The number of people who perished in road accidents in Kenya grew by almost 10 per cent to 4,748 last year, the majority of them at the peak of economic production between 20 and 54 years of age.
The National Transport and Safety Authority report shows in the three months between October and December 2024, at least 630 out of 1,221 of those who perished were in that age bracket.
“People in that age bracket are the most productive. Although I cannot get the actual economic value, think of a deficit in skilled labour mostly managerial space, family breadwinners, societal thought leaders among others,” data scientist Albert Kisaka told the Star.
Kisaka added that the deaths wipe out at least Sh161 million from the country’s GDP, given that Kenya’s GDP per capita is estimated at close to Sh260,000.
Besides, increased road accidents put pressure on Kenya’s health sector, characterised by limited equipment and technical resources.
Late last year, the Ministry of Health said the high number of road crashes strain the healthcare system, with estimated annual health costs attributable to road traffic injuries placed at Sh46.1 billion.
The MoH ranks road traffic injuries as the ninth leading cause of death in Kenya.
Besides the fatalities, hundreds of thousands are seriously injured every year leading to suffering, long-term impairments and lifelong disabilities.
According to the World Health Organization, nine in 10 road deaths occur in low and middle-income countries and fatalities in these countries are disproportionately higher when set against the number of vehicles and roads they have.
The risk of death is three times higher in low income than in high income countries, yet they have just one per cent of the world’s motor vehicles.
On average in Africa, 19.4 people out of every 100,000 die in road crashes. In Kenya 28 people out of every 100,000 die due to road crashes, Comoros (29), Zimbabwe (29.8), Guinea Bissau (30) and Guinea (37).
It is no wonder that motor accidents dominate insurance claims in the country, accounting for 68 per cent of claims in 2024.
Data from Insurance Regulatory Authority shows that insurance firms paid Sh37.6 billion for motor and 32.4 billion for medical claims during the financial year under review