A government report has offered insights into the top ten richest and the respective poorest counties in Kenya.
According to the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS), Nairobi has the lowest poverty rate of 16.8 percent followed by Nyeri and Meru with 19 percent.
Kirinyaga and Kiambu counties have 22 and 23 percent respectively.
Narok and Machakos counties have poverty rates of 23 percent while Murangá, Tharaka-Nithi, and Mombasa close the top ten list of the richest counties with 25,24, and 27 percent.
These counties have a lower inequality of gini ratio of 0.404.
Turkana County topped the list of the poorest and most unequal devolved units in the country.
Turkana has a poverty rate of 79.4 percent, showing the inability of the households and families to cater for the basic needs including shelter, food, pure water, healthcare, and education.
The county is also the most unequal region with a gini index score of 0.559 indicating greater inequality.
Mandera, Samburu, Busia and Garissa counties also form the list of the poorest counties with poverty rates of 77.6, 75.8, 69.3 and 65.5 percent respectively.
Other poorest counties include Marsabit, Wajir, Tana River, West Pokot and Isiolo with poverty rates of 63.7,62.6, 62.2, 57.4 and 51.9 percent respectively.
According to the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS), households earning less than Ksh3,252 a month in rural and peri-urban areas and Sh5,995 in major urban cities live in poverty.
Poverty rates in some 23 counties are above the national average, showing the huge economic gaps among the counties.
The report shows that 35 of 47 Counties have experienced a decline in inequality while 12 experienced an increase.
