Kenya's economy experienced a 4.6 percent growth last year, the latest official figures published on Wednesday shows, but the headline expansion masks notable declines in critical sectors such as tea, and textile exports.

According to the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics, the country's construction and mining industry posted a rebound in activity, traditional pillars of growth recorded notable reversals.

The 2026 Economic Survey states the total value of mineral output "declined from KSh25.5 billion in 2024 to KSh20.3 billion in 2025," reflecting a 20 percent dip almost on account of decrease in titanium mineral exports during the year.

KNBS report shows that the volumes of "titanium ores and concentrates" shipped to overseas market contracted to 22.7 thousand tonnes during the year under focus from the 187.2 thousand tonnes recorded in 2024.

As a result of steep decline in titanium shipments, Kenya's earnings from the mineral "dropped from KSh13.7 billion in 2024 to Ksh1.7 billion in 2015, representing 88 percent drop and a body blow to the country's forex earnings.

Through Base Titaniun, which began operations in 2014, Kenya has been a key player in export of the mineral, but depletion of the ore in Kwale County has seen the company close shop.

At the same time, the survey shows that agriculture, which for decades has anchored the country's economy, experienced strain owing to impact on tea and coffee.

Despite a recovery in global coffee prices last year, Kenya's "green leaf tea output dropped by 7.8 percent to 2,476.7 thousand tonnes," while "made tea declined by 8 percent to 550.4 thousand tonnes."

Earnings from tea, eased slightly to KSh187.1 billion from KSh189.1 billion reported in the previous year, attributable to lower volumes sold amid dip in prices at the auction. 

Manufacturing

At the same time, manufacturing decelerated, with the survey noting that the industry's real gross value added (GVA) increased by 2 percent in 2025 compared to a higher 3 percent realized in 2024.

KNBS data shows that slowdown in manufacturing was largely felt in agro-processing segment where "sugar production declined by 24.8 percent" and the "prepared and preserved fruits and vegetables category," which contracted by 5 percent.

What's more, the quantum index for processes tea and coffee, a category referred as "food products not elsewhere classified," suffered 5.5 percent contraction. 

Another decline in the economy was reported in the once vibrant apparel export business as value of shipments weakened during the year.

KNBS noted that while the quantity of apparel shipped to the United States under the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) “rose significantly from 116 million pieces in 2024 to 148 million pieces in 2025,” the actual “value of apparel exports to the USA declined by 4.1 percent, reaching KSh58.1 billion in 2025.”

This implies that during the period, players in the segment could have seen dip in unit prices amid jump in capital investments by AGOA-aligned businesses, which went up by 10.4 percent.

Services Sector

Kenya's services sector was equally affected by a downturn with the vibrant information and communication technology segment reporting "decelerated growth" due to "mixed performance."

For instance, the value of total deposits via Kenya's ubiquitous mobile money agents decreased to KSh 5.450 trillion in 2025 from a higher KSh 6.062 trillion during the previous year. Official data notes that dip in value of deposits occurred amid uptick in mobile money subscriptions. What's more, the country's, “total domestic telephone traffic declined by 3.5 percent to 100.1 billion minutes in 2025.”

In the transport industry, players experienced contraction with “air transport including support services” recording its GVA declining by 43.7 percent in 2025 amid decrease in total “commercial passenger traffic” to 12.68 million from 12.83 million a year earlier.

As a result of these industry-wide contractions, the country's external position weakened with trade deficit widening to KSh 1.7 trillion in 2025 from KSh 1.6 trillion in 2024.

While overall exports rose, the sharp fall in high-value minerals and textiles, coupled with a 6.5 percent drop in secondary income receipts, including remittances, caused the current account deficit to worsen significantly.

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