The new economic survey report by Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) has revealed the top exported commodities Kenya exported in 2023.
The report noted that Kenya spent more on imports than the amount it received from exports in international trade.
“Exports grew by 15.4% to Ksh1.0 trillion while imports increased by 4.9% to Ksh2.6 trillion,” read the report in part.
According to the survey, agriculture reserved the negative growth trend recorded since 2021 to register a growth of 7.0 per cent in 2023. Tea was the most exported commodity in Kenya standing at Ksh188.7B.
“The production of tea increased from 156.7B in 2022 to 176.3 in 2023,” the report read.
Horticulture (Ksh187.4B), Apparel & clothing (Ksh45.5), coffee (Ksh34.6B), Iron & steel (Ksh32.3B) followed on the list respectively.
Horticulture exports increased from Ksh147.1B in 2022 to Ksh153.7B in 2023.
However, the imports also increased by 4.9% to Ksh2.6 trillion according to the report which further revealed that export-import cover ratio improved from 35.1% to 38.6%.
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Despite coffee ranking among the top three on the most exported commodities in Kenya, it declined from 7.4B to 19.9B in 2023.
Other Commodities KNBS Report
On the other hand, KNBS report stated that the marketed production of maize increased from Ksh7.9B in 2022 to Ksh11.3B in 2023 while sugarcane increased from Ksh28.4B in 2021 to Ksh34.1B in 2022.
Milk also increased from Ksh36.9B in 2022 to Ksh41.0B in 2023.
The key international trade export partners mentioned in the report include Uganda (Ksh126.3B), Pakistan (Ksh78.9B), Netherlands (Ksh76.3B), Tanzania (Ksh69.3B) and United States of America (Ksh 64.3B) respectively.
The World GDP slowed down was more pronounced across advanced economies than in Emerging Markets and Developing Economies (EMDEs).
“World real GDP slowed to 3.1% in 2023 compared to 3.5 in 2022,” the report stated.
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KNBS Report on World Economic Performance
Mainly due to base effect of Covid-19 pandemic recovery, US dollar appreciation, and escalation of trade barriers, the trade volume decelerated to 0.4% in 2023 compared to 5.2% in 2022.
The report further stated that “unemployment rate declined to 5.1% in 2023 from 5.3% in 2022.”
The global inflation eased from 8.7% in 2022 to 6.8% in 2023, primarily due to the partial significant rise in energy prices and easing of supply chain disruption.
In addition, the annual inflation remained at 7.7% in 2023 due to high energy prices.
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