Economy - overview Kenya, the regional hub for trade and finance in East Africa, is hampered by corruption and reliance upon several primary goods whose prices continue to decline. Following strong economic growth in 1995 and 1996, Kenya's economy has stagnated, with GDP growth failing to keep up with the rate of population growth. In 1997, the IMF suspended Kenya's Enhanced Structural Adjustment Program due to the government's failure to maintain reforms and curb corruption. A severe drought from 1999 to 2000 compounded Kenya's problems, causing water and energy rationing and reducing agricultural output. As a result, GDP contracted by 0.3% in 2000. The IMF, which had resumed loans in 2000 to help Kenya through the drought, again halted lending in 2001 when the government failed to institute several anticorruption measures. Despite the return of strong rains in 2001, weak commodity prices, endemic corruption, and low investment limited Kenya's economic growth to 1%, and Kenya is unlikely to see growth above 2% in 2002. Substantial IMF and other foreign support is essential to prevent a further decline in real per capita output.

GDP purchasing power parity - $31 billion (2001 est.)

GDP - real growth rate 1% (2001 est.)

GDP - per capita purchasing power parity - $1,000 (2001 est.)

GDP - composition by sector
agriculture: 24%
industry: 13%
services: 63% (2000 est.)

Population below poverty line 50% (2000 est.)

Household income or consumption by percentage share
lowest 10%: 2%
highest 10%: 37.2% (2000)

Distribution of family income - Gini index 44.5 (1994)

Inflation rate (consumer prices) 3.3% (2001 est.)

Labor force 10 million (2001 est.)

Labor force - by occupation agriculture 75%-80%

Unemployment rate 40% (2001 est.)

Budget
revenues: $2.91 billion
expenditures: $2.97 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (2000 est.)

Industries small-scale consumer goods (plastic, furniture, batteries, textiles, soap, cigarettes, flour), agricultural products processing; oil refining, cement; tourism

Industrial production growth rate -0.7% (2001 est.)

Electricity - production 4.616 billion kWh (2000)

Electricity - production by source
fossil fuel: 21.66%
hydro: 70.4%
other: 7.94% (2000)
nuclear: 0%

Electricity - consumption 4.433 billion kWh (2000)

Electricity - exports 0 kWh (2000)

Electricity - imports 140 million kWh (2000)

Agriculture - products coffee, tea, corn, wheat, sugarcane, fruit, vegetables; dairy products, beef, pork, poultry, eggs

Exports $1.8 billion (f.o.b., 2001 est.)

Exports - commodities tea, horticultural products, coffee, petroleum products, fish, cement

Exports - partners UK 13.5%, Tanzania 12.5%, Uganda 12.0%, Germany 5.5% (2000)

Imports $3.1 billion (f.o.b., 2001 est.)

Imports - commodities machinery and transportation equipment, petroleum products, motor vehicles, iron and steel, resins and plastics

Imports - partners UK 12%, UAE 9.8%, Japan 6.5%, India 4.4% (2000)

Debt - external $8 billion (2001 est.)

Economic aid - recipient $457 million (1997)

Currency Kenyan shilling (KES)

Currency code KES

Exchange rates Kenyan shillings per US dollar - 78.597 (January 2002), 78.563 (2001), 76.176 (2000), 70.326 (1999), 60.367 (1998), 58.732 (1997)

Fiscal year 1 July - 30 June

NOTE: The information regarding Kenya on this page is re-published from the 2002 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Kenya Economy 2002 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Kenya Economy 2002 should be addressed to the CIA.