The value of Imports grew by 8.8 percent to 460.6 billion shillings in the second quarter of 2018 from 423.5 billion shillings in the second quarter of 2017.
This is according to the latest data from the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) which attributed the higher import bill on the review period to increased expenditure on commodities such as petroleum products, industrial machinery, medicinal and pharmaceutical products, wire products, and aircraft, associated equipment and parts.
Source; KNBS
Value of imported petroleum products increased to 82.1billion shillings in the second quarter of 2018 from 56.0 billion shillings in the corresponding quarter of 2017, recording a 46.6 percent growth.
Similarly, the import value of Industrial machinery increased by 8.7 percent in the second quarter of 2018 compared to a similar period the previous year.
Notable import value decreases were on expenditure on telecommunications equipment, automatic data processing machines, sugars and cereals (maize, wheat, and rice) during the review period.
The total value of imports in the first quarter was 438.5 billion shillings, which was linked to increased expenditure on imports of petroleum products, iron and steel, and road motor vehicles.
On the flip-side in the first quarter, exports recorded a 7.2 percent increase to 161.7 billion shillings within the first three months of the year.
This was attributed to increased export earnings from tea, horticultural products and; titanium ores and concentrates whose export values went up by 12.5, 15.7 and 34.5 percent respectively.
A comparison of the two; imports and exports show that Kenya’s balance of trade is still heavily in favor of its trading partners.