Older persons are the fastest growing population in Kenya - Report

Older persons are the fastest-growing population in Kenya, according to a new report by the National Council for Population and Development.

The report released on October 27 indicates that older persons increased by about 41 per cent from 1,943,715 in 2009 to 2,740,040 in 2019, with a majority of older persons being female.

 “The population of older persons is rapidly increasing due to wealth, better health, improved nutrition, and advanced technology in treatment, early intervention, and cure of diseases, “the report says.

The report further indicates that there is a lot of anxiety around ageing, with concerns panning from health concerns and insurance, income insecurity and social protection, Violence, Abuse and Neglect (VAN), digital exclusion, property/inheritance anxiety, disability, and ageism.

“In Kenya, more than half of the elderly people live in absolute poverty and constitute the poorest age group in the country, “the report said.

“The 2015-16 Kenya Integrated Household and Budget Survey (KIHBS) found that 11 percent of older persons in the country suffer from one or two of the following chronic conditions: asthma, tuberculosis, heart problem, hypertension, diabetes, HIV, and cancer, “the report continued.

The elderly population lives in constant fear of disability and impairment, with a recorded 8% suffering from mobility disability, 5 % from visual impairment, 3% from cognition, 2.3 % from hearing, and 2.1% from failed self-care.

“Prevalence of disability among the older population in Kenya increases by age from four percent for those aged 60-64 to 31 percent for those aged 100 years and above, “the council said.

The same report indicates that fertility decreased from an average of 3.9 in 2014 to 3.4 children per woman in 2022, with fertility higher among women in rural areas.

“Analysis of the percentage change in total fertility rates between 2009 and 2019 shows that only Murang’a, Nyeri, and Kirinyaga experienced a decline of less than 10 percent. Bomet, Bungoma, Homa Bay, Kisii, and Nyamira experienced a more than 40 percent fertility decline.

National Council for Population and Development report says deaths among children below five years declined from 115 to 41 deaths per 1,000 live births between 2003 and 2022.

The report has termed this decline in mortality deaths as an indicator of “improvement in the quality of life in the country.”

“ Deaths among children below five years declined from 115 to 41 deaths per 1,000 live births between 2003 and 2022, while that of neonates declined from 33 to 21 over the same period, “the report read.