Kenya’s imports from South Africa more than doubled in the first three months of 2022 after rising by 64 percent to Sh 17.7 billion from Shs10.8 billion reported during a similar period in 2021.
Data from the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics(KNBS0 indicate that overall, imports in Africa registered an increase of 24.7 percent from KSh 54.0 billion in the first quarter of 2021 to Shs67.3 billion in the period under review.
While imports from Tanzania increased by 23.7 percent compared to a similar period last year, the import bill was a decline from the previous quarter which stood at Shs14.8 billion.
The country’s total imports increased from Shs508.7 billion in the first quarter of 2021 to Shs 593.2 billion in the first quarter of 2022.
“The bulk of the import bill was attributable to Asia accounting for 67.8 percent, with China remaining the dominant
source of imports from this region, “KNBS’ quarterly Balance of Payment report indicated.
This, according to KNBS, was mainly on account of increased import values of petroleum products, animal and vegetable oils; and medicinal and pharmaceutical products.
“Expenditure on imports of petroleum products increased from Shs65.5 billion in the first quarter of 2021 to Shs100.2 billion in the first quarter of 2022, while the import bill on animal and vegetable oils and; medicinal and pharmaceutical products increased by 33.8 percent and 32.5 percent to Shs 34.6 billion and Shs 28.5 billion, respectively,” KNBS says.
Similarly, increased expenditure was recorded on imports of textile fabrics, paper and paperboard; and organic and inorganic chemicals by 50.2, 64.7, and 62.1 percent, respectively, during the period under review.
Notably, imports from Malaysia and India increased by 87.9 percent and 23.8 percent, respectively. The increase was partly due to rise in imports of crude palm oil from Malaysia, and medicaments from India
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