Kenya’s informal sector created the bulk of new jobs last year contributing 85 per cent of all the new openings reported in 2023, according to a Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) survey.
- •The 2024 Economic survey puts the total new jobs generated in the economy at 848 000 in 2023, where 721,000 of the new jobs came from the informal sector, a sector with a history of not offering quality returns to workers.
- •In the year under review, wage employment in the modern sector grew by 4.1 per cent which translated to creation of 122,000 new jobs in the sector.
- •The total number of self-employed and unpaid family workers within the modern sector was estimated to have increased from 168,000 in 2022 to 172,000 in 2023.
“Overall, the nominal wage bill rose by 7.0 per cent from KSh 2,607.6 billion in 2022 to KSh 2,789.3 billion in 2023. Nominal average earnings in the modern sector per person increased from KSh 864,750.1 per annum in 2022 to KSh 888,743.5 per annum in 2023. The annual inflation rate as measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI) stood at 7.7 per cent in 2023,” reads the KNBS survey.
According to the study, the leading industries with highest employment levels in the public sector were education, public administration and defense, compulsory social security which accounted for 44.9 per cent and 34.6 per cent of total employment in the sector, respectively.
The wage employment in the public sector increased by 5.9 per cent in 2023 compared to 1.6 per cent recorded in 2022. Education recorded the highest growth of 10.9 per cent mainly attributable to the large number of teachers hired by the Teachers Service Commission (TSC). This was followed by Human, health and social work activities which registered a growth of 5.1 per cent.
The survey also says the employment in accommodation and food service activities increased by 27.8 per cent primarily due to increased international arrivals and domestic tourism, which resulted to higher hotel bed occupancy rates in the review period.
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