The Far East is proving to be a huge market for Kenya’s exports gobbling up 29.5 percent of the total exports in 2018.
According to a Kenya National Bureau of Statistics report Final Economic Survey 2018, total export earnings rose by 3.2 percent to KSh612.9 B in 2018.
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The Far East
In addition, exports to Asia grew by 11.4 percent amounting to KSh180.9B with total exports to the Far East accounting for 64.8 percent (KSh117.2B) of total exports to the Asian region.
Furthermore, the report shows significant improvements in exports to India, China, Thailand and Afghanistan. For instance, domestic exports of dried leguminous vegetables to India grew fivefold while exports of aluminum waste and wool recorded notable growth.
Pakistan remains the biggest export market despite earnings declining from KSh 64.1 billion in 2017 to KSh 59.4 billion in 2018, on account of a 7.5 percent decline in the value of tea exports.
Middle East
On top of that, the value of exports to the Middle East recorded a 24 per cent growth to KSh 63.7 billion due to an increase in exports to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Saudi Arabia.
The growth in export earnings from the UAE was largely on account of a 5.2 percent increase in tea exports. Moreover, re-exports of jet fuel to UAE more than doubled from KSh 5.0 billion in 2017 to KSh 10.9 billion in 2018.
European Union
Furthermore, the Eurozone accounted for 21.4 percent of total exports in 2018 amounting to Ksh131.2 billion indicating a 4.4 percent year on year growth.
The Netherlands and the United Kingdom were the highest earners with KSh 46.4 billion and KSh 40.2 billion respectively. Notable exports include horticultural products and avocados.
Furthermore, in the period under review export earnings from the United States of America amounted to KSh 47.3 billion mainly from apparel and clothing accessories.
Declining African Exports
Although Africa is Kenya’s biggest export market accounting for 35.3 per cent of total exports in 2018, trade declined for the third consecutive year to KSh 216.2 billion.
Similarly, exports to the East African Community (EAC) decreased from KSh 131.6 billion in 2017 to KSh 129.0 billion in 2018 and accounted for 59.7 per cent of total exports to Africa.
