Nairobi, Mombasa and Nakuru are Kenya’s richest counties while Isiolo, Lamu, Tana River and Samburu are the poorest counties according to a new survey that shows five counties contribute 47 percent of the national annual economic output, also known as the Gross Domestic Product (GDP).



Nairobi, with a contribution of 27.5 percent to the overall GDP, is by far Kenya’s richest county, according to a new Kenya National Bureau of Statistics listing released Thursday.

The capital city is more than three-and-a-half times larger in economic terms than Kiambu the second-richest county with a 5.9 percent share of the GDP.

Mombasa (5.2 percent, Nakuru (4.9 percent) and Machakos (3.5 percent) complete the list of Kenya’s top five wealthiest counties in GDP terms.

Kenya ushered in devolution in 2013 to bridge the uneven distribution of wealth that the centralised system of governance entrenched.

The heavy concentration of economic power in the five counties indicates inequality in the country’s economic development, which has partly been attributed to the previous centralised system of government which guided sharing of resources since independence.
The report also revealed the poorest counties which include Isiolo, Samburu, Tana River and Lamu contributing 0.3 percent each to Kenya’s national output.

Wajir, Mandera and Marsabit are also among the bottom five list each contributing a paltry 0.5 percent to Kenya’s national output.

The devolved system of government raised hopes of addressing the economic imbalance, but analysts say there is need to offer incentives to attract private investors to counties.

Meru contributed 3.2 percent, Kisumu (2.6 percent), Uasin-Gishu (2.4 percent), Kilifi (2.2 percent), Kajiado (2.2 percent), Kakamega (2.2 percent), Nyeri (2.1 percent), Bungoma (2.1 percent) Muranga (2 percent) and Kisii (2 percent) of the GDP.

The comprehensive study by KNBS of counties’ wealth provides a measure of how much each region contributed to the national cake as at the end of 2020.

The report titled Gross County Product (GCP) 2021 tracks the monetary measure of the market value of all the final goods and services produced in each of the 47 counties, with a view to providing a picture of the economic structure and relative size of the economy for each county.

KNBS describes the Gross County Product (GCP) as the net value of goods and services produced within the boundaries of a specific county. It is the equivalent of the county GDP.

Nairobi’s contribution to the national wealth dispels the notion that the seat of power accounts for more than 60 percent of national output as previously widely held.

From the data, it emerges that the country’s resources are largely in the hands of a few counties, a majority of them in the urban areas meaning it will remain a tall order to stem rural to urban migration.

“The bottom 10 counties in terms of contribution were majorly those from arid and semi-arid areas,” said KNBS.

“The main economic activity in these areas is animal production, while the contribution while the contribution of gross value added of other activities such as growing of crops, manufacturing, transportation and real estate was insignificant.”

According to the study, the dominant counties are associated with large populations in urban centres. In addition, the counties are backed by thriving economic activities such as agriculture, manufacturing, transportation, financial and real estate as well as wholesale and retail trade.

The study says that agriculture, which is Kenya’s economic backbone, remains a key driver of growth in most counties with the exception of Nairobi and Mombasa. It helped counties record robust growth powered by agriculture and the services sectors.