Kenya's population grows by 10m over a decade

Kenya’s population increased from 28.7 million in 1999 to 38 million last year. The figures released this morning are expected to include the growth of various ethnic and religious groups. Planning minister Wycliffe Oparanya says the information helps in national development plans.

There are 38,610,097 people in Kenya, according to the official 2009 population census figures released on Tuesday.Out of these, 19, 192, 458 are male and 19,417,639 female.


Releasing the results on Tuesday, Planning minister Wycliffe Oparanya, however, said a repeat census has been ordered in eight districts after inconsistencies were noted in the population data for areas in northern Kenya.


The districts affected are Lagdera, Wajir East, Mandera Central, Mandera East, Mandera West, Turkana Central, Turkana North, and Turkana South
Mr Oparanya said the inconsistencies in these regions were arising from the rate of population increase being higher than what birth and death rates would support, and age and sex profiles deviating from normal.