Report: Crime dropped in 2025, but 2,711 murders still recorded

Kenya recorded a decline in criminal activities in 2025, statistics from the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) show. Crimes reported to police fell by 5.1 per cent to 96,038 in 2025.

In 2024, there were 101,220 crimes reported, 104,842 in 2023, 88,083 in 2022 and 81,272 in 2021.

There were 2,711 murder cases in 2025, 3,015 in 2024, 3.031 in 2023, 3,056 in 2022 and 3,281 in 2021, while there were 3,261 robberies in 2025, 3,642 in 2024, 3,988 in 2023, 3,125 in 2022 and 2,456 in 2021.

The statistics show stealing hit 16,430 cases in 2025, 17,560 in 2024, 18,534 in 2023, 14,718 in 2022 and 11,762 in 2021.

Cases of theft of vehicles and other thefts stood at 1,282 in 2025, 1,383 in 2024, 1,687 in 2023, 1,459 in 2022 and 1,278 in 2021.

During the same period, police recovered 427 illegally held firearms, up from 104 recovered in 2024.

In a notable shift, firearm surrenders surged to 1,291 in 2025 from just 31 in 2024, while recovered and surrendered ammunition rose to 7,171 rounds from 4,820 rounds in 2024. The number of persons reported to have committed crimes also declined by 3.3 per cent to 99,852.

“There was a general decline in all crimes reported to the police except for traffic offences and other penal code offences, which increased by 51.4 per cent and 2.8 per cent, respectively, in 2025. Corruption and dangerous drugs offences recorded declines of 20.2 per cent and 16.1 per cent, respectively.”

Offences involving police officers, homicide, robbery and breakings decreased by 12.2, 10.1, 10.5 and 11.5 per cent, respectively. Other offences against persons accounted for 25.5 per cent of all crimes reported to the police in 2025,” the report shows.

The total number of persons reported to the police to have committed offences decreased by 3.3 per cent to 99,852 in 2025.The total number of male and femaleoffenders decreased by 3.1 per cent and 3.9 per cent, respectively, in 2025.

Garissa and Embu command stations recorded the increases of 34.4 per cent and 23.6 per cent, respectively, while KAPU, Vihiga, West-Pokot and Tharaka-Nithi recorded declines of over 20.0 per cent.

In a report covering September 2025 to February 2026, Interior Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen told Parliament that 48,545 cases were reported, compared to 49,325 in the same period the previous year—representing a decrease of 780 cases, or 1.6 per cent.

He said police are making efforts to address crime in general.Between 2021 and 2025, Nairobi City police command station accounted for the highest share of reported crimes at 10.4 per cent, followed by Kiambu and Meru at 7.7 per cent and 5.8 per cent respectively.

Garissa police command station recorded the highest percentage increase in reported crimes at 32.4 per cent, while the Kenya Airports Police Unit (KAPU) recorded the highest decline at 43.7 per cent.

The number of registered murder cases at theHigh Courts increased by 25.4 per cent to 914, whilemurder convictions rose by 37.4 per cent to 514 in2025.

In the review period, the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) forwarded 175 reportsto the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions(ODPP), an increase from 126 forwarded in theprevious year. The value of assets traced increasedfrom Sh16.0 billion in 2023/24 to Sh22.9 billionin 2024/25.

Environmental crimes reported by theNational Environment Management Authority (NEMA)declined from 93 in 2024 to 32 in 2025.

The numberof cases filed in courts increased by 20.4 per cent to621,525, while pending cases decreased by 5.7 per centto 598,835 in 2025. The number of practising lawyersincreased by 8.7 per cent to 18,337 in 2025.

During the review period, the total number ofpersons committed to prison decreased by 9.1 per centto 189,998, while the daily average prison populationincreased by 2.9 per cent to 60,740 in 2025. Theprisoner turnover rate was 3.1 in 2025.

The numberof children in conflict with the law decreased by 37.5per cent to 334 in 2025. The number of convictedforeign nationals increased by 6.4 per cent to 1,137 in2025. The total number of offenders serving probationsentences increased from 5,912 in 2024 to 6,439 in2025.

Conversely, the total number of offenders undercommunity service decreased by 30.9 per cent to 6,914in 2025.

The ratio of police officers to the population declined to 1:525 in 2025 from 1:504 in 2024, while that of prison officers to inmates and probation officers to offenders serving non-custodial sentences improved to 1:6 and 1:9 in 2025 from 1:7 and 1:10 in 2024, respectively.

Identity card applications increased by 49.1per cent to 1,509,957, with newly produced identitycards increasing by 15.1 per cent to 1,225,299 andcollections rising by 18.7 per cent to 1,147,395 in2025. The total number of registered voters increasedslightly by 0.9 per cent to 22,318,104 in 2025.

Childprotection cases reported to the State Department forChildren Services increased by 12.2 per cent to 200,669in 2025.

During the same period, 69,832 persons withdisabilities were newly registered compared to 61,016in 2024.

Passports issued declined by 36.7 per cent to393,567 in 2025. Work permits issued dropped by 70.6per cent to 1,894, while work permit renewals increasedby 7.8 per cent to 11,201 in 2025.

Kenya’s refugee andasylum seeker population rose from 823,932 in 2024 to 835,793 in 2025.