Time required to start a business in Kenya

Kenya: Time required to start a business was 23 days in 2019. ▼ Falling

Latest (2019)
23 days
Change on year
unchanged
World rank
41st
of 188 countries
All-time high
60 days
in 2003
All-time low
22 days
in 2016
Years of data
17
2003–2019

Time required to start a business in Kenya, 2003–2019

02040602003201120192003: 60 days2004: 47 days2005: 55 days2006: 55 days2007: 45 days2008: 33 days2009: 33 days2010: 33 days2011: 35 days2012: 34 days2013: 34 days2014: 32 days2015: 28 days2016: 22 days2017: 23 days2018: 23 days2019: 23 days

Source: Doing Business project, World Bank (2025) – processed by Our World in Data. Measured in days.

Analysis

Kenya recorded 23 days for time required to start a business in 2019.

Compared with earlier readings it is down 30.3% over ten years.

Over the whole period, time required to start a business in Kenya peaked at 60 days in 2003 and was at its lowest, 22 days, in 2016.

Kenya ranks 41st of 188 countries on this measure, in the top quarter.

The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 17 years of available data.

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
2000s 46.86 days 33 days 60 days 7
2010s 28.7 days 22 days 35 days 10

Countries ranked near Kenya

  1. 38 Peru 26 days compare
  2. 39 Czechia 24.5 days compare
  3. 40 Uganda 24 days compare
  4. 41 Bulgaria 23 days compare
  5. 41 Costa Rica 23 days compare
  6. 44 Nepal 22.5 days compare

See the full ranking of 188 places →

More reference data data for Kenya

All data for Kenya →

Frequently asked questions

What is time required to start a business in Kenya?
Time required to start a business in Kenya was 23 days in 2019, according to Doing Business project, World Bank (2025) – processed by Our World in Data.
What is the highest time required to start a business recorded in Kenya?
The highest recorded value was 60 days in 2003.
What is the lowest time required to start a business recorded in Kenya?
The lowest recorded value was 22 days in 2016.
How does Kenya rank for time required to start a business?
Kenya ranks 41st out of 188 countries with data for 2019.
Is time required to start a business rising or falling in Kenya?
Over the last ten years it is down 30.3%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
Where does this Kenya data come from?
The figures come from Doing Business project, World Bank (2025) – processed by Our World in Data, published as part of Time required to start a business. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

Download this data

CSV · JSON — 17 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).

About this data

Indicator
Time required to start a business
Unit
days
Source
Doing Business project, World Bank (2025) – processed by Our World in Data
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)
Coverage
188 places, 2,945 data points, 2003–2019
Last refreshed

Number of calendar days needed to complete the procedures to legally operate a business.