The national government’s total expenditure on health services is expected to reach Sh121.97 billion in the 2024/25 financial year, a new survey shows, reflecting a continued commitment to strengthening Kenya’s health system.
This represents an increase of 13.5 percent from the previous financial year (2023/24), when health spending stood at Sh107.52 billion.
According to the Economic Survey 2025, the projected increase is driven by both recurrent and development expenditure, demonstrating the government’s commitment to improving access, equity and quality of care at a time when the public health sector carries a heavy burden of service delivery, especially for low-income households.
Recurrent expenditure covers the day-to-day costs of running the health system, including the salaries of health workers, the purchase of medicines and equipment, and the running costs of hospitals and clinics.
During the period under review, recurrent spending is expected to reach Sh62.96 billion, up from Sh59.58 billion in the previous year.
On the other hand, development expenditure focuses on long-term investments such as building new hospitals, expanding health programmes and acquiring medical infrastructure. This expenditure is expected to rise to Sh59.01 billion in 2024/25 from Sh47.93 billion in 2023/24.
“In the financial year 2024/25, national government expenditure on health services is expected to increase by 13.4 percent to Sh122 billion, with recurrent expenditure on health accounting for 51.6 percent or Sh63 billion. Over the same period, recurrent and development expenditure on health services are expected to increase by 5.7 percent and 23.1 percent respectively,” the data released by the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) revealed.
According to the KNBS, recurrent expenditure on public health services is expected to increase from Sh16.1 billion in 2023/24 to Sh20.78 billion in 2024/25.
In addition, development spending in the sector is projected to almost double to Sh44.7 billion, indicating increased funding for immunisation programmes, disease surveillance, health promotion and environmental health.
Outpatient services, which have traditionally been underfunded, are expected to see a significant increase in recurrent expenditure, which will rise almost fivefold to Sh1.95 billion.
Development spending in this area is expected to increase from Sh2.97 billion to Sh8.57 billion, indicating a shift towards decentralised care to reduce the burden on overburdened referral hospitals and bring services closer to communities.
Despite the increase in the health budget, it still accounts for about three percent of the national budget, below the 15 percent target set in the Abuja Declaration to which African Union member states committed in 2001.
