The construction sector’s contribution to GDP hit an all-time high in the third quarter of 2017, buoyed by a raft of mega infrastructure and housing projects and defying a slump in the performance of the overall economy.

Output from the sector in the July-September window was Sh99 billion — the highest ever, data by the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) shows.

This was despite the fact that the country’s economy grew by 4.4 per cent in the third quarter of 2017, the slowest quarterly growth in five years, as prolonged electoral politics and drought took its toll on key segments of the economy.

The July-September performance fell far below the impressive 5.6 per cent growth recorded in a similar period in 2016, data released by the KNBS shows.

Most sectors including agriculture, manufacturing, health, accommodation, mining and education posted slower growth for the third quarter of 2017 compared to the same quarter last year.

The financial and insurance sector, for instance, recorded the biggest drop from 7.1 per cent in third quarter of 2016 to 2.4 per cent this year; while accommodation and food service slowed considerably from 13.5 per cent to 7.3 per cent over the period. Agriculture, which accounts for a quarter of the national GDP, also recorded slower July-September growth of 3.1 per cent compared to 3.8 per cent in the same period last year while manufacturing slowed over the period from 4.4 per cent to 2.1 per cent.

The construction sector, however, recorded good performance with a 6.7 per cent leap in the third-quarter of 2017 supported by a booming projects spread across the country.