The number of passports issued dipped to a four-year low in 2025, despite printing system upgrades and the opening of more processing centres.
Official data shows that 393,567 passports were issued last year, a 36.7 percent drop from the 621,794 in 2024 and the lowest since the 273,328 issued in 2021.
The significant drop in passports issued signals prolonged delays and struggles for Kenyans seeking to travel abroad to pursue job and education opportunities.
The Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) did not disclose the reason behind the plunge, which comes despite the government procuring new high-capacity printers, opening more centres and cutting processing times for passports for jobs abroad to 72 hours from several months.
‘Passports issued declined by 36.7 percent to 393,567 in 2025,’ KNBS says in the Economic Survey 2026.
KNBS does not disclose the annual number of passport applications, making it difficult to ascertain whether the dip in issuance could have been caused by reduced applications last year.
The number of passports issued had hit a record high of 621,794 in 2024 in the wake of system upgrades that significantly eased the processing of the documents.
Capacity push
The government bought two new high-capacity passport printers in late 2024 in a bid to reduce processing time.
Some one million passport booklets were also procured, in addition to the hiring of 286 officers, in a bid to ease pressure on existing staff.
The Immigration Services main office at Nyayo House in Nairobi has, for years, grappled with repeated breakdowns and spikes in demand as more Kenyans visit the centre in search of passports.
A shortage of passport booklets has compounded the problem as the government struggles to handle applications, which are estimated at an average of 5,000 daily or more than 1.8 million annually.
The government plans to establish new passport application centres in Nairobi and several counties across the country in a move aimed at ending chronic congestion at Nyayo House.
The Interior Ministry last year proposed new centres in Westlands, Upper Hill, Makadara, Kiserian, Athi River and Thika amid increased demand for key travel documents.
It also recommended decentralising passport services to Malindi, Voi, Kwale, Isiolo, Machakos, Lodwar, Narok and Siaya counties to ease pressure on Nairobi and reduce long-distance travel for applicants.