A doubke whammy of pneumonia and cancer emerged as the most lethal health complications hurting majority of people in Kenya last year while also exposing a troubling gender divide in mortality trends.

While pneumonia remained the leading cause of death among Kenyan men, claiming 5,244 lives—a slight drop from 5,404 in 2023, among the women, cancer was the deadliest, with fatalities rising sharply to 4,498, up from 3,940 the previous year.

According to the latest Kenya Vital Statistics Report released on Wednesday by the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics, pneumonia was also the second leading cause of death among women, though the number of deaths declined modestly to 4,438 from 4,562 in 2023. 

Among men, cancer followed closely behind pneumonia, with deaths increasing by 18.6 percent to 4,456 in 2024 from 3,758 in 2023.

Overall, pneumonia, cancer, and cardiovascular diseases stood out as the top causes of death in the country. These illnesses also dominated deaths occurring outside health facilities, with sudden death, pneumonia, and cancer consistently among the leading contributors in both 2023 and 2024.

Statistically, pneumonia was responsible for 9,682 deaths across both genders during the year under review, followed by cancer which claimed 8,954 lives. A total of 7,478 people died of cardiovascular diseases, painting a grim picture of Kenya’s public health burden.

Other causes in the top 10 included hypertension (5,035), injuries (4,574), anaemia (4,572), kidney diseases (4,247), prematurity and birth asphyxia (4,223), diabetes (3,822), and heart disease (3,730).

The report shows that pneumonia has consistently remained the top cause of death in health facilities since 2021 while cancer has moved up in rank. It went from the fifth position in 2021 to fourth in 2022, and then to second place in 2023 and 2024. 

Notably, HIV/Aids featured among top 10 causes of death in females, but not in males. 

In 2024, a total of 206,417 deaths were registered. Out of these, 54.9 per cent were certified by medical practitioners, while 45.1 per cent were classified as community deaths. 

Among community deaths, sudden death, pneumonia, and cancer continued to be the leading causes in both 2023 and 2024. The report also noted a general decrease in the number of hospital-registered deaths linked to asthma, malaria, pneumonia, road accidents, and tuberculosis between 2023 and 2024.

Further, the Kenya Vital Statistics Report 2024 shows that 28,762 deaths were registered in children under five years. This comprised 14,873 males and 13,887 females. 

The highest number of infant deaths were registered in Nairobi City County which recorded 3,281 deaths. Nakuru County followed with 1,508 infant deaths, Kiambu with 1,267, and Mombasa had 1,092. 

However, Mandera (4), Wajir (13), and Marsabit (15) counties registered the lowest number of infant deaths. Furthermore, neonatal deaths reduced by 10.2 percent, from 12,175 in 2023 to 10,930 in 2024. 

Noticeably, males accounted for the majority of registered deaths for single persons by 62.5 percent, married persons by 63.3 percent and divorced persons by 63.5 percent. Females constituted the majority of the registered deaths for widowed persons at 76.8 percent.

The Kenya Vital Statistics Report is crucial for tracking population trends, evaluating health and social programs, and guiding national planning and policy decisions, because it provides comprehensive data on births, deaths, marriages, and adoptions. 

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