Kenya’s imports of manufacturing supplies crossed a record Sh1 trillion mark in 2025, underscoring rising demand for production inputs even as the country’s overall trade deficit widened, provisional official data shows.
Fresh provisional data from the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) indicate that the value of imports of non-food industrial supplies climbed to Sh1.017 trillion in the year to December 2025, up from Sh934.3 billion recorded in the prior year.
This reflects increased purchases of raw materials and intermediate goods used by firms, highlighting renewed activity in sectors reliant on imported inputs, including construction, processing, and light manufacturing.
The rise in orders, however, piles pressure on Kenya’s import bill, which continued to outpace export growth during the period under review.
Total goods imports rose to Sh2.795 trillion in 2025, compared with Sh2.699 trillion the previous year.
Exports, on the other hand, grew marginally to Sh1.112 trillion from Sh1.108 trillion, reflecting slower expansion in external earnings.
The result is that Kenya’s goods trade deficit widened to Sh1.68 trillion in 2025 from Sh1.59 trillion in 2024, underlining persistent imbalances in the country’s external trade position despite steady export performance in select categories.
Central Bank of Kenya Governor Kamau Thugge, while addressing a press conference on Wednesday, said the rise in import bill last year reflected “largely increased imports of intermediate goods and also capital goods targeted at domestic production”.
Industrial supplies accounted for the largest share of Kenya’s imports, outpacing fuel, machinery, food, and consumer goods, signaling that domestic production and business operations remained dependent on foreign-sourced materials.
The rise came as the fuel and lubricants import bill declined to Sh570.4 billion in 2025 from Sh618.0 billion a year earlier, largely pointing to relief from international oil price movements. The lower petroleum import bill could also, to a small degree, signal shifts in domestic energy consumption patterns, including electric vehicle industry.
At the same time, imports of machinery and other capital equipment jumped to Sh424.6 billion from Sh353.8 billion, indicating increased investment in productive capacity, technology upgrades, and infrastructure-linked purchases.
Transport equipment imports also expanded to Sh260.5 billion from Sh238.6 billion on more demand for vehicles and logistics assets, while food and beverages imports edged up to Sh288.1 billion from Sh283.3 billion.
In contrast, imports of consumer goods not elsewhere specified fell to Sh210.8 billion from Sh225.4 billion, hinting at softer household demand or substitution toward locally produced alternatives.
On the export side, food and beverages remained Kenya’s leading category, generating Sh429.1 billion in earnings in 2025 compared with Sh408.3 billion the previous year.
Exports of non-food industrial supplies rose slightly to Sh238.8 billion from Sh236.9 billion, while consumer goods exports reached Sh246.9 billion.
Kenya’s exports have, over the years, posted incremental gains but have not created sufficient momentum to counterbalance rising imports.
This means the country has struggled to sustainably narrow its goods trade deficit, partly due to reliance on traditional farm produce exports such as tea, horticulture, and coffee, which are largely sold raw, fetching relatively lower earnings.
Investments, Trade and Industry Cabinet Secretary Lee Kinyanjui said lowering production costs was central to boosting exports and reducing the trade imbalance through increased value addition.
“Just to note, sometimes the difference in price between selling one kilogramme of tea and the same one kilogramme after processing and packaging can go as high as five times,” Mr Kinyanjui said on the Fixing the Nation show on February 4.
Most Kenyan traders export raw produce because of higher taxes slapped on semi-processed or processed products in destination markets such as Europe, fearing that value-added goods will attract tariffs and make the consignments less competitive in the global markets.
Among key agricultural exports, earnings from coffee climbed to Sh52.1 billion in 2025 from Sh38.4 billion in 2024, while tea exports dipped marginally to Sh186.9 billion from Sh189 billion.
