Share of government consumption in GDP vs. share of population living in extreme poverty in Kenya
Kenya: Share of government consumption in GDP vs. share of population living in extreme poverty was 10.9% in 2023. ▲ Rising
Latest (2023)
10.9%
Change on year
down 2.9%
World rank
162nd
of 184 countries
All-time high
26.3%
in 1979
All-time low
4.7%
in 1950
Years of data
74
1950–2023
Share of government consumption in GDP vs. share of population living in extreme poverty in Kenya, 1950–2023
Source: Feenstra et al. - Penn World Table (2025) – with major processing by Our World in Data. Measured in % of GDP.
Analysis
Kenya recorded 10.9% for share of government consumption in gdp vs. share of population living in extreme poverty in 2023.
That represents a change of down 2.9% on the previous year and up 5.7% over ten years.
Over the whole period, share of government consumption in gdp vs. share of population living in extreme poverty in Kenya peaked at 26.3% in 1979 and was at its lowest, 4.7%, in 1950.
Kenya ranks 162nd of 184 countries on this measure, in the bottom quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 74 years of available data.
Share of government consumption in GDP vs. share of population living in extreme poverty in Kenya, year by year
| Year | % of GDP | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1950 | 4.7% | — |
| 1951 | 5.3% | +12.6% |
| 1952 | 5.2% | -1.3% |
| 1953 | 5.2% | -0.1% |
| 1954 | 5.7% | +10.0% |
| 1955 | 7.2% | +26.2% |
| 1956 | 6.8% | -5.9% |
| 1957 | 6.9% | +0.9% |
| 1958 | 6.9% | +0.8% |
| 1959 | 7.4% | +7.4% |
| 1960 | 8.0% | +7.5% |
| 1961 | 8.7% | +9.1% |
| 1962 | 8.2% | -5.8% |
| 1963 | 8.4% | +2.6% |
| 1964 | 10.0% | +18.6% |
| 1965 | 8.8% | -11.5% |
| 1966 | 8.5% | -3.3% |
| 1967 | 8.9% | +4.2% |
| 1968 | 13.0% | +45.5% |
| 1969 | 13.9% | +7.4% |
| 1970 | 15.7% | +12.6% |
| 1971 | 16.8% | +7.5% |
| 1972 | 16.4% | -2.6% |
| 1973 | 15.8% | -3.9% |
| 1974 | 15.2% | -3.9% |
| 1975 | 17.8% | +17.7% |
| 1976 | 19.6% | +9.8% |
| 1977 | 20.7% | +5.9% |
| 1978 | 23.3% | +12.5% |
| 1979 | 26.3% | +12.9% |
| 1980 | 26.3% | -0.0% |
| 1981 | 25.8% | -1.9% |
| 1982 | 25.2% | -2.4% |
| 1983 | 26.2% | +4.0% |
| 1984 | 25.0% | -4.5% |
| 1985 | 24.4% | -2.6% |
| 1986 | 20.5% | -15.8% |
| 1987 | 17.2% | -16.1% |
| 1988 | 14.2% | -17.8% |
| 1989 | 12.4% | -12.5% |
| 1990 | 10.4% | -16.0% |
| 1991 | 9.8% | -6.2% |
| 1992 | 10.1% | +3.3% |
| 1993 | 9.3% | -7.7% |
| 1994 | 9.7% | +3.7% |
| 1995 | 10.0% | +3.6% |
| 1996 | 8.8% | -11.9% |
| 1997 | 8.9% | +0.6% |
| 1998 | 9.0% | +1.3% |
| 1999 | 8.9% | -1.3% |
| 2000 | 8.9% | +0.2% |
| 2001 | 8.7% | -1.7% |
| 2002 | 9.4% | +8.0% |
| 2003 | 10.2% | +7.9% |
| 2004 | 9.9% | -2.5% |
| 2005 | 9.9% | -0.6% |
| 2006 | 9.4% | -4.8% |
| 2007 | 9.7% | +3.2% |
| 2008 | 10.4% | +7.6% |
| 2009 | 10.4% | -0.4% |
| 2010 | 10.6% | +2.2% |
| 2011 | 10.7% | +1.1% |
| 2012 | 10.1% | -5.6% |
| 2013 | 10.3% | +2.1% |
| 2014 | 10.7% | +3.2% |
| 2015 | 12.2% | +14.7% |
| 2016 | 12.6% | +3.2% |
| 2017 | 12.8% | +1.7% |
| 2018 | 12.5% | -2.9% |
| 2019 | 11.7% | -5.8% |
| 2020 | 11.5% | -1.8% |
| 2021 | 10.8% | -5.9% |
| 2022 | 11.3% | +3.8% |
| 2023 | 10.9% | -2.9% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1950s | 6.1% | 4.7% | 7.4% | 10 |
| 1960s | 9.6% | 8.0% | 13.9% | 10 |
| 1970s | 18.8% | 15.2% | 26.3% | 10 |
| 1980s | 21.7% | 12.4% | 26.3% | 10 |
| 1990s | 9.5% | 8.8% | 10.4% | 10 |
| 2000s | 9.7% | 8.7% | 10.4% | 10 |
| 2010s | 11.4% | 10.1% | 12.8% | 10 |
| 2020s | 11.1% | 10.8% | 11.5% | 4 |
Countries ranked near Kenya
More poverty & inequality data for Kenya
- Number of income/consumption surveys in the past decade available via the World Bank 3 surveys (2025)
- Number of income/consumption surveys in the past decade available via 0 surveys per person (2025)
- Number of income/consumption surveys in the past decade available via 0 surveys per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Fertility rate vs. share living in extreme poverty 3.21 live births per woman (2023)
- Cereal yield vs. share in extreme poverty 1,758 kg per hectare (2023)
- Cereal yield vs extreme poverty, per unit of GDP 0 units per US$ of GDP (2023)
- Cereal yield vs extreme poverty, annual growth rate 18.96 % change on previous year (2023)
- Tax revenues vs income inequality, gaps filled 16.07 (2023)
- Tax revenue as share of GDP vs. income inequality 16.1% (2023)
- Tax revenues vs income inequality, per unit of GDP 0 units per US$ of GDP (2023)
Frequently asked questions
- What is share of government consumption in gdp vs. share of population living in extreme poverty in Kenya?
- Share of government consumption in gdp vs. share of population living in extreme poverty in Kenya was 10.9% in 2023, according to Feenstra et al. - Penn World Table (2025) – with major processing by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest share of government consumption in gdp vs. share of population living in extreme poverty recorded in Kenya?
- The highest recorded value was 26.3% in 1979.
- What is the lowest share of government consumption in gdp vs. share of population living in extreme poverty recorded in Kenya?
- The lowest recorded value was 4.7% in 1950.
- How does Kenya rank for share of government consumption in gdp vs. share of population living in extreme poverty?
- Kenya ranks 162nd out of 184 countries with data for 2023.
- Is share of government consumption in gdp vs. share of population living in extreme poverty rising or falling in Kenya?
- Over the last ten years it is up 5.7%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Kenya data come from?
- The figures come from Feenstra et al. - Penn World Table (2025) – with major processing by Our World in Data, published as part of Share of government consumption in GDP vs. share of population living in extreme poverty. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 74 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).
About this data
Government consumption divided by gross domestic product, expressed as a percentage.