The number of people seeking medical care for malaria disease increased fourfold to 14.3 million in 2025, with the communicable disease becoming the second most reported even as deaths declined marginally.

According to the 2026 Economic Survey shows that cases of malaria hit 14.3 million up from 3.8 million in 2024, reflecting a 276 percent uptick in infections.

The report released on Wednesday by the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics states that the rise in malaria cases saw the disease become the second-leading cause of death after respiratory diseases in the country.

Diseases of the respiratory system remained the leading cause of illness, though their share declined to 15.4 million cases during the period under review. KNBS survey indicates that "respiratory diseases remained the leading cause of morbidity, though their share fell by 5.7 percentage points" compared to the previous year.

Across the year, Kenya experienced a troubling increase in non-communicable conditions with urinary tract infections accounting for 2.6 million incidences.

At the same time, individuals registering eye infections accounted for 2.5 million cases or 3.2 percent. Another disease, hypertension, which is a primary indicator of lifestyle diseases, was recorded in 1.6 million people, or 2 percent of all cases reported last year.

During the year however, skin diseases and diarrhea showed notable declines. The survey states that "skin and diarrheal diseases declined by 11.9 percent and 53.2 percent, respectively," suggesting improved sanitation in some regions. Pneumonia cases also fell sharply to 651,686 from 1.4 million reported in 2024.

Adolescent pregnancies

The prevalence of pregnancy among adolescents showed mixed signals across the country. KNBS data notes that cases of girls aged between 10 and 19 presenting with pregnancy went up by 2.2 percent to 235,938 last year.

Additionally, there were disturbing cases of "pregnancies among adolescents aged between 10 to 14 years, increasing by 14.6 percent." 

Across the country, Nairobi City County emerged as the riskiest place for with a total of 14,291 adolescents getting pregnant, followed closely by Kakamega (11,835), and Narok (10,934) counties.

On registration to the newly launched Social Health Authorities, Nairobi, Kiambu, Nakuru, Mombasa and Kakamega counties have the highest registrations in the country. KNBS survey shows that "51.7 percent of the registered members were female.

Employment in healthcare

On health infrastructure, the survey states that, "total number of operational health facilities increased by 4.6 percent to 16,713 in 2025," attributable to increase the number of Level 3 facilities spread across Kenya. At the same time, hospital beds increased by 5.0 percent to 106,348, while cots went up by 8.3 percent to 12,150.

Employment within the health sector also registered positive gains with the number of health-workers rising, with "registered nurses increasing by 12.7 percent to 65,284," while graduate nursesrose by 15.9 percent to 10,646. 

However, medical laboratory technicians recorded a sharp decline of 55.6 per cent to close the year at 1,951.

The survey notes that women delivering in facilities declined marginally to 1.20 million, but Caesarean sections increased by 9.9 percent to 242,356, indicating a shift toward medical interventions in childbirth.

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