Kenya’s trade deficit widens to Sh1.4trillion in 2021

NAIROBI, Kenya May 6-Kenya’s trade deficit has continued to widen crossing the Sh1trillion mark in 2021, as imports outweighed exports by almost Sh500billion, the economic survey shows.

According to the Economic Survey 2022, Kenya’s balance of trade deficit widened from Sh999.9 billion in 2020 to Sh1,407.6 billion in 2021

This means that earnings from total exports could only cater for 34.6 per cent of the country’s imports, during the year under review.

The survey noted that Kenya’s import bill grew by 30.9 per cent in 2021 to Sh2.1 trillion from Sh1.6 trillion in 2020.

Total exports on the other hand increased by 15.5 per cent to Sh743.7 billion in 2021.

“This increase in total exports was largely driven by a 17.5 per cent increase in earnings from domestic exports, which rose for the second consecutive year to Sh666.7 billion in 2021,” noted the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics.

The increases led to an improvement in the volume of trade from Sh2.2 trillion in 2020 to Sh2.8trillion in 2021.

This saw the export to import cover ratio decline from 39.2 per cent in 2020 to 34.6 per cent in 2021.

Kenya’s top exports over the year included horticultural products, tea, titanium ores and concentrates, cement and soda ash while top imports were petroleum products, iron and steel, animal and vegetable fats and oils, industrial machinery and road motor vehicles.

KNBS director general Mcdonald Obudho noted that the gradual easing of protocols imposed in 2020 to contain the Covid-19 pandemic resulted in the opening of economies and increased demand for goods and services, culminating into improved global trade in 2021.