NAIROBI - Kenya's economy expanded by 6.8% in the first quarter of this year from a revised 2.7% in the same period a year earlier, the statistics office said on Friday.

The faster growth was due to a recovery "in most economic activities that had contracted significantly in the first quarter of 2021 due to COVID-19," the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics said in a statement.

Those sectors included transport and storage, accommodation and food provision, as well as other services sectors, the statistics office said.

Other key sectors like construction, real estate, and information communication also grew at a faster pace. Agriculture, which is the biggest contributor to output, was, however, curbed by inadequate rains.

(Reporting by George Obulutsa and Duncan Miriri; Editing by Toby Chopra)