Nairobi, Feb. 13 -- Fuel consumption in the six months to December last year dropped to the lowest level in at least five years, highlighting the impact of record-high pump prices amid the doubling of Value Added Tax (VAT).

Data from the Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority (Epra) shows that consumption of diesel, super petrol and kerosene fell five percent to 2.28 billion litres in the period compared to 2.4 billion litres used in the second half of 2022.

This is the lowest recorded in Kenya at least since 2019 and came at a time when prices breached the Sh200-a-litre mark in some towns after VAT on petroleum products was doubled to 16 percent effective July 1, 2023.

Pump prices jumped by up to Sh13 a litre when Epra adjusted pri...