NAIROBI, Jan. 3 (Xinhua) -- Kenya's imports from its neighbors in the East African Community (EAC) rose 43 percent year-on-year in the first nine months of 2018 while its exports to the region remained flat, latest data showed.
Imports stood at 54.83 billion Kenyan shillings (543 million U.S. dollars) between January and September 2018, up from 380 million dollars during the same period in 2017, according to the data released by the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) on Thursday.
Kenya, which is the biggest economy in the EAC, exported goods worth 860 million dollars to other EAC members in the first nine months, flat from the same period of the previous year, according to KNBS.
The EAC consists of five other nations namely Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi and South Sudan.
Kenyan imports from the region mainly come from Uganda and Tanzania and they are largely food imports in particular grains like maize and wheat.
Imports from Uganda stood at 410 million dollars between January and September, up from 243 million dollars in the same period in 2017, the KNBS data showed.
