Kenya’s flower export earnings fall in 2022 amid lower demand

Kenya’s flower export earnings declined to 90 billion shillings (about 718 million U.S. dollars) in 2022, down from 110 billion shillings posted in 2021 due to lower demand, the industry lobby said on Tuesday.

Clement Tulezi, chief executive officer of Kenya Flower Council, told journalists in Nairobi, Kenya’s capital, that the east African nation exported 210,000 tons of flowers in 2021, but the figure dropped by 15,000 tons in 2022.

“Lower consumer demand in key export markets resulted in reduced revenues for the flower sector in 2022.”

Government statistics indicate that flowers are one of the country’s leading foreign exchange earners alongside tea, tourism, and diaspora remittances.

Tulezi revealed that the European Union absorbed approximately 70 percent of Kenya’s flower exports. The East African nation is among the world’s leading producers of cut flowers.