ECONOMY: Four countries that account for half of Kenya’s import bill
Last year(2023), four countries – China, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), India, and Saudi Arabia – accounted for half of Kenya’s import bill.
According to full-year trade data released by the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS), Kenya’s import bill increased by 4% to Sh2.59 trillion, with the four countries accounting for Sh1.29 trillion, or 50% of total import expenditure.
According to KNBS data, non-food industrial supplies, fuel, and lubricants from the Middle East and other Asian countries accounted for 60 percent of total imports last year.
China, Kenya’s primary source of electronics and other household commodities, reported a 1% increase in exports to Kenya, setting a new record of Sh459 billion.
The UAE, which primarily exports fuel to Kenya, remained in second place with goods worth Sh413.2 billion, up from Sh407.8 billion in 2022.
Export receipts surpassed Sh1 trillion for the first time, rising 15% on the back of a 19% increase in food sales to Sh398.7 billion.
The remarkable growth in export earnings compared to growth in expenditure on foreign goods reduced the trade deficit to Sh1.59 trillion, down from Sh1.62 trillion the year before.
Receipts from Uganda increased by 41% to a record high of Sh113.8 billion last year, accounting for 11% of total export earnings.
The increase was primarily due to increased sales of agricultural produce and petroleum products to the landlocked country.
The increase in Uganda’s share of Kenya’s export earnings to more than 10% creates a concentration risk for Kenya’s export earnings if there is a fallout or a significant shift in policy that sidelines Kenya.
Exports to the United States fell by 22 percent to Sh59.4 billion, dropping it from second to fourth place behind Uganda, Pakistan, and the Netherlands.
The drop in American imports from Kenya occurred despite the country shipping in goods worth Sh113 billion to Kenya, a 22% increase from the previous year.
ECONOMY: Four countries that account for half of Kenya’s import bill
