In 2024, Kenya’s unemployment rate was at 5.64 percent, according to GlobalData. This represents a modest uptick from 5.6 percent the previous year. While this figure may appear moderate, deeper insights from institutions such as the World Bank suggest a concerning trend of stagnation and possible increases throughout the year. GlobalData further projects a decline of 69 basis points between 2025 and 2029.
For context, Kenya’s unemployment peaked at 10.1percent in Q2 2020 and hit a historic low of 2.7 percent in Q4 2005. Despite these fluctuations, a curious contradiction persists: job advertisements are abundant across multiple platforms—local and international — and yet, many job seekers remain unemployed.
