Economy - overview Since 1993, the government of Kenya has implemented a program of economic liberalization and reform. Steps have included the removal of import licensing and price controls, removal of foreign exchange controls, fiscal and monetary restraint, and reduction of the public sector through privatizing publicly owned companies and downsizing the civil service. With the support of the World Bank, IMF, and other donors, these reforms have led to a turnaround in economic performance following a period of negative growth in the early 1990s. Kenya's real GDP grew at 5% in 1995 and 4% in 1996, and inflation remained under control. Growth slowed in 1997. Political violence damaged the tourist industry, and the IMF allowed Kenya's Enhanced Structural Adjustment Program to lapse due to the government's failure to enact reform conditions and to adequately address public sector corruption. Moreover, El Nino rains destroyed crops and damaged an already crumbling infrastructure in 1997 and on into 1998. Long-term barriers to development include electricity shortages, the government's continued and inefficient dominance of key sectors, endemic corruption, and the country's high population growth rate.

GDP purchasing power parity - $45.3 billion (1997 est.)

GDP - real growth rate 2.9% (1997 est.)

GDP - per capita purchasing power parity - $1,600 (1997 est.)

GDP - composition by sector
agriculture: 27%
industry: 20%
services: 53% (1995)

Inflation rate - consumer price index 8.8% (1996)

Labor force
total: 8.78 million (1993 est.)
by occupation: agriculture 75%-80%, non-agriculture 20%-25%

Unemployment rate 35% urban (1994 est.)

Budget
revenues: $3 billion
expenditures: $3 billion, including capital expenditures of $638 million (FY96/97 est.)

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

Industrial production growth rate 3.8% (1995)

Electricity - capacity 808,000 kW (1995)

Electricity - production 3.59 billion kWh (1995)

Electricity - consumption per capita 134 kWh (1995)

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

Exports
total value: $2.1 billion (f.o.b., 1996)
commodities: tea 18%, coffee 15%, petroleum products (1995)
partners: Uganda 22.8%, UK 20.1%, Tanzania 19.1%, Germany 14.0%, Netherlands 7.6%, US 6.1%

Imports
total value: $2.9 billion (f.o.b., 1996)
commodities: machinery and transportation equipment 31%, consumer goods 13%, petroleum products 12% (1995)
partners: UK 21.3%, UAE 18%, Japan 14%, Germany, US

Debt - external $7 billion (1994 est.)

Economic aid NA

Currency 1 Kenyan shilling (KSh) = 100 cents

Exchange rates Kenyan shillings (KSh) per US$1 - 61.164 (January 1998), 58.732 (1997), 57.115 (1996), 51.430 (1995), 56.051 (1994), 58.001 (1993)

Fiscal year 1 July - 30 June

NOTE: The information regarding Kenya on this page is re-published from the 1998 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Kenya Economy 1998 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Kenya Economy 1998 should be addressed to the CIA.