Turkana County

Introduction

Turkana County had a total population of 1,048,000 people in 2024. According to the Kenya Population and Housing Census, Turkana had a population of 926,976 people in 2019, comprising 164,519 households. The average household size in Turkana County was 5.6 persons per household.

Turkana is the second largest county in Kenya at 68,232.9 square kilometers, after Marsabit County at 70,944.1 square kilometers. The population density of Turkana County in 2019 was 14 people per square kilometer.

Turkana County is bordered to the North by Ethiopia, to the East by Marsabit, to the South East by Samburu, to the South by Baringo, to the South West by West Pokot, to the East by Uganda, and the North West by South Sudan.

Turkana County has seven sub-counties: Kibish, Loima, Turkana Central, Turkana East, Turkana North, Turkana South, and Turkana West.

Turkana County Economy

Turkana County had an average Gross County Product at current prices of Ksh 128.7 billion between 2018 and 2022, representing an average county contribution to Gross Value Added of 1.1%.

The county's average contribution to agriculture, forestry, and fishing activities was 1.5% between 2018 and 2022, while its average contribution to manufacturing activities was 0.3%. Turkana County contributed, on average, 1% to service activities.

Turkana County had a Gross County Product per capita of Ksh 129,040 in 2022.

Poverty Rates

The overall headcount poverty rate in Turkana County was 77.7%, with 743,000 people estimated to live in poverty in 2021. Kenya’s overall poverty rate in 2021 was 38.6%.

Turkana had a hardcore poverty rate of 45.7%, with a total of 436,000 people estimated to live in extreme poverty in 2021. Kenya’s hardcore poverty rate in the same year was 5.8%.

Turkana had a food poverty rate of 63.4%, with a total of 605,000 people estimated to live in food poverty. The national food poverty rate in 2021 was 30.5%.

The map below shows the distribution of poverty by Constituency in Turkana County in 2019: Loima 99.9%, Turkana Central 89.6%, Turkana East 99.9%, Turkana North 99.9%, Turkana South 97.9%, and Turkana West 82.1%.

The mean monthly food and non-food expenditure in Turkana County was Ksh 2,267 and Ksh 1,216, respectively. The share of expenditure on food in the county was 73% in 2021, while the share of non-food expenditure was 27%.

The major sources of household food consumption in Turkana were purchase or stock 77%, Gifts 19.6%, and own production 3.4%.

The mean and median per adult equivalent expenditure in Turkana County were Ksh 3,483 and Ksh 2,629, respectively, in 2021.

Turkana County Demographics

Turkana County's total population was 926,976 in 2019, consisting of 478,087 males, 448,868 females, and 21 intersex. Turkana had a median age of 15 years in 2019.

The table below shows the population distribution by subcounty and sex in 2019.

Marital Status

The percent distribution of women aged 12 and above in Turkana County who were never married in 2019 was 41.3%, while those who were married monogamous was 43.8%. On the other hand, the percentage of women in polygamous unions in Turkana was 5.8%, while those who were widowed were 5.6%. Those divorced and separated in the county were 1% and 1.7%.

In Turkana, the % of men aged 12 and above who were never married in 2019 was 59.1%, while those married in monogamous unions were 33%. The percentage of men in polygamous marriages in Turkana was 4.9%, while those who were widowed were 0.6%. The distribution of the divorced and separated in Turkana was 0.6% and 0.8%, respectively.

According to the Kenya Demographic and Health Survey 2022, the median age at first marriage among women aged 25-49 in Turkana was 20.4 years. The median age at first marriage among men aged 25-54 was 25 years. Among men aged 30-54, the median age at first marriage in Turkana was 25.4 years.

Polygyny

The percentage of married women aged 15-49 in Turkana County who had one or more co-wives in 2022 was 47.6%. Those without any co-wives in the county were 51%. The percentage of women with one co-wife in Turkana was 34.4%, while those with more than two co-wives were 13.2%.

Among men aged 15-49 in Turkana County, the percentage with one wife was 82.1%, while the percentage with more than two wives was 17.9% in 2022.

Marriage Registration

The percentage of married women aged 15-49 in Turkana County whose current marriage is registered with the civil authority in 2022 was 18.2%, while the percentage of women whose marriage is registered with the civil authority and who had a marriage certificate was 18.2%.

Teenage Marriages

The proportion of married males aged 12-15 in Turkana County in 2019 was 4.3%, while the proportion of married females of the same age group was 4.8%. Among females aged 12-18, the proportion that was married in 2019 was 8%.

The rate of teenage pregnancies in Turkana County, consisting of women aged 15-19 who have ever been pregnant, was 18.5% in 2022.

Total Fertility Rate

Turkana County had a Total Fertility Rate of 6.4 births per woman in 2019. Kenya's total fertility rate in the same year was 3.4 births per woman.

The county also had a youth fertility rate of 0.9 births per woman in 2019 compared to a national youth fertility rate of one birth per woman.

Turkana had a Crude Birth Rate of 45.7 births per 1,000 population in 2019, a decline of 10.7% from 51.2 births per 1,000 population in 2009. Overall, Kenya’s Crude Birth Rate in 2019 was 27.9 births per 1,000 population in 2019, a decline of 27.2% from 38.4 births per 1,000 population in 2009.

Place of Birth and Notification Status

The percentage of recent births in Turkana County that occurred in a health facility in 2019 was 54.5%, while those that occurred in non-health facilities were 44.3%. The share of recent births in Kenya occurring in a health facility was 85.8%. In comparison, those that occurred in non-health facilities were 14%.

The share of recent births in Turkana that were notified in 2019 was 69.9%, while those not notified were 29.4%. Nationally, the share of recent births in Kenya that were notified was 90.4%, while those not notified were 9.3%.

Place of Death and Notification Status

In 2019, 39.8% of deaths in Turkana County occurred in a health facility, while 55.4% 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 Turkana County that were notified in 2019 was 47.8%. Overall, the share of deaths that were notified in Kenya in 2019 was 85.6%.

Turkana County had a Crude Death Rate (CDR) of 6.2 deaths per 1,000 population in 2019. Overall, Kenya had a Crude Death Rate of 10.5%.

Religious Affiliation

The majority of residents of Turkana County are Catholic 406,439, followed by Protestant 265,802, and members of Evangelical Churches 87,298.

Development

1. The Rural Access Index (RAI) in Turkana County was 16%, with only a minority of the population living within two kilometers of an all-weather road in 2019.
2. Household access to electricity in Turkana County was 8.8% in 2019, up from 2.4% in 2009.
3. Household access to improved sanitation in Turkana County was 24.3% in 2019, up from 12.2% in 2009.
4. Household access to safe drinking water in Turkana County was 48.2% in 2019, up from 44.3% in 2009.
5. Turkana had 9.1% of its public primary schools connected to electricity, ranking 46^th nationally in 2019.

The share of the population in Turkana County owning mobile phones in 2019 was 16.6%. Among women, 49.9% owned any type of mobile phone in Turkana County in 2022, while 13% owned a smartphone.

Among men, 66.2% in Turkana owned any kind of mobile phone in 2022, while 19.5% 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 63.3% and 41.5%, respectively^.

See Also

1. Marsabit County
2. Samburu County
3. West Pokot County
4. Baringo County  

References

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5. KNBS. (2023). 2023 Gross County Product: Measuring the economic evolution of counties (pp. 8-10).
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18. KNBS. (2019). 2019 Kenya Population and Housing Census: Distribution of population by socioeconomic status (Vol. IV, p. 422).
19. Commission on Revenue Allocation. (2022). Kenya County Factsheet (3rd ed., p. 120).