Richest and Poorest Counties
Richest and Poorest Counties
With an estimated economy of Ksh3.2 trillion, Nairobi County continued to hold the title of wealthiest county in 2022, according to the most recent data released by the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS). The results place Nakuru at number three with an economy of Ksh600.5 billion, closely followed by Kiambu County at number two with Ksh721.2 billion.
With an economy worth Ksh564.1 billion, Mombasa County took fourth place.Machakos County came in second with a Ksh378.4 billion economy, followed by Meru with Ksh407.4 billion.With a Ksh312 billion economy, Kisumu County was the richest in Western Kenya, followed by Uasin Gishu County (Ksh295 billion) and Kakamega County (Ksh276 billion). With an economy of Ksh254 billion, Kilifi County took 10th place.
The findings indicated that counties with significant urban commercial areas, such as Nairobi City, Kiambu, Mombasa City, Nakuru City, and Machakos, had relatively higher Gross County Product (GCP) levels than counties with primarily rural landscapes. “Nevertheless, counties with a wide range of economic activities, especially agricultural production such as Meru, Kakamega and Nyeri also accounted for notable proportions of GCP to total GVA,” according to a piece of the research. Isiolo, one of the 47 autonomous entities, came in last among the poorest counties, with a Ksh31 billion economy. With respective economies of Ksh33 billion and Ksh35 billion, the counties of Samburu and Tana River were also among the poorest.West Pokot (Ksh84 billion), Tharaka Nithi (Ksh77 billion), Marsabit (Ksh73 billion), Taita Taveta (Ksh70 billion), Garissa (Ksh68 billion), Mandera (Ksh63 billion), Wajir (Ksh61 billion), and Lamu (Ksh40 billion) were also among the worst ten counties.
