Kenya's economic growth slowed to 4.8pc in 2022, KNBS says

Kenya’s economy grew by 4.8 percent in 2022, a slower pace than 7.6 percent recorded the previous year, the statistics office has said.

The Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) released the Economic Survey 2022 Wednesday, detailing how various sectors and jobs market performed.

Most sectors recorded decelerated growth compared to 2021, with agriculture and manufacturing contracting in the period.

“2022 was marked by many negative shocks from the supply side. The persistent shocks which are still present, created permanent negative effects impacting economic activity and the cost of living,” Kenya’s Treasury Cabinet Secretary Njuguna Ndung’u said.

"The economic survey will inform a raft of measures on policy reforms to support economic activity and address the cost-of-living concerns," he added.

Here are some highlights of the survey:

• Agriculture contracted for the second consecutive year by -1.9 percent compared to -0.3 percent in 2021. Agriculture’s contribution to GDP dropped from 22.4 percent to 21.2 percent.
• The volume of petroleum products imported increased by 7.6 percent.
• Manufacturing contracted to -2.7 percent from 7.3 percent the previous year.
• Construction grew slowly at 4.1 percent compared with 6.7 percent in 2021. Cement consumption increased, 1,390 housing units were built by government, and tarmac roads increased by 2.8 percent.
• Transport grew by 5.6 percent.
• ICT growth was 9.9 percent.
• Financial services at 12.8 percent.
• Accommodation and food at 26.2 percent.

Top export earners last year were tea at Ksh163.3 billion ($1.2 billion), horticulture Ksh152 billion ($1.12 billion), apparels at Ksh43 billion ($315.94 million) and coffee at Ksh37.1 billion ($272.6 million).

The number of ECDEs and primary schools decreased between 2021 and 2022 even as the number of pupils increased, highlighting the impact the pandemic disruption had on the viability of schools.

Birth registration also went down from 83 percent to 81 percent.