The Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) has revealed that the government spent Ksh1.4 trillion on imports in 2023.

In the 2023 Economic Survey Report, KNBS said 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 report, Kenya spent Ksh459 billion on imports from China and another Ksh411.5 billion on imports from the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Additionally, the President William Ruto’s led administration spent Ksh145.2 billion on commodities from Saudi Arabi, Ksh269 billion on imports from India and another Ksh 120.5 billion on imports from Malaysia.

“Trade balance narrowed from a deficit of Ksh1.62 trillion to Ksh1.60 trillion,” added another part of the report.

On other hand, the Kenyan government gained Ksh415.1 billion from imports to five of its main global trade partners during the same period.

Uganda paid the highest amount to Kenya, Ksh126.3 billion, followed by Pakistan at Ksh78.9 billion.

Netherlands was the third highest importer from Kenya with Ksh76.3 billion followed by Tanzania (Ksh69.3 billion) and the United States of America (Ksh64.3 billion).

Top 5 Exports

In 2023, tea was the main export at Ksh188.7 billion followed by horticulture products at Ksh187.4 billion.

The other three were: Apparel and Clothing (Ksh45.5 billion), Coffee (Ksh34.6 billion) and Iron and Steel (Ksh32.3 billion).

“Export-import cover ratio improved from 35.1% to 38.6%,” KNBS said.

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Imports

Ruto spent Ksh606 billion on petroleum and another Ksh289.8 billion on Industrial and Machinery in the same period.

Besides, the government paid Ksh139.1 billion for Animals and Vegetable Oils/Fats, Ksh120.8 billion for Iron and Steel and another Ksh93.8 billion unmilled wheat.

“Total volume of petroleum products imports into the country declined by 27.6% to 4.3 million tonnes in 2023. Total domestic demand remained relatively at the same level as 2022 at 5.1% million tonnes in 2023,” KNBS said.

The volume of output in the manufacturing sector expanded by 2.8% in 2023 while the total credit approved in the sector increased to Ksh639 billion from Ksh528.9 billion in 2022.

Also, the number of people employed in the formal manufacturing sector grew by 2.75 to 362,300 in 2023.

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KNBS Other Statistics

According to the KNBS survey, the national government revenue is expected to grow by 30.2% to Ksh3.0 trillion while that of the counties is expected to increase by 19.0% to Ksh512.0 billion during the 2023/24 financial year.

Likewise, the national government expenditure is expected to increase by 26.6% to Ksh4.0 trillion while that of the counties is expected to increase by 35.4% to Ksh562.3 billion.

The total debt rose by 19.3% to Ksh9.6 trillion by end of June 2023.

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