Kenya’s economy grew slower in the second half of the year to June 2024 at 4.6pc when compared to the same period last year, new data shows.
According latest data by the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS), the second quarter growth which was slower than 5.6pc recorded in the corresponding quarter last year was supported by agriculture sector which expanded by 4.8pc, real estate 6pc, financial and insurance activities 5.1pc and wholesale and retail 4.4pc.
“Additionally, the economy benefitted from robust performances in other sectors of the economy, such as Accommodation & Food Services (26.6pc), Information & Communication (7.2pc), and Professional, Administrative & Support Services (6.8pc),” sad KNBS.
The bureau says increased output in the agriculture sector was on account of increased production of sugarcane, milk and fruit exports.
“Cane deliveries increased by 81.5pc from 1,250.3 thousand metric tonnes in the second quarter of 2023 to 2,269.3 thousand metric tonnes in the period under review. Additionally, quantity of milk delivered to processors expanded by 7.9pc to 221.1 million litres, while the quantity of fruit exports rose by 4.3pc to stand at 71,787.0 metric tonnes during the review period,” said KNBS in its second quarter GDP report.
However, during the quarter, contractions were witnessed the mining and quarrying and construction sectors.
For instance, mining and quarrying contracted by 2.7pc while construction sector contracted by 2.9pc compared to a growth of 2.7pc in the second quarter of 2023.
On the other hand, inflation rate slowed to an average of 4.87pc in the second quarter of this year from 7.94pc recorded last year on account of lower prices of transportation and food and non-alcoholic beverages.
