Share of land covered by lakes and rivers in Kenya
Kenya: Share of land covered by lakes and rivers was 1.4% in 2022. ▲ Rising
Share of land covered by lakes and rivers in Kenya, 2000–2022
Source: UN Environment Programme – processed by Our World in Data. Measured in %.
Analysis
In 2022, share of land covered by lakes and rivers in Kenya stood at 1.4%. That is the highest value across all 23 years on record.
Compared with earlier readings it is up 0.7% on the previous year and up 3.8% over ten years.
Over the whole period, share of land covered by lakes and rivers in Kenya peaked at 1.4% in 2022 and was at its lowest, 0.5%, in 2000.
Kenya ranks 39th of 208 countries on this measure, in the top quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 23 years of available data.
Share of land covered by lakes and rivers in Kenya, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2000 | 0.5% | — |
| 2001 | 0.5% | +0.0% |
| 2002 | 0.8% | +49.1% |
| 2003 | 1.1% | +32.9% |
| 2004 | 1.3% | +24.8% |
| 2005 | 1.3% | -0.8% |
| 2006 | 1.3% | +0.0% |
| 2007 | 1.3% | +0.0% |
| 2008 | 1.3% | -0.8% |
| 2009 | 1.3% | +0.8% |
| 2010 | 1.3% | +0.0% |
| 2011 | 1.3% | +0.0% |
| 2012 | 1.3% | +0.8% |
| 2013 | 1.3% | +0.0% |
| 2014 | 1.3% | +0.8% |
| 2015 | 1.3% | +0.8% |
| 2016 | 1.3% | +0.0% |
| 2017 | 1.3% | +0.8% |
| 2018 | 1.3% | +0.0% |
| 2019 | 1.3% | +0.0% |
| 2020 | 1.3% | +0.0% |
| 2021 | 1.4% | +0.7% |
| 2022 | 1.4% | +0.7% |
Kenya compared with similar countries
- Kenya's 1.4% is above the median for lower middle income countries, which is 0.2%, 5.7× the median. (45 countries reporting)
- Kenya's 1.4% is above the median for Sub-Saharan Africa, which is 0.1%, 12.4× the median. (47 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Share of land covered by lakes and rivers in Kenya changed far more than this series normally does. A large move can be a real event or a change in how the figure was measured — the source note below says who published it.
| Year | Change | From | To |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 | +49.1% | 0.5% | 0.8% |
| 2003 | +32.9% | 0.8% | 1.1% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 1.1% | 0.5% | 1.3% | 10 |
| 2010s | 1.3% | 1.3% | 1.3% | 10 |
| 2020s | 1.4% | 1.3% | 1.4% | 3 |
Countries ranked near Kenya
More reference data data for Kenya
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Manure applied to Soils 0.5379 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Manure left on Pasture 12.22 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - IPCC Agriculture 14.55 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Crop Residues 0.377 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Agricultural Soils 14.55 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure applied to Soils 1.8 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure Management 1.1 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure left on Pasture 58.05 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - IPCC Agriculture 68.95 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Crop Residues 2.05 (2050)
Frequently asked questions
- What is share of land covered by lakes and rivers in Kenya?
- Share of land covered by lakes and rivers in Kenya was 1.4% in 2022, according to UN Environment Programme – processed by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest share of land covered by lakes and rivers recorded in Kenya?
- The highest recorded value was 1.4% in 2022.
- What is the lowest share of land covered by lakes and rivers recorded in Kenya?
- The lowest recorded value was 0.5% in 2000.
- How does Kenya rank for share of land covered by lakes and rivers?
- Kenya ranks 39th out of 208 countries with data for 2022.
- Is share of land covered by lakes and rivers rising or falling in Kenya?
- Over the last ten years it is up 3.8%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Kenya data come from?
- The figures come from UN Environment Programme – processed by Our World in Data, published as part of Share of land covered by lakes and rivers. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 23 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).
About this data
Lakes and rivers permanent water area (% of total land area).