Foreign births among Kenyans on the rise, most in US

The number of Kenyans giving birth abroad has increased in the last three years, new data from the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) shows.

The office’s 2024 Kenya Vital Statistics Report shows the number of foreign births registered in 2024 was 5,694, up from 4,954 in 2023.

It shows that the United States, the United Kingdom, and the United Arab Emirates were the top countries for foreign births registered by Kenyans in 2024 at 28.9 percent, 18.9 percent, and 6.3 percent, respectively.

The U.S. saw 1,649 Kenyan births last year, up from 1,395 in 2023 and 1,142 in 2022. For the U.K., some 1,076 Kenyans gave birth last year, up from 934 and 726 in the previous two years.

The U.A.E., meanwhile, had 361 Kenyan births in 2024, from 311 and 222; followed by Australia at 235 (from 177 and 117); and Canada at 225 (from 163 and 153).

Across Africa, Kenyans registered the foreign births in Uganda, South Africa, and Tanzania over the last three years.

“Birth registration was highest, at 35.4 per cent, for mothers aged between 30 and 34,” KNBS said.