Kenya's Economic Growth Drops to 4.8 Percent in 2022

The Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) attributed the stifled growth to the contraction of various sectors, including agriculture and manufacturing as well as increased inflation.

"There was suppressed agricultural production in 2022 due to a lengthy dry spell that affected the output of all produce including tea, coffee, and horticulture," Macdonald Obudho, the KNBS director-general, told journalists during the release of the Economic Survey 2023 in the Kenyan capital of Nairobi.

Obudho noted that Kenya's average inflation stood at 7.7 percent in 2022 due to rising food, fuel, electricity, and gas prices, which stifled economic activities.

"This growth was expected because the economy grew faster in 2021, having come from the COVID-19 period in 2020, where it recorded negative growth. However, we are happy that it has stabilized in the positives," Obudho said.

The agriculture sector recorded negative growth of 1.9 percent in 2022, a decline from 0.3 percent in 2021, and its contribution to the gross domestic product went down to 21 percent, Obudho said.

Similarly, he said the manufacturing sector contracted by 2.7 percent from 7.3 percent the previous year. On the other hand, the growth of the construction sector slowed down to 4.1 percent compared with 6.7 percent in 2021.

Njuguna Ndung'u, the cabinet secretary for the National Treasury and Planning, said 2022 was characterized by many negative shocks from the supply sides, which were persistent.

"This is a year we want to forget. These shocks, some of which are still evident today, created permanent effects changing the structure of the economy by impacting on the cost of living and thus economic growth," he said.

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