Artificial surfaces (including urban and associated areas) — Area in Kenya

Kenya: Artificial surfaces (including urban and associated areas) — Area was 59.92 1000 ha in 2024. ▲ Rising

Latest (2024)
59.92 1000 ha
Change on year
up 0.8%
World rank
93rd
of 223 countries
All-time high
59.92 1000 ha
in 2024
All-time low
52.68 1000 ha
in 2001
Years of data
24
2001–2024

Artificial surfaces (including urban and associated areas) — Area in Kenya, 2001–2024

02040602001201220242001: 52.7 1000 ha2002: 52.9 1000 ha2003: 52.9 1000 ha2004: 53.1 1000 ha2005: 53.2 1000 ha2006: 53.4 1000 ha2007: 53.5 1000 ha2008: 53.9 1000 ha2009: 54.2 1000 ha2010: 54.6 1000 ha2011: 55 1000 ha2012: 55.2 1000 ha2013: 55.6 1000 ha2014: 55.9 1000 ha2015: 56 1000 ha2016: 56.4 1000 ha2017: 56.9 1000 ha2018: 57.3 1000 ha2019: 57.6 1000 ha2020: 58 1000 ha2021: 58.7 1000 ha2022: 59.1 1000 ha2023: 59.5 1000 ha2024: 59.9 1000 ha

Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Measured in 1000 ha.

Analysis

The most recent figure for artificial surfaces (including urban and associated areas) — area in Kenya is 59.92 1000 ha, measured in 2024. That is the highest value across all 24 years on record.

That represents a change of up 0.8% on the previous year and up 7.1% over ten years.

Over the whole period, artificial surfaces (including urban and associated areas) — area in Kenya peaked at 59.92 1000 ha in 2024 and was at its lowest, 52.68 1000 ha, in 2001.

Kenya ranks 93rd of 223 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.

The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 24 years of available data.

Artificial surfaces (including urban and associated areas) — Area in Kenya, year by year

Annual values for Artificial surfaces (including urban and associated areas) — Area from MODIS in Kenya, 2001 to 2024.
Year 1000 ha Change
2001 52.68 1000 ha —
2002 52.87 1000 ha +0.4%
2003 52.89 1000 ha +0.0%
2004 53.11 1000 ha +0.4%
2005 53.25 1000 ha +0.3%
2006 53.4 1000 ha +0.3%
2007 53.53 1000 ha +0.2%
2008 53.87 1000 ha +0.6%
2009 54.24 1000 ha +0.7%
2010 54.62 1000 ha +0.7%
2011 54.99 1000 ha +0.7%
2012 55.24 1000 ha +0.5%
2013 55.58 1000 ha +0.6%
2014 55.93 1000 ha +0.6%
2015 56.05 1000 ha +0.2%
2016 56.42 1000 ha +0.7%
2017 56.91 1000 ha +0.9%
2018 57.32 1000 ha +0.7%
2019 57.61 1000 ha +0.5%
2020 57.98 1000 ha +0.6%
2021 58.73 1000 ha +1.3%
2022 59.09 1000 ha +0.6%
2023 59.47 1000 ha +0.6%
2024 59.92 1000 ha +0.8%

Kenya compared with similar countries

  • Kenya's 59.92 1000 ha is above the median for lower middle income countries, which is 52.62 1000 ha, 1.1× the median. (41 countries reporting)
  • Kenya's 59.92 1000 ha is above the median for Sub-Saharan Africa, which is 37.07 1000 ha, 1.6× the median. (44 countries reporting)

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
2000s 53.32 1000 ha 52.68 1000 ha 54.24 1000 ha 9
2010s 56.07 1000 ha 54.62 1000 ha 57.61 1000 ha 10
2020s 59.04 1000 ha 57.98 1000 ha 59.92 1000 ha 5

Countries ranked near Kenya

  1. 90 Zimbabwe 66.06 1000 ha compare
  2. 91 Senegal 61.04 1000 ha compare
  3. 92 Uganda 60.58 1000 ha compare
  4. 94 Kuwait 59.9 1000 ha compare
  5. 95 Sri Lanka 58.95 1000 ha compare
  6. 96 Congo 54 1000 ha compare

See the full ranking of 269 places →

More environment data for Kenya

All data for Kenya →

Frequently asked questions

What is artificial surfaces (including urban and associated areas) — area in Kenya?
Artificial surfaces (including urban and associated areas) — area in Kenya was 59.92 1000 ha in 2024, according to Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
What is the highest artificial surfaces (including urban and associated areas) — area recorded in Kenya?
The highest recorded value was 59.92 1000 ha in 2024.
What is the lowest artificial surfaces (including urban and associated areas) — area recorded in Kenya?
The lowest recorded value was 52.68 1000 ha in 2001.
How does Kenya rank for artificial surfaces (including urban and associated areas) — area?
Kenya ranks 93rd out of 223 countries with data for 2024.
Is artificial surfaces (including urban and associated areas) — area rising or falling in Kenya?
Over the last ten years it is up 7.1%. 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, published as part of Artificial surfaces (including urban and associated areas) — Area from MODIS. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

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Artificial surfaces (including urban and associated areas) — Area in Kenya. Statizoid, drawing on Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Retrieved 27 September 2026, from https://environment.statizoid.com/stat/artificial-surfaces-including-urban-and-associated-areas-area-from-modis/kenya/

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About this data

Indicator
Artificial surfaces (including urban and associated areas) — Area from MODIS
Unit
1000 ha
Source
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
Licence
CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO (FAO)
Coverage
269 places, 6,390 data points, 2001–2024
Last refreshed

The FAOSTAT domain on Land Cover data under the Agri-Environmental Indicators section contains land cover information organized by the land cover classes of the international standard system for Environmental and Economic Accounting Central Framework (SEEA CF). The land cover information is compiled from publicly available Global Land Cover (GLC) maps: a) MODIS land cover types based on the Land Cover Classification System, LCCS; b) The European Spatial Agency (ESA) Climate Change Initiative (CCI) annual land cover maps produced by the Université catholique de Louvain (UCL)-Geomatics and now under the European Copernicus Program; c) The annual land cover maps which were produced under the European Copernicus Global Land Service (CGLS) (CGLS land cover, containing discrete land cover categorization), with spatial resolution 100m; and d) the WorldCover maps of the European Space Agency, produced at 10m resolution.