The East African Community remained Kenya’s largest export market on the continent accounting for 62.6 per cent of the country’s total exports to Africa.
The Kenya National Bureau of Statistic’s 2020 Economic Survey shows Sh140.35 billion worth of goods were sold to EAC member states last year.
The value of exports to Tanzania, Rwanda and Uganda increased by 13.0 per cent, 29.9 per cent and 2.4 per cent to Sh33.9 billion, Sh23.2 billion and Sh64.1 billion, respectively.
This was on account of the increase in soap and crude palm oil exports.
On the other hand, a drop in the domestic exports of cigarettes to Somalia during the review period resulted to a drop in export earnings from the region to Sh11.8 billion compared to Sh15.1 billion the previous year.
Of the total Sh596.7 billion worth of export earnings the country gained in 2019, Africa accounted for Sh224.2 billion (37.6 per cent).
The value of exports to Asia stood at Sh156 billion, making it the country’s second-largest export destination despite reporting a 13.8 per cent decline during the review period.
Exports to the Middle East rose by 3.6 per cent to Sh66 billion largely driven by an increase in the value of exports of goat meat.
Exports to the Far East declined by 23.2 per cent to Sh90 billion in 2019, mainly attributable to decreases in the value of exports of horticultural products and tea.
Europe was the third-largest destination of exports, accounting for 25.4 per cent of the total exports at Sh151.3 billion. This is despite reporting a 0.9 percentage point drop.
“The share of export earnings from the European Union (EU) stood at 22.4 per cent of the total export earnings, mainly due to horticultural products,” the report stated.
Netherlands, United Kingdom and Germany were the three major export destinations within the EU region in 2019.
Kenya’s trade deficit for the year narrowed by 5.2 per cent to Sh1.21 trillion as total imports increased by 2.4 per cent to S1.81 trillion.
“Major imports included petroleum products; industrial machinery; iron and steel; road motor vehicles; plastics in primary and non-primary form; and pharmaceutical products, which collectively accounted for 49.5 per cent of the total import bill,” the report stated.