Kenya’s economy expanded by 4.7% in 2024, down from the 5.7% growth registered in the previous year, according to the latest economic survey by Kenya National Bureau of Statistics.
Despite the deceleration, growth was observed across most sectors of the economy, with the exception of construction, agriculture forestry and fishing and mining.
The Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing sector posted a 4.6% growth, down from 6.6% in 2023. The sector benefited from favorable weather conditions, which also contributed to lower food prices, easing overall inflation during the year.
Conversely, the Construction sector registered a contraction of 0.7%, a reversal from a 3.0% growth in 2023. The Mining and Quarrying sector faced an even sharper downturn, shrinking by 9.2%, compared to a 6.5% contraction the previous year. The decline was attributed to reduced output in key minerals such as construction materials, titanium, crude salt, and gemstones.
Which Sectors Grew in Year Under Review?
Sectors which showed improvement include Financial and Insurance Activities, which recording the highest growth at 7.6%. Transportation and Storage grew by 4.4%, while the Real Estate sector expanded by 5.3%, signaling continued investor and consumer confidence in urban development and property markets.
Also Read: Kenya’s economic growth stagnated at 5.6 p.c during Q2 of 2019
The country recorded its lowest inflation rate in five years, with year-on-year inflation easing to 4.5% in 2024 from 7.7% the previous year. The drop was largely attributed to a slowdown in food price increases, thanks to improved weather conditions.
The annual average Consumer Price Index (CPI) stood at 139.69. Inflation for food and non-alcoholic beverages rose by 5.6%, a marked improvement from 9.7% in 2023.
Employment in the modern and informal sectors, excluding small-scale agriculture, went up from 20.0 million in 2023 to 20.8 million in 2024.
A total of 782.3 thousand new jobs were created in the economy in 2024. The modern sector created a total of 78.6 thousand jobs in 2024, reflecting a growth of 2.4 per cent.
The informal sector created 703.7 thousand new jobs compared to 720.9 thousand in 2023, accounting for 90.0 per cent of all new jobs created, excluding small-scale agriculture.
Kenya’s nominal Gross Domestic Product (GDP) rose from Ksh.15.03 trillion in 2023 to Ksh.16.22 trillion in 2024. Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing accounted for 22.5% of the total GDP—up from 21.5% in the previous year. The services sector maintained a dominant position, contributing 61.1% of the GDP, while industry-related activities made up 16.5%.
Gross National Disposable Income increased to Ksh.16.99 trillion in 2024, from Ksh.15.75 trillion a year earlier. This was reflected in a higher GDP per capita, which rose to Ksh.309,460 in 2024 from Ksh.291,770 in 2023.
Consumer spending remained strong, with private final consumption expenditure increasing to Ksh.12.48 trillion from Ksh.11.46 trillion in 2023. Government final consumption also rose slightly to Ksh.1.81 trillion from Ksh.1.77 trillion.
