Total fertility rate of Kenya 1930-2024
In 1930, the average woman of childbearing age in Kenya would have just under 7 children over the course of their reproductive years. This rate would steadily increase until the end of the 1960s, peaking at just over 8 children per woman in 1970. Following this peak, a combination of strong national and international promotion of family planning in Kenya and an expansion of contraceptive use would lead to a sharp decrease in the fertility rate, falling from its peak of 8 children in 1970 to 5.65 children in 1995.
This decline would slow somewhat from 1995 to 2000, in part the result of a prioritizing of government healthcare resources away from contraceptives and family planning towards combatting the emerging HIV/AIDS epidemic. Resources for contraceptives and family planning would begin to return around 2003, and as a result, the total fertility rate would begin to fall steadily again, and in 2023, the average woman of childbearing age could be expected to have 3.24 children over the course of their reproductive years, one of the lowest fertility rates in the region.
This decline would slow somewhat from 1995 to 2000, in part the result of a prioritizing of government healthcare resources away from contraceptives and family planning towards combatting the emerging HIV/AIDS epidemic. Resources for contraceptives and family planning would begin to return around 2003, and as a result, the total fertility rate would begin to fall steadily again, and in 2023, the average woman of childbearing age could be expected to have 3.24 children over the course of their reproductive years, one of the lowest fertility rates in the region.
