Kenya

Kenya: steady but modest growth, 1980–2025

East Africa's largest and most diversified economy, driven by agriculture, tourism, and a globally influential mobile-money sector (M-Pesa) that expanded financial access well ahead of many peers. Between 1980 and 2025, Kenya's GDP per capita grew from $454 to $2,363 (current US$), a compound annual growth rate of 3.7% — steady but modest growth. Annual GDP growth averaged 3.9% with a year-to-year standard deviation of 2.2 points, reflecting relatively stable macroeconomic conditions. Structurally, agriculture's share of the economy moved from 27.8% to 23.2% of GDP (a classic decline as the economy industrialized/modernized), while services rose from 50.4% to 55.1% of GDP, underscoring a shift toward a services-driven economy. On human development, life expectancy rose from 59.2 to 63.8 years, while tertiary school enrollment moved from 0.9% to 10.4%, while the urban population share grew from 15.8% to 32.2%.

What this growth cost: Growth was not without cost: per-capita CO2 emissions rose from 0.32 to 0.38 tonnes CO2e per person; income inequality (Gini index) narrowed from 56.9 to 38.5; the poverty headcount ratio increased from 32.0% to 45.5%.