All vehicle registrations dropped over the month

Vehicle Registrations January 2017


  Jan 17
Dec 16
Nov 16
Oct 16

New Registrations
285 418 326 346

After the peak in vehicle registrations recorded last month, new registrations dropped by 133 (31.8%) to 285 vehicles in January 2017. This was mainly driven by cars and light vehicle registrations which declined by 68 (35.8%) and 31 (21.7%) registrations respectively. Taxis and rental vehicles followed with a decline of 29 (65.9%) registrations. Motor cycles, heavy vehicles and buses, remained relatively stable over the month with no government vehicle registered in January. Lower vehicle registrations in January are similar to previous years’ trend.

However, vehicle import payments increased by $0.3 million (16.6%) and new vehicle loan commitments rose by $0.3 million over the month. This indicates the possibility of lagged effect of payments for vehicles received in previous months. In addition, it implies advanced import payments for vehicles yet to arrive in the upcoming months.

In year ended terms, vehicle registrations were 783 vehicles (28.8%) higher due to an increase in all registrations type. Cars and light vehicles each held a large share of the total vehicle registrations, each category rose by 390 (35.6%) and 228 (21.2%) vehicles respectively. This was supported by the annual rise in imported vehicle payments made through the banking system which increased by $8.1 million (74.1%) and vehicle loans also rose by $0.5 million (127.7%).

The Reserve Bank anticipates growth in vehicle registrations in the near term which coincides with the expected decrease in fuel prices according to the International Monetary Fund’s April World Economic Outlook. Additionally, growth projected for the tourism sector is expected to have spill over effects on transportation and vehicle registrations due to the high number of international arrivals.


Download the full report: Vehicle Registrations - January 2017

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