Kenya’s spending on imported goods dropped in the first four months of 2025, marking the first decline during a similar period in five years.

This was mainly driven by a reduction in fuel-related expenses, which helped ease the overall import burden for businesses, households, and government agencies.

According to provisional data from the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS), imports between January and April 2025 amounted to Sh882.16 billion, a 3.63 percent decrease compared to Sh915.43 billion in the same period last year.

The drop signals the first decline in the country’s import bill since 2020.

The lower import bill was largely influenced by reduced spending on petroleum products and lubricants, whose cost dropped by 17.54 percent to Sh183.58 billion.

This decline reflected falling oil prices in the international market during the early months of 2025, before prices rose again following the 12-day conflict between Israel and Iran which briefly disrupted output.

Earlier in the year, global oil prices had shown signs of easing, giving the government room to negotiate better terms with Gulf suppliers.

President William Ruto’s administration successfully convinced the country’s three key oil suppliers — Saudi Aramco, Abu Dhabi National Oil Company, and Emirates National Oil Company — to lower premiums under a shilling-based fuel import agreement.

As part of the deal, the suppliers agreed in April to cut prices by up to 14 percent per tonne.

The last time Kenya recorded a fall in its fuel import bill during this four-month window was in 2020, when the country spent Sh94.77 billion — a 12.62 percent drop linked to global economic disruptions caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.

The KNBS data also indicates that Kenya’s export earnings slightly dipped by 4.12 percent to Sh373.89 billion during the same period. Despite the fall in exports, the narrowing of imports helped reduce the country’s trade deficit.

The goods trade gap shrank by 3.27 percent to Sh508.27 billion from Sh525.47 billion last year.

Kenya has long faced challenges in narrowing its trade deficit, mainly due to dependence on exports of raw farm produce such as tea, coffee, and horticulture.

These products generally attract lower earnings compared to processed goods.

Many traders avoid exporting semi-processed or fully processed products due to higher tariffs imposed in key markets like Europe, which they fear would make Kenyan exports less competitive.