Kenya is witnessing a shift in its refugee landscape, with new data revealing a sharp spike in arrivals from Eritrea alongside sustained, heavy inflows from across a volatile East and Central African region.
- •According to the Economic Survey 2026, the number of refugees and asylum seekers from Eritrea nearly doubled last year, jumping by 99.8% from 3,259 in 2024 to 7,839 in 2025.
- •The total number of registered refugees has risen steadily from 540,068 in 2021 to 835,793 in 2025.
- •The surge has intensified pressure on Kenya’s refugee infrastructure, including camps such as Dadaab and Kakuma, while accelerating the shift toward urban settlement.
While the Eritrean spike is the most dramatic, it sits within a wider pattern of sustained inflows: Somali nationals remain the largest group by a wide margin, accounting for 459,131 refugees in 2025, followed by South Sudanese at 202,863.
Refugees from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) rose to 66,043, Ethiopia to 42,897, and Burundi to 34,585. KNBS data also shows the refugee profile is both expanding and diversifying, with smaller but steadily increasing numbers from Sudan, Uganda, Rwanda and other countries. The growth has been driven by a mix of protracted conflict, political repression and economic collapse.
Sudan’s civil war, now one of the world’s largest displacement crises, continues to push populations outward. In eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, renewed fighting has triggered fresh waves of displacement, while tensions in Ethiopia and Eritrea are reshaping migration routes across the Horn.
Eritrea’s internal dynamics, particularly indefinite national service, remain a key driver of outward migration, now reflected in the sharp uptick recorded by KNBS.
