Nairobi rent charges have been ranked among the highest across major African cities.
In the Housing Index analysed by the global data site, Numbeo, Nairobi ranked as the fourth most expensive city to rent for the first six months of 2024.
Nairobi ranked fourth alongside Johannesburg in South Africa. Both cities were ranked with an index of 10.7 points.
According to the ranking based on the rent charged in New York City, both countries are 89.3 per cent lower than the rent charged in the American city.
"This index estimates the prices of renting apartments in a city compared to New York City. If the Rent Index is 80, it suggests that the average rental prices in that city are approximately 20 per cent lower than those in New York City," read the index report in part.
However, other cities that beat Nairobi were Lagos, Nigeria (24.3 points), Cape Town, South Africa (17.2 points) and Casablanca, Morocco (11.6 points).
Rent in Nairobi is usually determined by several factors including location, social amenities, and age of the building among others.
However, while there may be varying rent charges for different apartments, the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) projects the average rent for a single room across the country to be Ksh4,100.
Cost of Living
On the other hand, according to the cost of living index, Nairobi ranked among the countries where it was cheaper to live in.
Nairobi was ranked at position eight below notable cities like Johannesburg, Pretoria, Cape Town, South Africa and Durban in South Africa.
Lagos (Nigeria), Casablanca (Morocco) and Accra (Ghana) were also ranked above Kenya in the high cost of living index.
Conversely, Algiers (Algeria), Tunis (Tunisia) and Cairo (Egypt) were cheaper to live in comparison to Nairobi.
