Kajiado County

Introduction

Kajiado County had a total population of 1,298,000 people in 2024. According to the 2019 census, Kajiado had 1,117,840 people, comprising 316,179 households. The average household size in Kajiado was 3.5 people per household in 2019.

Kajiado County has a total land area of 21,871.1 square kilometres and had a population density of 51 people per square kilometre in 2019.

Kajiado County is bordered to the North by Nairobi and Kiambu, to the North East by Machakos County, to the East by Makueni County, to the South East by Taita Taveta, to the South by Tanzania, to the West by Narok, and the North West by Nakuru County.

Kajiado County has six sub-counties: Isinya, Kajiado North, Kajiado Central, Kajiado West, Loitokitok, and Mashuuru.

Kajiado County Economy

Kajiado County had an average Gross County Product at current prices of Ksh 187.4 billion between 2018 and 2022, reflecting an average contribution to Gross Value Added of 1.5%.

Kajiado County's average contribution to agriculture, forestry, and fishing activities was 0.7%, while its average contribution to manufacturing activities was 1%. The county's average contribution to service activities between 2018 and 2022 was 1.8%.

Kajiado County had a Gross Conty Product per capita of Ksh 151,330.

Poverty Rates

Kajiado had an overall headcount poverty rate of 39.3% in 2021, representing an estimated 470,000 people living in poverty. This was slightly higher than Kenya’s overall poverty rate of 38.6% in the same year.

Kajiado County had a hardcore poverty rate of 1.3%, with an estimated 16,000 people living in extreme poverty. In Kenya, the estimated hardcore poverty rate in the same period was 5.8%.

The estimated food poverty rate in Kajiado in 2021 was 35.4%, higher than the national food poverty rate of 30.5%. This represented an estimated 424,000 people living in food poverty in that year.

The map below shows the poverty rates by constituency in Kajiado County in 2019. Kajiado Central had a poverty rate of 50.4%, Kajiado East 34.2%, Kajiado North 29.9%, Kajiado South 50.7%, and Kajiado West 51.4%. 

The mean monthly food and non-food expenditure in Kajiado County was Ksh 3,415 and Ksh 4,476, respectively, in 2021, with 49.9% going toward food expenditure and 50.1% on non-food expenditure. Overall, the percentage share spent on food in Kenya was 56.3%, while 43.7% was spent on non-food items. 

The distribution of food consumption in Kericho County by source in 2021 revealed that 93% was purchased or from stock, 4.8% was from own production, and 2.2% from gifts.

The mean and median per adult equivalent expenditure in Kajiado County 2021 was Ksh 7,890 and Ksh 6.653, respectively.

Kajiado County Demographics

The total number of people in Kajiado County in 2019 was 1,117,840, consisting of 557,098 males, 560,704 females, and 38 intersex people. Kajiado had a median age of 20 years in 2019.

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

Marital Status

The distribution of women aged 12 and above in Kajiado County who were never married in 2019 was 39.1%, while those who were married monogamously was 48.6%. Furthermore, the share of women who married polygamously in the county was 4.8%, the widowed was 3.5%, while the divorced and separated were 1.1% and 2.7%, respectively.

Among men aged 12 and above in Kajiado, the distribution of those who were never married in 2019 was 44.9%, while those who married monogamously and polygamously were 49.3% and 3.5%, respectively. Those who were widowed in Kajiado were 0.4%, while those who were divorced and separated were 0.5% and 1.1.%.

According to the Kenya Demographic and Health Survey in 2022, the median age at first marriage among women aged 25-49 in Kajiado was 22 years, while the median age at first marriage among men aged 30-54 in the same year was 26.9 years.

Polygyny

The distribution of currently married women aged 15-49 in Kajiado County who had one or more co-wives in 2022 was 10%. Those with one co-wife were 7.5%, while those with more than two co-wives were 7.5%. The percentage of women in Kajiado without co-wives was 89.3%.

Among men aged 15-49 in Kajiado County, the share with more than two wives in 2022 was 4.5%, while those with only one wife were 95.4%.

Marriage Registration

According to the Kenya Demographic and Health Survey, the % of currently married women aged 15-49 whose marriage was registered with the civil authority in Kajiado County was 22.5%. The percentage whose marriage was registered with authorities and had a marriage certificate was 19.7% in 2022.  

Teenage Marriages

The proportion of married males aged 12-15 in Kajiado County in 2019 was 4.2%, while the proportion of married females aged 12-15 in the same year was 4.7%. Among females aged 12-18 in 2019, the proportion of those who were married in Kajiado was 7.3%.

The rate of teenage pregnancies in Kajiado County, consisting of women aged 15-19 who have ever been pregnant, was 21.8% in 2022.

Total Fertility Rate

Kajiado County had a Total Fertility Rate of 3.3 births in 2019, a decrease of 25.1% from 4.4 births in 2009. Kenya's total fertility rate during the same period was 3.4 births in 2019, a decline of 28.6% from 4.8 births in 2009.

The total fertility rate among the youth of Kajiado County aged 15-24 in 2019 was 1.1 births. Overall, Kenya’s total fertility rate among the youth in that year was 1 birth per woman.

Kajiado County had a Crude Birth Rate of 30.5 births per 1,000 population in 2019, a decline of 51.8% from 63.2 births per 1,000 population in 2009. By comparison, Kenya’s Crude Birth Rate in 2019 was 27.9 births per 1,000 population, a decrease 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 Kajiado County that occurred in a health facility in 2019 was 78.1%, while those that occurred in a non-health facility were 21.7%. By comparison, the share of recent births in 2019 in a health facility in Kenya was 85.8%, while those that did not occur in a health facility were 14%.

The percentage of recent births in Kajiado County that were notified in 2019 was 88.9%, while those that were not notified were 10.8%. In Kenya, the percentage of notified births was 90.4% in 2019, while non-notified births were 9.3%.

Place of Death and Notification Status

In 2019, 67% of deaths in Kajiado County occurred in a health facility, while 30.9% 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 Kajiado County that were notified in 2019 was 86.4%. Overall, the share of deaths that were notified in Kenya in 2019 was 85.6%.

Kajiado County had a Crude Death Rate (CDR) of 8.1 deaths per 1,000 population in 2019. Overall, Kenya had a Crude Death Rate of 10.5%.

Religious Affiliation

Most residents of Kajiado County are Protestants 461,955, followed by members of Evangelical Churches 260,678, and Catholics 204,086.

Development

1. The Rural Access Index (RAI) in Kajiado County was 44%, representing the percentage of the population living within two kilometres of an all-weather road in 2019.
2. Household access to electricity in Kajiado County was 67.9% in 2019, up from 39.8% in 2009.
3. Household access to improved sanitation in Kajiado County was 80.1% in 2019, up from 61% in 2009.
4. Households access to safe drinking water in Kajiado County was 66.4% in 2019, up from 67.2% in 2009.
5. Kajiado had 49.2% of its public primary schools connected to electricity, ranking 37^th nationally in 2019.

The share of the population in Kajiado County owning mobile phones in 2019 was 54.60%. Among women, 88% owned any type of mobile phone in Kajiado County in 2022, while 59.1% owned a smartphone.

Among men, 86.2% in Kajiado owned any kind of mobile phone in 2022, while 63% 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 86.8% and 85%, respectively^.

See Also

1. Narok County
2. Nakuru County
3. Samburu County

References

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