Out of all the 47 counties in Kenya, Nairobi, Nakuru, Kiambu, and Mombasa counties have been ranked the highest contributors to the national wealth, according to a new report.
A study by the Kenya Bureau of Statistics revealed the measure of how much each county contributed to Kenya’s GDP. This study, released this year, tracks the monetary measure of the market value of all the final goods and services produced within each of the 47 counties.
Nairobi emerged top with a GCP of 21.7 percent in a five year period of the study (2013-2017).
The rest of the top 10 counties include Nakuru (6.1 percent), Kiambu (5.5 percent), Mombasa (4.7 percent), Machakos (3.2 percent), Meru (2.9 percent) and Kisumu (2.9 percent),Nyandarua (2.6 percent) Kakamega (2.4 per cent) and Uasin-Gishu (2.3 percent).
Isiolo at 0.2 percent and Samburu at 0.3 percent trailed the list of contributors to the national wealth, according to the report.
Regular data
KNBS director-general Zachary Mwangi said the data for the estimation of the GCP 2019 was drawn from regular data collected by the agency through “recurrent and intermittent surveys and censuses and administrative records.”
A survey conducted in all 47 counties in 2018 supplemented the existing data sets, he said.In providing the GCP of each county, the chairperson of the Commission on Revenue Allocation (CRA) Jane Kiringai said the study had identified the missing piece of the jig-saw puzzle that is revenue sharing.
The report is expected to help shape the revenue sharing debate, she added.
“The overarching objective of the GCP estimates is to provide a picture of the economic structure and relative size of the economy for each county,” says the study.
“The estimates are expected to be instrumental in informing economic growth and supporting county level decision making and economic planning.”