Number of cattle in Kenya
Kenya: Number of cattle was 22.44 million animals in 2024. ▲ Rising
Number of cattle in Kenya, 1961–2024
Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (2025) – with major processing by Our World in Data. Measured in animals.
Analysis
Kenya recorded 22.44 million animals for number of cattle in 2024.
The figure is up 2.5% on the previous year and up 23.0% over ten years.
Over the whole period, number of cattle in Kenya peaked at 26.77 million animals in 2020 and was at its lowest, 6.80 million animals, in 1963.
Kenya ranks 15th of 196 countries on this measure, in the top 10%.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 64 years of available data.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960s | 7.48 million animals | 6.80 million animals | 7.80 million animals | 9 |
| 1970s | 9.60 million animals | 8.60 million animals | 11.45 million animals | 10 |
| 1980s | 12.06 million animals | 9.80 million animals | 13.46 million animals | 10 |
| 1990s | 12.60 million animals | 11.41 million animals | 13.79 million animals | 10 |
| 2000s | 13.92 million animals | 11.44 million animals | 18.38 million animals | 10 |
| 2010s | 18.97 million animals | 17.86 million animals | 20.88 million animals | 10 |
| 2020s | 22.95 million animals | 20.83 million animals | 26.77 million animals | 5 |
Countries ranked near Kenya
More agriculture & rural data for Kenya
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added 31.48 billion current US$ (2025)
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added 23.2% (2025)
- Rural population 39.00 million (2025)
- Rural population growth 1.5% (2025)
- Rural population 67.8% (2025)
- Agricultural raw materials imports 2.0% (2024)
- Agricultural raw materials exports 12.9% (2024)
- Agriculture as a share of GDP vs. GDP per capita 23.2% (2025)
- Share of GDP from agriculture 23.2% (2025)
- Land under cereal production 2.93 million hectares (2023)
Frequently asked questions
- What is number of cattle in Kenya?
- Number of cattle in Kenya was 22.44 million animals in 2024, according to Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (2025) – with major processing by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest number of cattle recorded in Kenya?
- The highest recorded value was 26.77 million animals in 2020.
- What is the lowest number of cattle recorded in Kenya?
- The lowest recorded value was 6.80 million animals in 1963.
- How does Kenya rank for number of cattle?
- Kenya ranks 15th out of 196 countries with data for 2024.
- Is number of cattle rising or falling in Kenya?
- Over the last ten years it is up 23.0%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Kenya data come from?
- The figures come from Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (2025) – with major processing by Our World in Data, published as part of Number of cattle. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 64 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).