Life expectancy in Kenya
Kenya: Life expectancy was 63.65 years in 2023. ▲ Rising
Life expectancy in Kenya, 1927–2023
Source: Riley (2005); Zijdeman et al. (2015); HMD (2025); UN WPP (2024) – with major processing by Our World in Data. Measured in years.
Analysis
Kenya recorded 63.65 years for life expectancy in 2023. That is the highest value across all 77 years on record.
The figure is up 0.2% on the previous year and up 3.1% over ten years.
Over the whole period, life expectancy in Kenya peaked at 63.65 years in 2023 and was at its lowest, 23.93 years, in 1927.
Kenya ranks 216th of 236 countries on this measure, in the bottom quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 77 years of available data.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1920s | 23.93 years | 23.93 years | 23.93 years | 1 |
| 1930s | 26.37 years | 26.37 years | 26.37 years | 1 |
| 1940s | 28.82 years | 28.82 years | 28.82 years | 1 |
| 1950s | 41.95 years | 36.86 years | 47.52 years | 10 |
| 1960s | 51.41 years | 48.48 years | 53.73 years | 10 |
| 1970s | 56.36 years | 54.14 years | 58.69 years | 10 |
| 1980s | 60.23 years | 59.17 years | 60.86 years | 10 |
| 1990s | 56.44 years | 55.48 years | 58.33 years | 10 |
| 2000s | 58.21 years | 56.08 years | 60.48 years | 10 |
| 2010s | 62.07 years | 60.91 years | 62.94 years | 10 |
| 2020s | 62.5 years | 61.23 years | 63.65 years | 4 |
Countries ranked near Kenya
- 213 Equatorial Guinea 63.71 years compare
- 214 Cameroon 63.7 years compare
- 215 Burundi 63.65 years compare
- 217 Madagascar 63.63 years compare
- 218 Mozambique 63.61 years compare
- 219 Zimbabwe 62.77 years compare
More health data for Kenya
- Estimated changes in temperature-related death rates compared to projected death rates 1,119 deaths per 1,000 people (2090)
- Number of infants who die before age 1 16,059 deaths (2100)
- Deaths in armed conflicts based on where they occurred 3 deaths (2026)
- Deaths in armed conflicts by region 3 deaths (2026)
- Age population, age 25, male, interpolated 504,714 (2025)
- Age population, age 25, female, interpolated 527,528 (2025)
- Age population, age 24, male, interpolated 526,588 (2025)
- Age population, age 24, female, interpolated 546,326 (2025)
- Age population, age 23, male, interpolated 548,338 (2025)
- Age population, age 23, female, interpolated 564,731 (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is life expectancy in Kenya?
- Life expectancy in Kenya was 63.65 years in 2023, according to Riley (2005); Zijdeman et al. (2015); HMD (2025); UN WPP (2024) – with major processing by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest life expectancy recorded in Kenya?
- The highest recorded value was 63.65 years in 2023.
- What is the lowest life expectancy recorded in Kenya?
- The lowest recorded value was 23.93 years in 1927.
- How does Kenya rank for life expectancy?
- Kenya ranks 216th out of 236 countries with data for 2023.
- Is life expectancy rising or falling in Kenya?
- Over the last ten years it is up 3.1%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Kenya data come from?
- The figures come from Riley (2005); Zijdeman et al. (2015); HMD (2025); UN WPP (2024) – with major processing by Our World in Data, published as part of Life expectancy. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 77 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).
About this data
Period life expectancy is the number of years the average person born in a certain year would live if they experienced the same chances of dying at each age as people did that year.