diff --git a/src/server/kbn_server.js b/src/server/kbn_server.js
index 921801679cd1f..e4d18a7b8afb9 100644
--- a/src/server/kbn_server.js
+++ b/src/server/kbn_server.js
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@ import optimizeMixin from '../optimize';
 import pluginsInitializeMixin from './plugins/initialize';
 import { indexPatternsMixin } from './index_patterns';
 import { savedObjectsMixin } from './saved_objects';
+import { statsMixin } from './stats';
 
 const rootDir = fromRoot('.');
 
@@ -40,6 +41,9 @@ export default class KbnServer {
       warningsMixin,
       statusMixin,
 
+      // set up stats route
+      statsMixin,
+
       // writes pid file
       pidMixin,
 
diff --git a/src/server/stats/index.js b/src/server/stats/index.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..8c76a0b6ca257
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/server/stats/index.js
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+export { statsMixin } from './stats_mixin';
diff --git a/src/server/stats/stats.js b/src/server/stats/stats.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..cfef219d4c1ae
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/server/stats/stats.js
@@ -0,0 +1,21 @@
+import { SavedObjectsClient } from '../saved_objects/client';
+
+async function getStatsForType(savedObjectsClient, type) {
+  const { total } = await savedObjectsClient.find({ type, perPage: 0 });
+  return { total };
+}
+
+export async function getStats(kibanaIndex, callAdminCluster) {
+  const savedObjectsClient = new SavedObjectsClient(kibanaIndex, callAdminCluster);
+  const types = ['dashboard', 'visualization', 'search', 'index-pattern'];
+  const requests = types.map(type => getStatsForType(savedObjectsClient, type));
+  const results = await Promise.all(requests);
+  const stats = {};
+
+  results.forEach((statsForType, index) => {
+    stats[types[index]] = statsForType;
+  });
+
+  stats.index = kibanaIndex;
+  return stats;
+}
diff --git a/src/server/stats/stats_mixin.js b/src/server/stats/stats_mixin.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..d8ff833591083
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/server/stats/stats_mixin.js
@@ -0,0 +1,19 @@
+import { getStats } from './stats';
+
+export function statsMixin(kbnServer, server) {
+  server.route({
+    method: 'GET',
+    path: '/api/stats',
+    handler: function (request, reply) {
+      const { callWithInternalUser } = server.plugins.elasticsearch.getCluster('admin');
+      const callAdminCluster = (...args) => callWithInternalUser(...args);
+
+      const stats = getStats(
+        server.config().get('kibana.index'),
+        callAdminCluster
+      );
+
+      return reply(stats);
+    }
+  });
+}