This archive report was first published on 5 August 2020.
Kenya's trade deficit has narrowed significantly in the first half of the year, with a 20 percent reduction compared to the same period in 2019.
According to the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS), the trade deficit stood at Sh459 billion, down from Sh575 billion in the first half of last year.
This represents the lowest deficit level since the first half of 2016, when it was Sh390 billion.
Despite the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, exports of goods have rebounded in the first half of the year, with receipts from tea exports rising by 18.4 percent due to increased production, as noted in the Central Bank of Kenya's monetary policy committee report released last week.
The total volume of trade in the six months dropped to Sh1.09 trillion from Sh1.18 trillion recorded over the same period last year, primarily due to the pandemic's effects on global trade.
Imports from the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, which are majorly petroleum products, recorded significant declines of 52 and 49 percent, respectively.
However, Chinese goods remained dominant in Kenya's import mix, despite shrinking by nine percent from Sh173 billion to Sh157.31 billion, accounting for 20 percent of total cash spent on imports in the six months.
Export receipts, on the other hand, recorded a 4.6 percent rise to Sh317 billion from Sh303 billion earned in the same period last year.
