Kenyan national and county governments are consistently breaching the 35% wage bill cap, with salaries significantly outpacing revenue growth and crowding out development spending. New data from the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC) highlights a critical fiscal challenge as personnel costs consume a disproportionate share of public funds.

• County governments' wage bill-to-revenue ratio reached a peak of 54.7% in the third quarter of the financial year ending June 2025, far exceeding the legal threshold. It is projected to close the year at 48%.
• The national government's wage bill, while more contained, also frequently breached the 35% cap relative to ordinary revenue, surging to 43.7% in the third quarter.
• The public sector workforce expanded by 3.1% in 2024, surpassing one million employees for the first time, with the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) remaining the largest employer at 410,700 employees.