The World Bank released its 34th Kenya Economic Update in Nairobi on November 4, 2026, noting that informal employment accounted for 83.8 per cent of all jobs in 2025.

Treasury Principal Secretary Chris Kiptoo, standing in for Cabinet Secretary for the National Treasury John Mbadi at the Upper Hill event, said the economy grew at an average of 5 per cent per year between 2022 and 2025, outpacing the global average of 3.5 per cent and the Sub-Saharan average of 4.1 per cent.

He attributed the performance to better conditions, rising government revenue and growing investor confidence.

The update recorded annual growth rates of 5.7 per cent in 2023, 4.7 per cent in 2024 and 4.6 per cent in 2025, with a 5.2 per cent increase in the first half of 2026.

Projections in the report show growth of 4.6 per cent for 2026 and 4.4 per cent for 2027, whereas an earlier forecast had put 2026 growth at 4.9 per cent.

Total employment rose by 4.0 per cent in 2025, while formal jobs represented 16.2 per cent of the labour force and formal wage employment expanded by 3.1 per cent, up from 1.8 per cent in 2024.

Real wages increased by roughly 2 per cent over the same period.

The Kenya National Bureau of Statistics’ 2026 Economic Survey estimated about 18.1 million informal workers and 3.5 million formal workers.

World Bank Division Director for Kenya, Rwanda, Somalia and Uganda Qimiao Fan described the challenge as delivering “more and better jobs”.

The report highlighted that informal earners lose up to 20 per cent of daily income to bribes demanded by traffic police and municipal inspectors.

Boda-boda operators typically earn around KSh1,100 each day.

Headline inflation reached 7.3 per cent in October, up from 4.6 per cent a year earlier, driven by higher fuel and food prices.

Energy costs rose by 10.4 per cent and food prices by 10.2 per cent, while Khusoko recorded a 4.6 per cent figure for October 2025.

The Central Bank of Kenya kept its policy rate at 8.75 per cent in October, marking the fourth consecutive hold within its 2.5-7.5 per cent target band.

A similar hold was recorded in June, and commercial bank lending rates fell to 14.4 per cent in September from 15.1 per cent a year earlier.

The World Bank estimates that between one and 2.4 million additional Kenyans could slip below the international poverty line in 2026 because of rising fuel costs.

The fiscal deficit for the 2025/2026 financial year widened to 6.8 per cent of GDP, above the original 4.7 per cent target.

Government revenue amounted to 17.3 per cent of GDP, while public debt stood at 69.9 per cent of GDP in June 2026.

Interest payments consumed 33.6 per cent of total revenue, leaving Kenya classified as having a high risk of debt distress.

The Kenya Revenue Authority collected KSh2.84 trillion in 2025/2026, a 10.6 per cent increase, and Kiptoo noted revenue growth from KSh2.2 trillion in 2021/2022 to KSh3.2 trillion in 2025/2026, a figure not included in the report.

Kiptoo said foreign direct investment had doubled to US$3.2 billion, compared with roughly US$1.5 billion in 2021, while the report records a 170.5 per cent rise to a record US$2.74 billion in the twelve months to September 2026.

The World Bank’s special focus section identified corruption as the principal obstacle to growth, estimating that moderate anti-corruption reforms could raise GDP by 8.7 per cent by 2035 and stronger measures by 22.3 per cent.

Model scenarios suggest better corruption control could generate up to 7.7 million additional and higher-quality jobs.

In 2025, 39 per cent of firms rated corruption as a major or severe constraint, up from 25 per cent in 2013.

Business electricity costs are more than twice those in Vietnam and about 50 per cent higher than in Uganda, according to the report.

The Mombasa port placed 375th out of 403 in the World Bank’s Container Port Performance Index.