Over the last year, Kenyans have splurged millions on high-end vehicles and aeroplanes, reports by the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) and the Kenya Civil Aviation Authority (KCAA) reveal.
A report published by the KNBS on August 31, titled Leading Economic Indicators July 2020 detailed the total number of new vehicles registered over the last 12 months.
July 2020, saw the second-highest number of newly registered vehicles with a total of 27,116 cars processed over the period.
This translated to an average of 875 new cars every single day. In 2020, only January saw a higher figure of 31,780 newly registered vehicles, which equates to 1,025 per day.
Over the last year the highest figure was recorded in July 2019, where 32,441 cars were registered, while the lowest month was April 2020, with 9,249 vehicles.
Station wagons and SUVs took the largest share of newly registered vehicles with 27,729 purchased between January-July 2020.
On the other hand, the registration of new aircraft owned by wealthy Kenyans and private aviation firms nearly doubled in 2019.
KCAA registered 87 new aircraft over the period, a spike from the 48 fresh listings in 2018.
The total number of privately owned planes in the country from the report stood at 1,548, excluding those owned by the National Police Service and the Kenya Defence Forces over the period.
Notably, an average 7 aircrafts were registered per month in 2019. Most of these are linked to privately owned charter companies and wealthy individuals.
Aside from the prominent wheeler-dealers, business leaders, and politicians, Kenyan skies are also dominated by large-scale farmers and ranchers.
Despite the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, the data indicates a surge in Kenyans willing to splurge on luxury vehicles and for the elite, helicopters and light aircraft.
