Women in Turkana, Kilifi and Marsabit counties are giving birth to between five and seven children, considered the highest number in the country.
A joint report by the UN, Kenya National Bureau of Statistics and the Council of Governors says Kirinyaga has the least births.
“The total fertility rate, which is the average number of children born to a woman in her reproductive lifetime if she were to pass through all childbearing years, reveals that Turkana, Kilifi and Marsabit counties have the highest number of children, while Kirinyaga county has the least number of children per woman,” the study carried out in the last two years says.
The report was developed from research conducted in Baringo, Bomet, Kakamega, Kilifi, Kirinyaga, Kisumu, Kitui, Marsabit, Meru and Turkana.
Uptake of modern contraceptives in Turkana remains low.
“This compares well with the uptake of modern contraceptive in most of the counties with exception of Turkana,” CoG chief Jacqueline Mogeni said during a devolution stakeholders launch in Nairobi on Tuesday.
Kirinyaga recorded the highest percentage of those immunized against measles at 100 per cent while Turkana had the lowest at 41.7 per cent.
Kakamega is most populated, while Marsabit and Kirinyaga have the least people among the counties surveyed.
Meru has the highest number of disabled people, while Bomet and Marsabit counties have the least.
“It was observed that pneumonia, cancer and malaria remain the leading causes of deaths in most of the 10 counties, with pneumonia accounting for 22 per cent deaths in 2017,” the report said.
High numbers of school, college, university and tertiary going students were recorded in Kakamega, Turkana and Kisumu counties while the lowest enrollment was in Marsabit and Kirinyaga.
Absolute poverty is highest in Turkana county at 79.4 per cent and lowest in Meru at 19.4 per cent. Kirinyaga stood at 20.0 per cent.
Kisumu recorded the highest usage of toilets at 96.3 per cent among households and Marsabit the least at 26 per cent.
Kisumu has the highest number of children who die before reaching five years, 203 boys and 160 girls.
Marsabit has the lowest male children deaths at 55 while Meru county has the lowest female children deaths at 38.
Kisumu and Turkana recorded the highest number of deaths of both male and female infants under a year per 1,000 live births.
Data showed the counties employed more women than men, and women live longer than men in all counties with the exception of Marsabit.
Kirinyaga has the highest number of doctors per 100,000 population, recording 14, while Bomet and Turkana have only four doctors for the same population.
