Public servants are earning more, but their pay is still under pressure – SRC

Kenya’s public servants are earning more than they did a decade ago, but relatively slow salary growth and rising living costs are putting pressure on the value of their pay, according to new data from the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC).

The average monthly gross salary for a public-sector employee rose from Ksh56,986 in 2015/16 to Ksh73,732 in 2024/25, an increase of about 29 percent over the period.

But the increase has not been matched by an equally rapid rise in salary growth. In 2024/25, average monthly gross salary increased by just 2.71 percent, according to the SRC’s long-term wage data.

That matters because the amount on a payslip does not tell the whole story. What matters to workers is how much that income can buy after accounting for changes in prices.

The SRC explicitly links inflation to workers’ purchasing power, warning that a persistent rise in prices erodes the value of the Kenya shilling.

“A persistent increase in inflation erodes not only the value of the Kenya Shilling, but also its purchasing power,” the commission says.

The pressure was evident during the second quarter of the 2025/26 financial year, covering October to December 2025.

Average inflation during the quarter was 4.5 per cent, up from 2.8 per cent in the same quarter of the previous financial year. The Consumer Price Index also increased from 146.84 in October to 148.02 in December.

The figures do not mean every public servant has become poorer in real terms. Salaries differ substantially by profession, grade and institution, while individual household spending patterns also vary.

But they show why higher nominal pay does not automatically translate into a similar improvement in living standards.

The pressure is particularly important for public employees because the government is simultaneously trying to contain the overall wage bill.

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The number of public-sector employees has grown steadily, rising from 736,300 in 2015/16 to 1.023 million in 2024, with the SRC annex putting 2024/25 at 1.054 million as an estimate or projection.

Teachers make up the largest group. Employment under the Teachers Service Commission increased from 390,400 in 2023 to 410,700 in 2024, a 5.2 percent increase.

The expanding workforce has been accompanied by a much larger public wage bill. Total compensation to employees increased from Ksh 622.3 billion in 2015/16 to Ksh 1.246 trillion in 2024/25.

Yet there has been progress in containing the wage bill relative to government revenue.

The wage bill-to-ordinary-revenue ratio fell from 54.77 percent in 2020/21 to 40.64 percent in 2024/25, although it remained above the 35 percent benchmark under the Public Finance Management framework.

The figures leave policymakers facing a difficult balancing act. Public servants need competitive remuneration to protect their living standards and retain skilled workers, but higher compensation also increases pressure on public finances.

The SRC received 84 requests from public institutions during the quarter covering allowances and benefits, collective bargaining negotiations, productivity and performance, and job evaluation and salary structures.

The commission says productivity must form part of the answer. Its steering committee adopted labour productivity as a key strategy for achieving the 35 percent wage-bill-to-ordinary-revenue target and resolved to convene a National Productivity Conference.

For Kenya’s public servants, therefore, the central issue is no longer simply whether salaries are rising.

It is whether public-sector pay is rising fast enough to preserve purchasing power while the government keeps the wage bill financially sustainable.

That tension is likely to remain at the centre of Kenya’s public-sector pay debate as the cost of living, recruitment needs and pressure for higher remuneration continue to compete for limited public resources.

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