NAIROBI, Kenya, Feb 18- Kenya’s volume of trade in the month of December 2020 stood at Sh218.96 billion, a new data shows.
The statistics by the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics reveals that the figures were up from Sh189.83 billion that was recorded in the month of November 2020.
The value of total exports increased from Sh50.79 billion in November 2020 to Sh57.51 billion in December 2020, while the value of imports increased from Sh139.04 billion in November 2020 to Sh161.46 billion in December 2020.
“Domestic exports by Broad Economic Category (BEC) indicated that food and beverages was the main export category in December 2020 accounting for 42.97 per cent of exports, while non-food industrial supplies accounted for 23.89 percent of the total exports,” reads KNBS report on leading economic indicators for December 2020.
Quantity of coffee exported decreased from 3,494.29 MT in November 2020 to 2,405.44 MT in December 2020 and its value dropped from Sh 1,836.61 million to Sh 1,284.84 million over the same period.
At the same time the quantity of tea exported de-creased from 46,352.88 MT in November 2020 to 46,166.69 MT in December 2020.
The value of exported tea also dropped from Sh10,610.96 million to Sh10,300.58 million over the same period.
Imports by BEC indicate that non-food industrial supplies was the main import category in December 2020 with a share of 38.26 per cent.
Machinery and other capital equipment; Fuel and lubricants; and transport equipment accounted for 17.81, 12.57 and 11.51, per cent of the total value of imports, respectively.
Foods and beverages accounted for 10.63 per cent of the total imports in December 2020.