Xifres de comerç exterior de Kenya

Foreign Trade in Figures

Kenya is relatively open to foreign trade, which accounts for 31% of its GDP (World Bank, latest data available). The country remains committed to trade liberalization through its membership in the World Trade Organisation (WTO), the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) and the East African Community (EAC), which includes Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, and South Sudan. Kenya also ratified the African Continental Free Trade Agreement and signed many bilateral trade agreements. The country is currently negotiating a free trade agreement with the United States and is one of the top five beneficiaries of the US-Africa trade initiative, the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA). Moreover, in 2022 the two countries launched the U.S.-Kenya Strategic Trade and Investment Partnership. Most tariff barriers have been eliminated and customs duties are not very high. Kenya mostly exports agricultural products (tea, flowers, coffee, fruits, and vegetables), petroleum oils, titanium ores, iron and medicines; and mainly imports petroleum products, palm oil, medicines, cereals, vehicles, and manufactured products.

The country's main customers are Uganda (12.3%), the Netherlands (8.3%), the United States (8%), Pakistan (7.2%), the United Kingdom (6.7%), and Tanzania (6.1%); whereas its main suppliers are China (20.5% of total imports), India (10.8%), the United Arab Emirates (8.3%), Saudi Arabia (5.3%), Japan (4.6%), Malaysia (4.4%) and the United States (4.1% - data Comtrade).

Kenya imports almost three times more than it exports, which translates into a trade balance that is largely in deficit. This situation persists, due to imports related to infrastructure modernization and oil exploration. In 2021, total goods exports reached USD 6.7 billion whereas imports amounted to USD 19.5 billion (+11.6% and +26.7% y-o-y, respectively). The bill of import for services stood at USD 4 billion, slightly below that of export (USD 4.6 billion). Overall, the negative trade balance was estimated at 9.5% of the country’s GDP (up from -8% one year earlier – data World Bank). Although official figures for 2022 are not available yet, Kenya’s exports suffered from the severe drought that hit the country: as an example, in the first nine months of the year overseas sales of black tea (the main export) dropped 22% in volume terms compared to the same period one year earlier (marking the first decline in five years).