Unemployment and poverty have emerged once again as the biggest challenges facing Kenyans, with 44% of respondents naming the two issues as the country’s most serious problem, a new TIFA Research survey released on Wednesday, September 9, 2026, shows.
The findings point to continued concern over the state of the economy, with inflation, high prices and high taxes coming second at 25%. Corruption followed at 19%, showing that economic pressures remain far more prominent in the minds of most respondents than political and social concerns.
Overall, more than two-thirds of those interviewed pointed to either unemployment and poverty or inflation and high prices when asked to identify Kenya’s most serious problem.
“More than two-thirds of Kenyans mentioned the economy as the country’s ‘most serious problem’,” TIFA said in its analysis of the findings.
The latest results also mark a change from May, when rising inflation and high prices became the leading concern after fuel prices increased in April and May.
TIFA said the impact of the fuel price increases has since eased, allowing unemployment and poverty to reclaim the top position. The two issues stood at 44% in June, matching the level recorded in November 2025.
Meanwhile, the proportion of respondents who named inflation and high prices as the country’s biggest problem dropped sharply from 47% in May to 25% in June.
The decline came despite the inflation rate remaining at around 6.5%, according to the survey findings.
Corruption remained the third most cited concern, attracting 19% of responses. Poor leadership followed at 7%, while political and ethnic tensions, threats to peace and stability, crime and insecurity, access to healthcare and education recorded much lower levels of concern.
The survey also showed that political differences had little influence on how Kenyans viewed the problems facing the country.
“Opinions of the BBG have only minimal impact on views of Kenya’s ‘most serious problem’,” the research organisation said.
Among respondents who supported the BBG, 43% identified unemployment and poverty as the biggest concern, compared with an identical 43% among those who opposed it.
Inflation and high prices were cited by 29% of BBG supporters, while 25% of opponents identified the same issues as the country’s most serious problem.
TIFA said the results point to a common economic experience among Kenyans, with political differences doing little to change how people view the challenges affecting their lives.
The survey was conducted through face-to-face interviews involving 2,048 randomly selected adults across all 47 counties. The interviews took place between June 13 and June 22, 2026.