Kenya’s current account deficit narrowed to 1.8 percent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in April from 2.2 percent at the same time last year, pointing to growing inflows from trade, payments and cross-border investments.
A current account tracks a country's money flowing in and out of its borders, including trade, investment income, and financial transfers—providing insights into a country's international trade performance and its overall economic standing.
A surplus indicates more exports and income from abroad, while a deficit suggests more imports and outflows.
New Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) data shows that receipts from Kenya’s exports for instance rose by 3.8 percent to Sh1.55 trillion in the 12 months to April 2025, up from Sh1.49 trillion at the same time last year, with the jump being attributed to higher domestic exports particularly horticulture and coffee.
Goods imports however rose faster by 7.6 percent over the same period to Sh2.9 trillion from Sh2.7 trillion previously on the increase of intermediate and capital goods imports.
The lower current account deficit provides a greater cushion for the exchange rate which remains in a narrow trading band against the US dollar at between Sh129 and Sh130 on resilient hard currency inflows from trade and remittances.
The balance on Kenya’s current account is usually negative, mirroring the country’s position as a net importer of goods and services.
The CBK expects the current account deficit to hold at current levels on resilient inflows including receipts from exports.
“The current account deficit is projected to remain relatively stable at 1.5 percent of GDP in 2025 compared to 1.3 percent of GDP in 2024,” CBK said last week.
The apex bank revised its 2024 current account deficit from four percent of GDP after new data uncovered higher export receipts than previously assumed.
The value of Kenya’s exports for 2024 has been set at 37 percent higher after the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) revised data on goods and services shipped abroad. The revision lifted the value of Kenyan exports last year to Sh1.48 trillion from a previous estimate of Sh1.08 trillion.
The higher export value was mainly due to the improved capturing of data relating to fuel re-exports, travel, and financial services.
Receipts from the re-exports were found to be twice as high than previously tabulated to stand at Sh173.8 billion from Sh580 billion.
The jump in fuel re-exports, particularly fuel, has been attributed to a larger number of United Arab Emirates airplanes fuelling at Nairobi’s Jomo Kenyatta International Airport.
The revision of key cross-border transaction data also resulted in a higher value of imports at Sh2.87 trillion from Sh2.45 trillion previously.
The 16.8 percent rise in imports was slower than exports resulting in a narrower trade deficit than previously estimated.
“The Kenya National Bureau of Statistics has revised the balance of payments data to improve the recording of cross-border transactions related to imports and re-exports of petroleum products under government-to-government contracts,” CBK Governor Kamau Thugge said in April.
“The revisions also incorporate the use of alternative data to improve data on international trade in services, particularly travel and financial services.”
