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Policy profile on 12 axes

How Kenya Is Governed

Kenya is a unitary state with strong regional or devolved governments that scores 0.45 out of 1 on the V-Dem Liberal Democracy Index (2025). Government spending is 24% of GDP (IMF, 2025), the death penalty remains in law but is not used and same-sex relations are criminalized. Below: the laws, institutions and public spending of Kenya, scored on the same 12 axes as the test, with every indicator and source.

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Policy profile

The 12 axes, indicator by indicator

This profile describes the country's policy regime (laws, institutions and public spending) from published indices, not the views of its people or its current leaders. Data as of October 2026; each value shows its own year.

Ownership-0.10PublicPrivate4 indicators and sources
  • State ownership of the economy (coded tier): State controls major firms in several sectors beyond utilities (energy, banking, telecom, mining, transport) (2026). Source
  • Index of Economic Freedom 2026: Property Rights (0-100): 40.2 (2026). Source
  • Index of Economic Freedom 2026: Investment Freedom (0-100): 55 (2026). Source
  • Index of Economic Freedom 2026: Financial Freedom (0-100): 50 (2026). Source
Markets0.00PlannedFree5 indicators and sources
  • Index of Economic Freedom 2026: Business Freedom (0-100): 61.5 (2026). Source
  • Index of Economic Freedom 2026: Labor Freedom (0-100): 56.5 (2026). Source
  • Index of Economic Freedom 2026: Monetary Freedom (0-100): 75.1 (2026). Source
  • Regulatory Quality, estimate (-2.5 to 2.5): -0.37 (2025). Source
  • State ownership of the economy (coded tier): State controls major firms in several sectors beyond utilities (energy, banking, telecom, mining, transport) (2026). Source
Welfare+0.55SharedSelf-reliant3 indicators and sources
  • General government total expenditure (% of GDP): 23.97 (2025). Source
  • Domestic general government health expenditure (% of GDP): 1.95 (2023). Source
  • Index of Economic Freedom 2026: Tax Burden (0-100): 76.3 (2026). Source
Authority-0.20DemocraticStrong leader2 indicators and sources
  • Liberal Democracy Index (0-1): 0.45 (2025). Source
  • Judicial constraints on the executive (0-1): 0.79 (2025). Source
Security-0.05LibertyOrder4 indicators and sources
  • Freedom in the World civil liberties score (0-60): 28 (2025). Source
  • World Press Freedom Index score (0-100): 50.51 (2026). Source
  • Death penalty status: Abolitionist in practice (no executions for 10 years or a formal moratorium) (2025). No executions since 1987. Source
  • Prison population per 100,000 people: 100 (2024). Source
Structure-0.25LocalCentral2 indicators and sources
  • Territorial form of the state: Regionalized or devolved unitary state (2025). Devolved county governments since 2013. Source
  • Strong elected regional governments index (0-1): 0.75 (2025). Source
Morality+0.50ProgressiveTraditional3 indicators and sources
  • Same-sex marriage law (0 marriage, 1 civil union or partnership, 2 no recognition, 3 constitutional or statutory ban): Same-sex relations criminalized (2026). Source
  • Abortion law: To preserve health, or a few narrow grounds such as rape (2025). Source
  • Women, Business and the Law: Legal Framework Index (0-100): 68.75 (2025). Source
Religion-0.35SecularReligious2 indicators and sources
  • Religion and the state: Separation: no official or funded religion (2025). Source
  • Blasphemy or religious-insult law in force: In force (2025). Penal Code section 138, insult to religion. Review. Source
Technology-0.25EmbraceCaution3 indicators and sources
  • Research and development expenditure (% of GDP): 0.81 (2024). Source
  • Nuclear power policy: No nuclear power, no legal ban (2025). Source
  • Genetically modified crop cultivation: GM crops grown commercially (2025). Bt cotton grown since 2020; the GM import ban was lifted in 2022. Source
Culture+0.30MulticulturalNational identity4 indicators and sources
  • International migrant stock (% of population): 1.76 (2024). Source
  • Citizenship by birth in the territory: None: citizenship by descent only (2025). Source
  • Residence required for ordinary naturalization (years; 0 = no ordinary route): 7 years (2025). Source
  • Dual citizenship for naturalizing adults: Allowed (2025). Source
Trade+0.85GlobalProtected4 indicators and sources
  • Tariff rate, applied, weighted mean, all products (%): 11.7 (2022). Source
  • Tariff rate, applied, simple mean, all products (%): 15.83 (2022). Source
  • Index of Economic Freedom 2026: Trade Freedom (0-100): 52 (2026). Source
  • Trade (exports + imports) (% of GDP): 37.52 (2025). Source
Foreign policy-0.70CooperationStrength5 indicators and sources
  • Military expenditure (% of GDP): 1.07 (2025). Source
  • Military conscription: None: volunteer forces or no military (2025). Source
  • Nuclear weapons status (0 none, 1 considers, 2 pursues, 3 possesses): No nuclear weapons program (2023). Source
  • Party to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court: State party (2026). Source
  • Collective defense commitments: None, or formal neutrality outside any pact (2026). Source

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Policy neighbours

Governed most like Kenya

Every other country with a profile, tinted by how close its laws, institutions and public spending are to those of Kenya on the same 12 axes. The percentage uses the 12 Axes match formula.

  1. 1Nigeria79%
  2. 2Philippines77%
  3. 3Brazil76%
  4. 4Indonesia76%
  5. 5India75%
Least similarCuba52%
World map of countries by how similar their policy regime is to KenyaClosest: 1. Nigeria 79%, 2. Philippines 77%, 3. Brazil 76%, 4. Indonesia 76%, 5. India 75%, 6. Pakistan 72%, 7. Romania 72%, 8. South Korea 72%, 9. Argentina 71%, 10. South Africa 71%. Least similar: Cuba 52%. Every country is in the list after the map.Kenya
Similar to this country
  • Under 55%
  • 65 to 74%
  • 85% or more
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FAQ

Kenya: questions

How is Kenya governed, on the 12 axes?

Kenya is a unitary state with strong regional or devolved governments that scores 0.45 out of 1 on the V-Dem Liberal Democracy Index (2025). Government spending is 24% of GDP (IMF, 2025), the death penalty remains in law but is not used and same-sex relations are criminalized. Its policy regime leans furthest toward Protected on Trade (+0.85), Cooperation on Foreign policy (-0.70) and Self-reliant on Welfare (+0.55), on a scale from -1 to +1.

Which countries are governed most like Kenya?

On the same 12 axes, the closest policy regimes are Nigeria (79%), the Philippines (77%) and Brazil (76%). The furthest is Cuba (52%). Matches use the same formula as the 12 Axes test.

Where does the data on Kenya come from?

From 41 indicators dated 2022 to 2026, published by V-Dem, Freedom House, the Heritage Foundation, the IMF, the OECD, the World Bank, SIPRI, Reporters Without Borders, the World Prison Brief, UN DESA and others. Among them: a press freedom score of 50.5 out of 100 (RSF, 2026), 100 prisoners per 100,000 people (2024), military spending of 1.1% of GDP (SIPRI, 2025) and 1.8% of residents born abroad (UN DESA, 2024). Every value, year and source is listed in the profile above.

Does the profile describe what people in Kenya think?

No. It describes the policy regime: laws, institutions and public spending. It does not measure public opinion or the speeches of the current government. To see which country is governed closest to your own views, take the 12 Axes test and open the country match on your result.

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