Kenya’s education sector has consistently contributed less to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) since 2021, despite increased government funding for the sector, according to recent figures.
GDP represents the total monetary value of all final goods and services produced within a country during a particular timeframe.
The 2026 Economic Survey conducted by the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) reveals that education’s portion of GDP decreased by 0.5 percentage points from 2021 to 2025, even as its allocation in the national budget grew by 2.7 percentage points during the same timeframe.
Over five years, the education sector’s GDP contribution decreased consistently from 4.3 percent to 3.8 percent, while its budget allocation increased substantially, reaching Sh702.1 billion in the 2025-26 financial year.
The data shows the sector accounted for 4.3 percent of GDP in 2021, followed by a reduction to 4.0 percent in 2022.
This downward trend continued, with the contribution dropping to 3.8 percent in 2023. A minor improvement to 3.9 percent was observed in 2024, before declining once more to 3.8 percent in 2025.
Conversely, the education sector’s share of the national budget grew consistently.
The allocation increased from 15.7 percent in the 2021-22 financial year to 18 percent in 2022-23.
It continued rising to 19.8 percent in 2023-24, then decreased marginally to 18.4 percent in 2024-25, maintaining this level in the 2025-26 financial year.
In monetary terms, education funding demonstrated steady expansion. The government provided Sh503.9 billion in the 2021-22 financial year, increasing to Sh544.4 billion in 2022-23 and then to Sh628.6 billion in 2023-24.
Funding decreased slightly to Sh615.8 billion in 2024-25 before rising significantly to Sh702.1 billion in 2025-26.
The detailed analysis reveals that all educational subsectors experienced either decreasing or unchanged contributions to GDP during the review period.
Pre-primary and primary education represented 2.1 percent of GDP in 2021, declined to 2.0 percent in 2022, and then remained steady at 1.9 percent from 2023 to 2025.
Secondary education accounted for 1.2 percent of GDP in 2021, decreasing to 1.1 percent in each of the following years under examination.
Higher education and other tertiary institutions followed a comparable pattern, contributing 1.0 percent of GDP in 2021, decreasing to 0.9 percent over the next two years, and reaching 0.8 percent in 2025.
Throughout this period, agriculture, forestry, and fishing maintained their position as the largest economic contributor, with crop production establishing itself as the primary revenue source within this sector.
The agriculture, forestry, and fishing sector represented 21.5 percent of GDP in 2021, 21.0 percent in 2022, 21.5 percent in 2023, 22.4 percent in 2024, and 23.2 percent in 2025.
Within this sector, crop production contributed 15.3 percent in 2021, 14.9 percent in 2022, 15.2 percent in 2023, 15.3 percent in 2024, and 15.7 percent in 2025.
The KNBS emphasized that the Economic Survey report utilizes established and verified methodologies to guarantee reliability, objectivity, and accuracy, incorporating thorough quality control procedures like data source verification, consistency checks, and statistical analysis.
The bureau stated that statistics in the Economic Survey reports derive from diverse sources, including the bureau’s own surveys and censuses, research conducted by other organizations, and administrative data gathered from ministries, departments, agencies, county governments, and various establishments. All data sources are appropriately recognized.