NAIROBI, Kenya – Imports of industrial machinery, iron, and steel dominated Kenya’s trade bill in the third quarter of 2025, a new data shows, signalling industrial and construction sector expansion.
According to the latest Q3 2025 Balance of Payments Statistical Release from the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS), the national import bill rose to Sh725 billion, representing a 7.4 percent increase compared to the corresponding quarter of 2024.
The growth was almost entirely fueled by a 94.8 percent explosion in expenditure on imported industrial machinery alongside a 41 percent rise in iron and steel. Expenditure on road motor vehicles also saw a significant 29.1 percent uptick.
An analysis of the data suggests a pivot toward infrastructure and capital investment, with the value of machinery and other capital equipment jumping from Sh96.3 billion in 2024 to Sh139.1 billion in the quarter under review.
A spike in capital goods of this magnitude typically precedes long-term growth in manufacturing and construction, suggesting that the private sector is currently in a retooling phase to bolster future output. This trend is corroborated by the broader economic performance for the quarter, which saw the construction sector rebound by 6.7 percent and manufacturing maintain a steady 2.5 percent growth rate.
While the industrial sector drove the bill upward, the report also highlighted a persistent reliance on external food markets, with the importation of sugars, molasses, and honey skyrocketing by 88.4 percent.
In contrast, there were notable reductions in expenditures for other key sectors. Imports of medicinal and pharmaceutical products fell by 32.1 percent, while chemical fertilizers, wheat, and petroleum products saw declines of 29.7 percent, 19.8 percent, and 5.8 percent, respectively.
Analysis of imports by Broad Economic Category (BEC) showed that non-food industrial supplies accounted for the largest share of the total import bill at 34.4 percent, following a 9.4 percent increase from 2024.
By Otieno John Kennedy
