Kenya Quarterly Gross Domestic Product First Quarter 2009

Real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for the first quarter of 2009 is estimated to have expanded by 3.9 per cent compared with a contraction of 0.6 per cent during a same quarter of 2008. The improved GDP growth is a signal of rebound of economic activities which remained subdued throughout 2008 on account of several factors resulting to a low base for the current quarter. The growth in real GDP in the first quarter is primarily a culmination of rebound of activities in wholesale and retail trade, transport and communications, construction, and hotels and restaurants sectors which expanded by 4.6, 4.3, 30.7 and 59.0, respectively (see Table 2). In addition, agriculture and forestry recorded a smaller contraction of 0.9 per cent in the first quarter of 2009 compared to a substantial decline of 6.1 per cent in the same quarter of 2008 and therefore its impact on the overall growth was less detrimental