Kenya’s Import and Export Volumes Drop as Trade With Neighbours Decline
According to the most recent report from the Central Bank of Kenya’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC), released on January 6, 2023, there was a decline in Kenya’s imports and exports in 2023 as compared to the previous year, 2022.
In 2023, Kenya experienced a 2.2% decrease in the goods it exported to its trading partners and a 10.6% decrease in the imports it received.
Despite experiencing a 9.3 percent rise in exports and a 7.3 percent uptick in imports in 2022, Kenya still faced challenges in this regard.
The CBK report was published one month following the release of data by the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS), indicating a Ksh2 billion decline in export trade between Kenya and Uganda from September to November 2023.
Likewise, there was a decrease of Ksh700 million in exports to Tanzania from October to November 2023. Among Kenya’s primary trading partners in the East African Community (EAC), only Rwanda showed a slight uptick of Ksh100 million during the corresponding timeframe.
“The decline in exports in 2023 was across several categories, except food, chemicals, and manufactured goods exports which increased by 0,8 percent, 2.8 percent, and 11.3 percent respectively,” CBK noted.
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It’s important to highlight that Kenya relies significantly on agriculture, and one of its primary contributions to the global market is through the export of food.
The rise in quantities of food products can be primarily attributed to the expanding markets in the United States, the European Union, the United Kingdom, and China.
Even though there might be a decline in trade with neighboring nations, the Central Bank of the country highlighted an increasing desire in the area for manufactured products.
In the realm of imports, it was observed that there was a decrease in every category except for food and raw materials.
This was offset by a 30.7% rise in the number of tourists visiting and a 4% uptick in remittance inflows.
Kenya’s primary sources of foreign exchange are remittances and tourism, with Kenyan expatriates contributing Ksh672 billion in 2023.
Despite the turbulence experienced in 2023, the Central Bank (CBK) predicted a resurgence in import levels, strong remittances, and a revival in agricultural exports throughout 2024.
Kenya’s Import and Export Volumes Drop as Trade With Neighbours Decline