Fuel consumption in Kenya dropped to a five year low in the six months to December 2023. This occurred as more Kenyans opted to leave their cars at home in favour of public transport due to high pump prices.
According to the latest data from the Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority (EPRA) , consumption of diesel, super petrol and kerosene dropped by five per cent to 2.28 billion litres in the six month period to December compared to 2.4 billion litres of the same commodities that were consumed in the same period the previous year.
Consumption of diesel dropped by five per cent to 1.26 billion litres in the six-month period to December 2023 compared to 1.33 million litres that were consumed in the same period in 2022. Super petrol fell by four per cent to 991.8 million litres from 1.02 billion litres in the same period.
This was the second consecutive drop in the six month period, with consumption having dropped in the period between January and June 2023 as well.
Data shows that consumption of super petrol dropped five per cent to 1.01 billion litres between January and June 2023 from 1.074 billion litres in the same period last year.
In the same vein, consumption of diesel fell four per cent to 1.31 billion litres compared to 1.36 billion in the same period in 2022.
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This indicates that for the whole of 2023, the negative impact of punitive taxes and levies on fuel that are responsible for high fuel prices resulted in a drop in fuel consumption in Kenya.
A litre of fuel is currently subjected to a total of eight taxes and levies. Value Added Tax is the highest at a whopping Sh. 29.19 per litre, followed by Excise Duty at Sh. 21.95 per litre and Road Maintenance Levy at Sh. 18 per litre.
The Petroleum Development Levy that had been started by the government of former president Uhuru Kenyatta as a fuel stabilization fund is taking Sh. 5.40 per litre of fuel, even though current fuel prices are not being stabilized using the fund.
