Kenya has registered 11.9pc growth in total exports in 12 months to October this year to reach Ksh 1.05 trillion ($8.14b), new data by the central bank shows.
According to the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK), the growth in exports from Ksh 938 billion registered over the same period last year was supported by a sharper rise in re-exports which increased by 78pc, from Ksh 92.9 billion reported last year to Ksh 165.5 billion.
The country’s earnings from exports also grew by 15pc between January and October 2024 rising to Ksh 902.7 billion compared to Ksh 785 billion reported over the same period last year.
“This was driven by export of agricultural commodities and re-exports,” said Dr Kamau Thugge.
He added, “This year we are doing much better than last year and therefore expect that the overall exports performance would be 11.6pc higher than in 2023.”
The growth in export earnings was also driven by a 4.7pc recovery witnessed in domestic export volume to Ksh 877.6 billion from Ksh 838.5 billion reported in 2023.
The increase in domestic exports was majorly driven by higher exports in commodities and transactions, mineral fuels, animal and vegetable oils, and miscellaneous manufactured articles which increased by 37.3pc, 33.8pc, 31.6pc and 18.3pc respectively.
The data reveals that fresh vegetables exporters recorded the highest growth in earnings during the twelve month period to October 2024. Earnings rose by 29.4pc to reach Ksh 35 billion compared to Ksh 27 billion they earned last year.
During the period, exporters of clothing and accessories also saw their earnings rise by 19.7pc to reach Ksh 51.5 billion from Ksh 43 billion reported last year.
Imports on the other hand registered a 7.9pc increase during the twelve months period to October this year, reaching Ksh 2.4 trillion from Ksh 2.2 trillion last year on account of higher imports of intermediate and capital goods.
The central bank expects continuous improvement in exports especially of agricultural commodities, resilient remittances, trade and investment initiatives, and recovery in imports supported by a stable exchange rate to stabilize the current account deficit at 4pc between 2024 and 2025. The current account deficit was 3.8pc of GDP in the 12 months to October this year.
