Majority of Kenyans have experienced decline in personal and family finances since Ruto came to power – TIFA
By Cynthia Lodite, December 18, 2025Most Kenyans have experienced a decline in personal and family finances since President William Ruto came to power.
This is according to the latest TIFA report released on Thursday, December 18, 2025, conducted between 10 and 17 November 2025.
According to the poll’s findings, most households still feel economically worse off, and the lived economy remains a major vulnerability for the government heading toward 2027.
“While the pace of decline may be slowing, most households still feel economically worse off, and the lived economy remains a major vulnerability for the government heading toward 2027,” read the TIFA report.
In addition, the TIFA report shows the economic narrative is still overwhelmingly negative, and small gains have not yet translated into a broad-based recovery.
According to TIFA, the report comprises a total of 2,053 randomly selected Kenyan adults (aged 18 and above) across all 47 counties who were interviewed at their residences.
According to the poll’s findings, 44 per cent of Kenyans overwhelmingly define the country’s problems in economic terms, with unemployment, poverty, and high prices far outweighing political, security, or social concerns.
“Kenyans overwhelmingly define the country’s problems in economic terms, with unemployment, poverty, and high prices far outweighing political, security, or social concerns,” read the report.
Critically, the report indicates that most Kenyans believe that the national crisis is not political instability or security; it is economic survival.
“For most Kenyans, the national crisis is not political instability or security; it is economic survival,” read the report in part.
Past poll on household
The expenditure report comes just months after the TIFA report revealed that firewood remains the most commonly used cooking fuel among Kenyan households.
According to the report released by Trends and Insights for Africa (TIFA) on Thursday, September 11, 2025, 41 percent of the Kenyan population depends on it as their primary source of energy.
“While the most common fuel used by Kenyans overall for residential cooking is firewood (41 percent), there is a marked contrast between urban and rural dwellers in this regard, with a considerable majority of the former using LPG – nearly three times more than their rural counterparts (66 percent vs. 23 percent) – as the main fuel for this purpose,” the report showed.