Kenya Statutory payroll contributions (employee)
Kenya Statutory payroll contributions (employee) run from 1.5% to 6% across 3 contribution branches, cited to NSSF Act No. 45 of 2013; Social Health Insurance Act 2023; Affordable Housing Act 2024; deductibility per the Tax Laws (Amendment) Act 2024, in force since 1 Feb 2026. Last checked against the official source on 30 Jul 2026.
Kenya's mandatory employee-side payroll deductions: NSSF, the Social Health Insurance Fund and the Affordable Housing Levy.
Compare social contributions across all 34 African countries →
| Current value | 1.5–6% across 3 contribution branches |
|---|---|
| In force from | 2026-02-01 |
| Official source | NSSF Act No. 45 of 2013; Social Health Insurance Act 2023; Affordable Housing Act 2024; deductibility per the Tax Laws (Amendment) Act 2024 |
| Last verified | 2026-07-30 |
| Verification | secondary — Corroborated, but the primary instrument was NOT read (usually the publishing host blocks automated access). CONFIDENCE FLAG ON NSSF, CARRIED DELIBERATELY: the February 2026 band (lower limit 9,000, upper 108,000, employee maximum 6,480 per month) is taken from professional-firm alerts, because the NSSF's own page still displayed the superseded 2014 figures when checked. |
| Provenance | source fingerprint |
What this value means
EMPLOYEE SIDE ONLY; NSSF and the housing levy are matched by the employer, which doubles the cost of employment but does not change the deduction. All three are deductible for PAYE under the Tax Laws (Amendment) Act 2024, which materially changes net pay and is a common error when modelling Kenya. CONFIDENCE FLAG ON NSSF, CARRIED DELIBERATELY: the February 2026 band (lower limit 9,000, upper 108,000, employee maximum 6,480 per month) is taken from professional-firm alerts, because the NSSF's own page still displayed the superseded 2014 figures when checked. The rate of 6% is not in doubt; the band is the part to reconfirm against the gazette before relying on it for a ceiling calculation. SHIF replaced NHIF on 2024-10-01 - anything still quoting NHIF bands is out of date - and carries a 300 shilling monthly floor, so at low pay the effective rate exceeds 2.75%.
Get it programmatically
curl https://afriref.dev/v1/ke/social-contributions
# $0.005 per call — x402 on Base (USDC). No key, no signup.
# History: curl https://afriref.dev/v1/ke/social-contributions/history?from=2020-01-01
# Provenance: curl https://afriref.dev/provenance/ke/social-contributionsOther Kenya series: CBK central bank rate · Statutory late-payment interest · VAT standard rate · Minimum wage (lowest general-order rate) · Public holidays · CPI inflation (year-on-year) · Corporate income tax rate · Withholding tax rates · Personal income tax brackets · CBK indicative exchange rates (trade-weighted average) · VAT registration threshold
The same figure elsewhere: Lesotho · Mali · Mauritius · Morocco · Mozambique · all 34