NAIROBI (Reuters) -Kenya’s economic growth slowed to 4.7% year-on-year in the third quarter of 2022, down from 9.3% in the same period a year earlier, the statistics office said on Friday.
The third quarter’s growth almost halved in comparison with the same period last year when Kenya’s economy rebounded from COVID-19 restrictions in East Africa’s largest economy.
Accommodation and food services, and wholesale and retail trade contributed to the growth, while agriculture, forestry and fishing, and mining and quarrying contracted slightly.
“Most sectors posted decelerated growths owing to the significantly high growth rates recorded in the third quarter of 2021 that signified recovery from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic,” the statistics office said.
In the second quarter, the economy grew by 5.2%, compared with 11.0% in the same period a year earlier.
The finance ministry forecasts economic growth of an estimated 5.3% in 2022, and 6% in 2023.
A Reuters poll in October found Kenya’s economy will likely grow 5.5% this year and 5.4% next year.
Like other economies around the world, Kenya is experiencing a surge in prices of basic commodities, which has been worsened by the worst drought in four decades.
The current account deficit expanded by 5.5% to 193.4 billion shillings ($1.57 billion) in the third quarter of 2022, up from 183.4 billion shillings ($1.50 billion) in the corresponding quarter last year.
($1 = 123.2500 Kenyan shillings)
(Reporting by Hereward Holland; Editing by James Macharia Chege)
