths in Narok County occurred in a health facility, while 41.7% occurred in the community. In Kenya, 59% of deaths in 2019 occurred in a health facility, while 40% did not occur in a health facility.

The share of deaths in Narok County that were notified in 2019 was 78%. Overall, the share of deaths that were notified in Kenya in 2019 was 85.6%.

Narok County had a Crude Death Rate (CDR) of 14.1 deaths per 1,000 population in 2019. Overall, Kenya had a Crude Death Rate of 10.5%.

Religious Affiliation

Most residents of Narok County are Protestants 417,457, followed by members of Evangelical Churches 350,885, and Catholics 152,607.

Development

The Rural Access Index (RAI) in Narok County was 36%, representing the percentage of the population living within two kilometres of an all-weather road in 2019.

1. Household access to electricity in Narok County was 19.9% in 2019, up from 5.9% in 2009.
2. Household access to improved sanitation in Narok County was 60.6% in 2019, up from 36.7% in 2009.
3. Household access to safe drinking water in Narok County was 30% in 2019, up from 21.4% in 2009.
4. Narok had 20% of its public primary schools connected to electricity, ranking 45^th nationally in 2019.

The share of the population in Narok County owning mobile phones in 2019 was 34.30%. Among women, 67.1% owned any type of mobile phone in Narok County in 2022, while 26.5% owned a smartphone.

Among men, 84.9% in Narok owned any kind of mobile phone in 2022, while 44.4% owned a smartphone. The percentage of men and women who had used a mobile phone for financial transactions in the year preceding the 2022 KDHS survey was 84.8% and 70.6%, respectively.

See Also

1. Kajiado County
2. Nakuru County
3. Samburu County

References

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19. Commission on Revenue Allocation. (2022). Kenya County Factsheet (3rd ed., p. 120).