Nairobi Recorded Highest Number of Marriages in 2024 – Report
Nairobi City County registered the highest number of marriages in Kenya in 2024, according to the Kenya Vital Statistics Report 2024 released by the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics.
The report indicates that 5,826 marriages were registered in Nairobi last year, accounting for 39.6% of all registered marriages in the country.
Other counties with high numbers of registered marriages included Kiambu (4,844), Machakos (4,807), Nakuru (3,819), and Uasin Gishu (3,179). Together, these counties formed a significant proportion of total national registrations.
In contrast, counties such as Wajir, Turkana, Lamu, Garissa, and Tana River registered the fewest marriages, with Wajir recording only eight and the rest ranging from 16 to 22. These counties have consistently reported ten or fewer marriages annually from 2020 to 2024.
The report also highlighted notable trends over the past five years. In Nairobi, registered marriages rose steadily from 3,796 in 2020 to 5,826 in 2024. Uasin Gishu saw a dramatic increase from just 48 in 2020 and 33 in 2021, to over 1,000 in both 2022 and 2023, though this fell to 766 in 2024.
Kiambu showed a pattern of fluctuation—1,098 marriages in 2021, rising to 1,235 in 2022 before dropping sharply to 747 in 2024. Machakos, by contrast, posted a steady increase, with 813 marriages in 2023 and 1,112 in 2024.
Nationally, Kenya saw registered marriages increase from 10,239 in 2020 to a peak of 20,600 in 2023. However, the figure dropped to 15,045 by December 31, 2024. These numbers reflect only the returns submitted to the Office of the Attorney General and Department of Justice.
The report also analyzed marriage types. Christian and civil marriages were the most common throughout the period. Christian marriages peaked in 2021 with 13,456 registrations, while civil marriages hit a high of 7,185 in 2023.
Customary and Hindu marriages remained low. Only 11 customary marriages were registered, mostly in Kwale (8) and Kisumu (3). Hindu marriages totaled 18, split evenly between Nairobi and Mombasa.
Nairobi led in both Christian and civil marriages, registering 22,210 Christian and 9,322 civil marriages between 2020 and 2024. Kiambu followed with 4,833 Christian marriages, and Nakuru recorded 2,404 civil marriages. Uasin Gishu posted 2,236 civil unions.
Additionally, 359 marriages were registered without a stated type, most of them (217) in Nairobi. These were attributed to data capture errors, according to the report.
In other news:Expensive Electricity, High Registration Costs Limiting Investment in Kenya: AfDB
Nairobi Recorded Highest Number of Marriages in 2024 – Report