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Nairobi — UN urban centre

6,134,334

Nairobi: 6,134,334 people. Reference: 2025 annual estimate · World rank #65 of 12,138 source urban centres. Source: UN DESA, World Urbanization Prospects 2025 (CC BY 3.0 IGO). Source identifier: 2033; territory: Kenya (KEN). UN source workbook.

Method: Degree of Urbanisation (contiguous 1 km2 cells, density 1,500+ people/km2, total 50,000+). This is a source-defined urban centre, not a municipality or province. No association with a separate administrative entity is inferred from proximity or name.

Source centroid: -1.2659, 36.8452. National context uses World Bank estimates, a separate series and geography; no national share is inferred here.

UN population series

YearPeopleMethod
1975538,321Estimate
1980769,289Estimate
19851,084,164Estimate
19901,466,812Estimate
19951,973,871Estimate
20002,580,212Estimate
20053,134,699Estimate
20103,779,200Estimate
20154,674,237Estimate
20205,592,420Estimate
20256,134,334Estimate
20306,686,404Projection
20357,213,354Projection
20407,686,583Projection
20458,086,872Projection
20508,514,575Projection

Largest UN urban centres · Fastest-growing urban centres

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This page is a structured reference entry. Its sources, geographic definition and reference dates determine what the figures mean; it is not independent reporting about the causes of change. Read the accompanying explanation before comparing different places or vintages.

Why an urban centre is not a municipality →

Interpretation reviewed 12 October 2026. Underlying reference years are stated on the page; this is not a fresh census or dataset refresh.