Exports from tea stood at KES 138 Billion in 2022, a 2 billion rise from the KES 136 billion reported in the previous year defying global shocks such as the Russia-Ukraine war, according to the Tea Board of Kenya (TBK)
The earnings were attributed to the weak kenyan shilling, which depreciated 11.58 per cent in the 12 months to December 2022, closing at KES 123.4 to the US dollar.
The board also attributed the earnings to higher export volumes, with the total number of tea exported in 2022 being 410.2 million kilogrammes compared to the 388 million kgs exported in 2021.
“Export volumes in 2022 stood at 410.2 million kilogrammes of made against 388 million kgs in 2021. A good price and a strong dollar pushed up the returns for Kenyan tea to Pakistan –the country’s top buyer, despite recording a 14 per cent decline in volumes, the value of purchases increased to KES 58 billion in the review period from KES 55 billion a year earlier. says the TBK as quoted by Business Daily.
On the other hand, Egypt, which witnessed a sharp decline in volumes at 34 per cent, saw the value of the commodity sold to the North African State drop from KES 23 billion in 2021 to KES 20 billion last year.
The United Kingdom, Kenya’s third top buyer of the beverage, recorded a 21 per cent decline in volumes, with the value of the commodity that they paid dropping marginally from KES 10.6 billion to KES 10.8 billion last year.
Pakistan and Egypt account for 55 per cent of the total tea exports that Kenya sells to the world market.
Read also; Tea Production Declines by 40% in February.
