Kenya's Economy Drops by 0.3 Per Cent - KNBS Report

The country's economic growth shrank by 0.3 per cent for the Financial Year (FY) 2020 according to the 2021 Economic Survey Report issued by the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS).

The drop was attributed to the challenges brought about by the global Covid-19 pandemic.

According to the report, accommodation and food serving activities, education, professional and administrative services activities recorded significant declines in 2020.

Kenya's economy was, however, supported by the accelerated growth in the agricultural production, construction and health service sectors.

According to the survey report, accommodation and food services went down -47.7 per cent, education -10.7 per cent, transport and storage -7.8 per cent, wholesale and retail trade -0.4 per cent, and manufacturing -0.1 per cent.

On the other hand, construction went up 11.8 per cent, human health and social workers activities 6.7 per cent, finance and insurance activities 5.6 per cent, agriculture, forestry and fishing 4.8 per cent, and Information communication and technology 4.8 per cent.

"The contraction in Economic performance was attributed to; Disruption in labour supply brought about by restriction of movement and social distancing meant to contain the spread of Covid-19.

"Reduced demands for goods and services," the report read in part.

The large contraction in tourism and related activities was partly offset by growth in the Construction and Health sectors both driven by continued investment in public infrastructure and Health.

"The improvement in Agricultural activities was due to sufficient rains that were well spread throughout the year," the report reads.

Globally, most of the developing economies are projected to experience a more challenging recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic compared to their developed economies counterparts.

This is largely so because of the uneven access to the Covid-19 vaccine which is therefore likely to impact negatively on the full resumption of economic activities in the developing economies.

The global economic growth is expected to rebound to 5.6 per cent in 2021.

Consequently, the volume of world merchandise trade is projected to expand by 8.0 per cent in 2021 after a contraction of 5.3 per cent in 2020. 

The growth in world trade is expected to boost external demand for Kenya’s products and thereby likely to augment the country’s economic growth.