The Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) has announced the commencement of a comprehensive nationwide data collection exercise under the 2025/26 Kenya Integrated Household Budget Survey (KIHBS), aimed at gathering critical information to inform public policy, economic planning, and the evaluation of living standards across the country.

In a public notice issued through the government publication MyGov, KNBS revealed that the exercise would begin in July 2025 and run for a full year, concluding on July 22, 2026.

The survey will cover a total of 24,480 scientifically selected households drawn from all 47 counties, including 960 households located in refugee camps.

The KIHBS is regarded as one of the most comprehensive household-level surveys conducted in the country, offering valuable insights that help shape Kenya’s long-term development agenda.

KNBS says the primary objective of the survey is to generate detailed data on household consumption, income distribution, employment and labor conditions, access to education and healthcare, child nutrition, fertility and mortality trends, and access to housing, water, sanitation, and energy.

The findings are expected to play a vital role in designing effective interventions for poverty reduction, improving service delivery, and measuring the progress made under key development plans such as Vision 2030 and the Bottom-Up Economic Transformation Agenda (BETA).

Enumerators recruited and trained by the bureau will conduct face-to-face interviews using digital tablets to record responses in real time.

Each enumerator will carry official identification badges featuring a QR scan code for verification, as well as an introduction letter from KNBS.

The bureau has urged all selected households to fully cooperate with enumerators and provide truthful and accurate information.

To allay privacy concerns, KNBS has assured the public that all responses will be treated with the highest level of confidentiality and used exclusively for statistical analysis. “Our commitment is to uphold the confidentiality of the data collected.

The information will be used strictly for statistical purposes and no individual data will be disclosed,” the notice reads in part.

As a critical tool for evidence-based decision-making, the KIHBS enables the government and stakeholders to track trends in poverty, income inequality, and access to social services.

KNBS is encouraging the public to support the exercise and has provided contact details for anyone seeking clarification, including their office address at Real Towers in Nairobi, an email contact, and a website link (www.knbs.or.ke).

The success of the KIHBS survey, KNBS emphasizes, will depend on the cooperation of the selected households and the wider public, as the information collected will serve as a foundation for designing responsive and equitable national policies.