The overall year on year inflation rate as measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI) was 5.80 per cent, in November 2021. This was mainly due to an increase in prices of commodities under: food and non-alcoholic beverages (9.92%); transport (8.14%); and housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels (6.24%) between November 2020 and November 2021, as presented in Tables 1 and 2.
I am pleased to join the statistics fraternity in this year’s celebration of the African Statistics Day. I am particularly delighted to note that this year’s theme, “Modernizing National Statistical Systems to Support Socio-cultural Development in Africa” augurs with the Government’s long term development blue print, the Kenya Vision 2030. The Vision aims to transform Kenya into an industrialized middle-income country offering a high quality of life to all our citizens. The Social pillar, identifies culture as one of the key sub-sectors that need to be transformed for the country to build a just and cohesive society that enjoys equitable social development in a clean and secure environment. It is therefore imperative that statistics producers position themselves to provide the requisite statistical information needed to track realization of the aspirations of the Vision with respect to socio-cultural development.
I take cognizance of the important role that cultural and creative activities play in creating job opportunities and consequently improving the welfare of the people. Players in these industries have evolved overtime from using traditional practices to showcasing their skills in digital platforms such as social media and other online streaming modes. To adequately track developments in this aspect of the economy, the country requires data that will inform formulation of policies that can support these activities. It is therefore imperative that producers of statistics across the National Statistical System (NSS) modernize their operations in tandem with the dynamic digital environment.
The amendment of the Statistics Act 2006 in 2019 duly takes cognizance of the need for KNBS to change with the times. This goes a long way in enhancing good governance, expanding its scope and aligning KNBS to changes contained in the Constitution. The amended Act provides a framework for modernization of the National Statistical System (NSS). The transformation and modernization of the NSS is necessary to meet current demands and especially the indicators for monitoring progress made towards achieving the SDGs and the Africa Agenda 2063. The main drivers for the transformation and modernization of national statistical systems are National Strategies for the Development of Statistics (NSDS). In this regard, KNBS, as the national statistical office plays a pivotal role in coordinating, steering and directing the national statistical system towards transition and modernization.
The use of modern methods for producing official statistics, in particular, increasing the use of administrative data (register-based surveys) and employing big data capacity in the process of producing official statistics is enhanced in a modern statistical system. It is expected that the implementation and application of international organizations standards and guidelines are strengthened in a modern and transformed NSS. Apart from the amendment of existing statistics laws, another hallmark of a modern NSS is the development of national strategic and development plans for the transformation and modernization of national statistical systems. KNBS is already making plans to work with stakeholders to move in this direction. This is expected to better equip data producers to provide data and statistics which are crucial in supporting sociocultural development in the country.
In addition, better coordination of the NSS facilitates improvement of the quality of data produced as well as the strengthening the coordination mechanisms. Part of the existing strategies that KNBS has implemented is the Kenya Strategy for Development of Statistics (KSDS), which provides a framework for development and ownership of statistics in the country. It goes without saying that a lot can still be done to improve the NSS, especially in this era of COVID-19. Indeed, the pandemic has brought new challenges including how to collect and access data from various producers and suppliers. This calls for use of innovative ways in the production and management of official statistics without compromising on quality and incorporating established statistical standards. This will lay solid ground for promoting sociocultural development while fostering an all-inclusive recovery from the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic as the country joins the rest of the world to build back better.
We wish to reiterate the commitment of the KNBS Board of Directors in availing indicators that will accurately measure the culture and creative industry as envisaged in the country’s Vision as well as the SDGs and Agenda 2030. The Bureau will collect and avail culture and heritage data through use of modern technologies as well as through enhancement of Administrative data collection.
Together let us celebrate the 21st African Statistics Day by appreciating the role of the NSS in supporting sociocultural development.
The Kenya National Bureau of Statistics joins other National Statistical Offices across Africa in marking this important day. The African Statistics Day is celebrated to increase public awareness about the role played by statistics towards socio-economic and demographic development in Africa. The theme for this year is “Modernizing National Statistical Systems to Support Sociocultural Development in Africa.” This theme is apt in line with the United Nations declaration that 2021 be the international year of creative economy for sustainable development. Culture plays an important role in social and economic development. It nurtures and bolsters the societal fabric that holds the society together. Globally, cultural and creative industries are said to have considerable impact on national economies of all countries.
This year’s theme resonates with KNBS effort to continuously respond to the evolving data demands. This calls for strategic planning for statistics production, while leveraging on technology and non-traditional sources of data such as citizen generated data and Big data, as well as investment in data science. Statistical systems need to transform and modernize to cope up with enhanced demands for data brought about by global and regional developmental programmes. In Kenyan context, the National Statistical System (NSS) consists of data producers mainly National and County governments, suppliers, and users of statistics. The statistical products of NSS are contained in the various statistical publications, such as the annual Economic Survey, county specific Statistical Abstracts and other analytical reports produced from time to time.
The Kenya Strategy for the Development of Statistics (KSDS) as a mechanism of coordinating the NSS focuses on improving data quality, promoting statistical advocacy and enhancing infrastructure for production of statistics. In line with this, KNBS is finalizing a Kenya Statistics Quality Assurance Framework (KeSQAF) which will be used to assess and monitor the quality of statistics produced by various players.
Towards modernizing the NSS, KNBS is embracing open data systems to increase accessibility and usability of data and improve data collection methods from traditional Pen and Paper to Computer Assisted Personal Interview (CAPI). This shift was exemplified in data collection for the 2019 Kenya Population and Housing Census, which was purely CAPI at all the stages. Further, the Bureau is updating the socio-economic database by integrating survey, census and geospatial data.
In 2019, United Nations adopted a resolution declaring the year 2021 “International Year of Creative Economy for Sustainable Development.” This was in recognition of the potential that creative economy has to support developing countries in diversifying production and exports and to deliver sustainable development in an inclusive and equitable manner. It is in this regard that the ASD theme was derived.
The Culture and Creative Industry (CCI) is one of the focus sectors in the modern data ecosystem, particularly in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. This sector has emerged as a significant contributor not only to livelihoods but also to preservation of heritage in Africa and beyond. Internationally, culture has been identified as a key enabler and driver of sustainable development and has been integrated in the United Nation’s 2030 Agenda for sustainable development, due to its direct linkage to various Sustainable Development Goals. At the continental level, culture is entrenched in the 5th aspiration of the African Union Agenda 2063 ‘An Africa with a strong cultural identity, common heritage, shared values and ethics by 2063’ and this year’s theme of ‘Arts, Culture and Heritage: Levers for Building the Africa We Want.’
Within the National Statistical System, data on culture and the creative industry is collected through surveys, censuses and administrative data. However, the data on CCIs is inconspicuously captured within other sectors of the economy such as tourism, manufacturing, ICT; and in other domains of social statistics such as health, gender and governance. Given the importance of this sector, KNBS is guiding development of a framework for the compilation of culture and creative industry statistics that will bring out its distinct contribution to development; and provide information for monitoring of SDG indicators related to culture and creative industry.
To this end, several milestones have been achieved. First, KNBS has collaborated with the Kenya National Commission for UNESCO (KNATCOM) to develop a new framework for measuring and collecting data on CCI. Through this collaboration, capacity has been built on compilation of culture indicators as required in SDG 11.4.1 on protection and conservation of all cultural and natural heritage. Second, KNBS is collaborating with Kenya Film Commission and other stakeholders to develop the Film Industry Satellite Account (FISA). The main objective of FISA is to estimate the contribution of the film industry to the country’s gross domestic product. The film industry forms a major part of the culture and creative industry.
In the coordination of NSS, KNBS appreciates the continued support of government entities including county governments; development partners and other stakeholders in ensuring adequate sensitization and capacity building in the production of statistics.
We wish to express our appreciation to all data providers, for the continued support in supplying data in our endeavor to ensure timely availability of statistics for use in evidence-based decision making. We want to encourage users of statistics to take advantage of data provided across the NSS for use in their various spheres.
We celebrate the African Statistics Day, the African way!
This report presents the economic performance for the first and second quarters of 2021. Economic growth decelerated in the first quarter of 2021 to 0.7 per cent compared to 4.4 per cent in the corresponding quarter of 2020, mainly owing to the onset of COVID-19 pandemic in the country in March 2020. On the other hand, real GDP grew by 10.1 per cent in the second quarter of 2021 compared to a contraction of 4.7 per cent in the same quarter of 2020. Read More