NAIROBI, Jan 6 (Reuters) – Kenya’s economy grew by 4.9% year-on-year in the third quarter of 2025, from 4.2% in the same quarter the previous year, statistics office data showed on Tuesday.
The Kenya National Bureau of Statistics said in a report the growth mainly came from the agriculture sector and the construction industry, which rebounded from a contraction of 2.6% in the same quarter in 2024 to an expansion of 6.7% in 2025.
The statistics agency added that a recovery from the mining and quarrying sector also offered some support.
The East African economy has been weighed down by heavy debt repayments in recent years after it increased borrowing to fund infrastructure projects, forcing the government to pursue fiscal consolidation.
In August, President William Ruto said East Africa’s largest economy was forecast to grow 5.6% in 2025, up from 4.7% in 2024.
The World Bank lifted Kenya’s economic growth forecast for last year to 4.9% from 4.5%, citing a pick-up in the construction sector.
Some of Kenya’s main industries, such as construction, suffered in 2024 partly as concerns mounted about the government’s finances, but the trend has begun to reverse, the development lender said.
(Reporting by Sfundo Parakozov and Vincent Mumo Nzilani; Editing by Alex Richardson)
