Kenya has a market based economy with a liberalised foreign trade policy and relies mainly on agricultural production and tourism.

GDP for the third quarter of 2010 was KES 381.73 billion compared to KES 359.67 billion in the corresponding period in 2009.

The GDP growth rate declined from 5.6% in Q1 2009 to 0.5% in Q3 2009 and rose again to 6.1% in Q3 2010.

(Source: Statistics)

GNI per capita at PPP

The GNI per capita at PPP in 2010 was  USD 1,628 compared to USD 1,449 in 2005.

 

(Source: UNDP)

For the fiscal year 2009-10, Kenya had a trade deficit of USD 6,245 million. Exports and imports in 2010 amounted to USD 4,894 million and USD 11,139 million respectively.

(Source: Central Bank)

Income tax

In Kenya, income tax on individual income varies from 10% to 30%.

 

Tax rates
Yearly income (KES)	Tax rate (%)
0 - 121,968	10
121,969 - 236,880	15
236,881 - 351,792	20
351,793 - 466,704	25
Above 466,704	30

(Source: taxrates.cc)

Corporate tax

The general corporate tax rate in Kenya is 30%. However, branches of foreign companies are taxed at 37.5%.

(Source: taxrates.cc)

 

Tax rates
Tax contribution	Total tax rate (% profit)
Corporate income tax	33.1
Social security tax	5.3
Single business permit - manufacturer	4.2
Standards levy	3.5
Training or apprentice tax	1.5
Advance Motor Vehicle tax	1
Single business permit - trader	0.8
Fuel tax - excise duty	0.5
Road maintenance levy	0.4
Tax on interest	0.4
Land Rates	0.3

(Source: doingbusiness.org)

Inflation rate

The inflation rate has declined from 14.69% in February 2009 to 5.18% in February 2010. In October 2010 the inflation rate declined further to 3.18%. However, in February 2011 the inflation rate increased to 6.54%.

(Source: Statistics, Statistics)

FDI inflow

In 2008, the inflow of FDI as a proportion of GDP was 2% and reached a value of USD 51.8 million.

(Source: Central Bank)

Banking sector assets

The table below shows the assets of the Central Bank of Kenya.

Currency Unit: shilling (KES)

Balance Sheet – Assets of Central Bank of Kenya (KES million)
	June 2010	June 2009
Foreign Assets	283,189	247,648
Discounted Government Securities	31	15,010
Government Accounts	50,980	40,600
Other Assets	9,035	8,457
Total Assets	343,235	311,715

(Source: Central Bank)

Non performing loan ratios

The gross non-performing loans in November 2010 were KES 59.3 billion. The ratio of gross non-performing loans to gross loans has increased from 8.1% in November 2009 to 6.5% in November 2010.

(Source: Central Bank)

Consumer price index

The consumer price index increased from 104.66 in December 2009 to 109.38 in December 2010. In February 2011, the consumer price index reached 112.05, showing that prices of consumer goods in Kenya have increased.

Base year February 1999=100

(Source: Statistics)

Interest rates on saving deposits / time deposits

Interest rates on saving deposits and time deposits (%)
Period	Saving deposits	Time deposits (0 to 3 months)
November 2010	1.4	3.61
October 2010	1.46	3.65
September 2010	1.47	3.59
August 2010	1.5	3.89
July 2010	1.55	4.21
June 2010	1.75	5.11
May 2010	1.76	5.26
December 2009	1.73	5.90
November 2009	1.71	5.98
October 2009	1.85	5.83

(Source: Central Bank)

 

Money supply (Currency in Circulation)

 

Money Supply (KES million)
	January 2011	January 2010
Money supply (M1)	579,370	463,449
Money supply (M2)	1,117,478	917,034
Broad Money (M3)	1,288,918	1,067,271

(Source: Statistics)

Public sector borrowing requirement

 

Government Borrowing Requirements (KES billion)
	November 2010	November 2009
Budget deficit	59.1	50.9
External debt reduction	-	1.1
Total	59.1	51.9

(Source: Central Bank)

Government expenditure

Government expenditure for the fiscal year 2009-10 was KES 727,665 million compared to KES 604,754 million for the fiscal year 2008-09. In October 2010, government expenditure reached KES 243,140 million. The total expenditure and net lending is estimated to be KES 918,000 million for the fiscal year 2010-11 which is 33.2% of GDP.

(Source: Central Bank)

 

(Source: Central Bank)

Public debt levels

 

Public debt (KES billion)
	November 2010	June 2010 p	June 2009
External	597.6	565.5	537.4
Domestic	711.4	660.3	518.5
Total debt	1309	1225.7	1055.9
As % of GDP	51.8	48.1	44.1

p= external debt provisional

(Source: Central Bank)

Official exchange rate

In January 2011 the Kenyan exchange rate was KES 81.272 to the USD. (Source: Statistics)

 

(Source: Central Bank, Central Bank)

Government finances

Fiscal balance

The country has had a fiscal deficit for the past three years. The fiscal deficit has increased to KES 166,880 million in June 2010  compared to KES 93,399 million in June 2009. The fiscal deficit in October 2010 was KES 50,050 million.

(Source: Central Bank, Central Bank)

(Source: Central Bank)

Total revenue

The total revenue in June 2010 was KES 543,753 million compared to KES 511,355 million in June 2009. The total revenue in October 2010 was KES 193,090 million. The total revenue for the fiscal year 2010-11 is estimated to be KES 730,000 million making up 26.4% of GDP.

(Source: Central Bank)

 

Tax revenue

The revenue from tax increased from KES 184.8 million in November 2009 to KES 212.9 million in November 2010.

 

Tax revenue (KES million)
	November 2010	November 2009
Income Tax	84.6	73.1
Value Added Tax	67.5	57.1
Import Duty	18.6	16.5
Excise Duty	32.3	29.8
Others	9.9	8.3
Total tax revenue	212.9	184.8

(Source: Central Bank)

Total grants

The total level of grants has declined from KES 25,448 million in June 2008 to KES 17,032 million in June 2010.

(Source: Central Bank)

Current account balance

The current account balance has been in deficit in recent years. However, the deficit decreased from USD 1,983 million in 2008 to USD 1,609 million in 2009.

 

Current account balance 2009-10 (USD million)
Period	Q4  (April-June)	Q3 (January-March)	Q2 (October-December)	Q1 (July-September)
Amount	-20	164	-287	-485

(Source: Central Bank)

p = provisional

(Source: Central Bank)

Balance of payments

 

Balance of Payments (USD million)
	June 2010	June 2009
Current account	-627	-2,296
Capital & financial account	903	1,874
Overall Balance	276	-422
Gross Reserves	5,009	4,822

(Source: Central Bank)

The total labour force in Kenya was was 18,173,411.9 in 2008. The total labour force participation rate was 82% for 2008. The labour participation rate for men was 87.2% and 74.1% for women.

(Source: UN, World Bank)

Unemployment Rate

In 2006 Kenya had an unemployment rate of 12.7%. Of the total unemployed population 11.2% were male and 14.3% were female.

(Source: UNDP)

Minimum wage

The minimum wage set by the government is less than KES 6000.

(Source: cotu-kenya.org)

Level of Unionisation

The Central Organization of Trade Unions (COTU) is the national trade union organisation in Kenya. It is affiliated with the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU).

The three unions registered in Kenya by the Registrar of Trade Unions include:

• East African Standard Union
• Ease African Standard Staff Union
• Labour Trade Union of East Africa

(Source: cotu-kenya.org)

Kenya is a sovereign republic. The president is the head of state and the prime minister is the head of the government. The parliament, known as the National Assembly is unicameral. The parliament is made up of 224 statutory members, of which 210 are directly elected. The term of the parliament is five years.

(Source: ipu.org, electionguide)

Mwai Kibaki is the current President and Raila Odinga is the Prime Minister of Kenya. (Source: BBC)

The major political parties in Kenya are:

• Party of National Unity (PNU)
  
• Orange Democratic Movement (ODM)
• Orange Democratic Movement-Kenya (ODM-K)

(Source: fco.gov.uk)

Regulatory environment

Kenya’s economic freedom score is 57.4, making it the 106^th freest economy in the 2011 Index of Economic Freedom. Kenya ranks 14^th out of 46 countries in the Sub-Saharan Africa region.

(Source: heritage.org)

Corruption perception

The Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) is a survey to measure the perceived level of corruption across countries worldwide. Kenya is ranked 154^th on this list which indicates that the corruption levels in the public departments is fairly high.

Kenya has slipped in the CPI rankings since 2009 when it was ranked 146^th with a score of 2.2. It indicates that the perceived level of corruption in Kenya has increased. (Source: transparency.org)

Freedom of information

Media in Kenya is diverse and more liberalised in comparison to other African countries. However, it ranks 70^th in the World Press Freedom Index 2010 with a score of 19. This indicates that freedom of the media is limited to an extent.

(Source: rsf.org)

The various newspapers circulating in the country are:

• Daily Nation
• The Standard
• East African
• Taifa Leo

(Source: BBC)

Judicial system

The country’s judicial system is made up of various courts such as:

• The Supreme Court
• Court of Appeal
• High Court
• Magistrate Court
• Specialised Courts
• Tribunals
• Kadhi Courts

The Supreme Court is the highest court in the country. It consists of a Chief Justice who is the President of the court, a Deputy Chief Justice and five other Judges. It reviews and determines appeals from the Court of Appeal or any other court or tribunal.

The Court of Appeal is the second highest court in the country and is made up of a minimum of 12 judges. The president of the court is chosen from the judges of the court of appeal. The court is legally empowered to hear appeals from the High Court and any other court or tribunal.

The High Court hears both civil and criminal matters. It has specialised divisions for civil, criminal, family, commercial, constitutional and judicial review.

(Source: judiciary.go.ke)

Population

According to the 2009 census, the total population of Kenya was 38,610,097 of which 19,192,458 were male and 19,417,639 were female. The previous census conducted in 1999, estimated the country had a population of 28.7 million which increased to 38.6 million by 2009 registering a growth rate of 34.49%.

(Source: Statistics)

Gender Ratio

In 2009, there were about 99.9 males per 100 females indicating a balanced gender ratio in the country.

(Source: UN)

In 2009, about 42.8% of the population were below the age of 14. There were 3.8% males and 4.4% females in the age group above 60 years.

(Source: UN)

Mortality Rate

The crude death rate in 2008 was 12 deaths per thousand people. The infant mortality in the period 2005-2010 was 63.9 per 1,000 live births.

Birth Rate

In 2008, the crude birth rate was 39 births per thousand people.

Average Life Expectancy Rate

The life expectancy at birth from 2005-2010 was 53.7 years for males and 54.5 years for females.

(Source: World Bank, World Bank, UN)

Migration and Urbanisation

The number of international migrants in mid-2010 was 817,800 or 2% of the total population. (Source: UN)

The average urban population growth rate in 2005-2010 was 4%. According to the 2009 census, the urban population was recorded at 12,487,375 constituting 32.3% of the total population. (Source: Statistics, UN)

Racial/Ethnic environment

The major ethnic groups in the country include Kikuyu, Luhya, Kalenjin, Luo, Kamba, Kenyan Somali, Kisii, Mijikenda, Meru, Turkana and Maasai. Some of the other minority ethnic groups include Teso, Embu, Taita, Kuria etc.

(Source: Statistics)

The various religous groups represented among the population include Catholics, Protestants, Other Christians, Muslims, Hindus, Traditionalists and other religious beliefs. (Source: Statistics)

Human Development Index

Kenya is ranked 128^th out of 169 countries in Human Development Index 2010. It indicates that the level of human development in the country is low. The Human Poverty Index focuses on the proportion of people below certain threshold levels in each of the dimensions of the human development index - living a long and healthy life, having access to education, and a decent standard of living.

(Source: UNDP)

Literacy rate

The total adult literacy rate in Kenya in the period 2005-2008 was 87%. In 2006, Kenya had an adult literacy rate of 61.5%, of which males attained a 64.2% and females a 58.9% literacy rate.

(Source: Statistics, UNICEF)

Education resources

The country has about 70,790 educational institutions and the primary school enrolment was recorded at 8.56 million in 2008. The secondary school enrolment has increased by 49% in 2008 compared to 2004. The enrolment in universities was recorded at 122,847 students in the fiscal year 2008-09.

The total expenditure on education for the fiscal year 2008-09 was KES 122 billion compared to KES 85 billion for the fiscal year 2004-05.  In 2008, about 26% of central government expenditure was allocated to education.

(Source: africaneconomicoutlook, UNICEF)

Healthcare

Government spending for the fiscal year 2008-09 amounted to KES 27.7 billion.

The number of health institutions in 2008 reached 5,712 resulting in an increase of 19.8% compared to 2004.

The major diseases affecting the country’s population are malaria, diarrhoea and respiratory diseases. About 9.31 million cases of malaria were registered making up 32.8% of all diseases reported. There were about 1.98 million cases of diarrhoea and 6.8 million cases of respiratory-system diseases reported in 2008. In 2009, almost 4,700 cases of cholera were reported leading to 120 deaths in the country.

(Source: africaneconomicoutlook, UNICEF)

Mass Public Transit

Roads are  the main mode of transport in Kenya. Buses are the main form of public transportation used. The railways in the country are operated by the Kenya Railway Corporation.

Ports

The major ports in Kenya include Port of Lamu, Port of Malindi and Port of Mombasa.

(Source:worldportsource)

Airports

Some of the major airports in Kenya are listed below:

(Source: aircraft-charter-world)

Telecommunications networks

The number of internet users in 2009 was registered at 3.36 million compared to 3 million in 2008. The internet penetration rate has increased from 7.9% in 2008 to 8.6% in 2009.

(Source:internetworldstats)

The number of fixed telephone lines in Kenya has increased from 299,300 in 2004 to 664,100 in 2009 registering a CAGR of 17.3%. The usage of fixed telephone lines has increased from 0.86 per 100 inhabitants in 2004 to 1.67 per 100 inhabitants in 2009.

(Source: ITU)

The number of mobile cellular subscriptions also increased from 2,546,200 in 2004 to 19,364,600 in 2009 registering a CAGR of 50%.

The ratio of mobile cellular subscriptions to fixed telephone lines was 29.2:1, showing that the use of mobile phones is more than the use of fixed telephone lines.

(Source: ITU)