29 Jun 2022

The number of first time motor vehicle registrations is on a downward trajectory. 

This is according to the Statistics Botswana transport and infrastructure statistics briefs for quarter four of 2021, released this month. 

The new vehicle registration ended the year with 10 063 vehicles, which was a decrease of 4.1 per cent, as compared to the previous quarter, where 10 494 vehicles were registered, the report says. 

During the second quarter of the same year, a total of 10 398 vehicles were registered, while 12 740 were registered during the first quarter of 2021.

In a five-year period, the lowest number of vehicles registered in a quarter was in the second quarter of 2020, when the country registered only 5 381 vehicles, while the highest registration in a quarter was in fourth quarter of 2019 with 18 770 vehicles. 

The Statistics Botswana report stated that passenger cars made up the bulk of the total of first registration followed by vans. 

It, however, says the majority of those first registrations were used vehicles, while new and rebuilt vehicles constituted only 19.4 and one per cent respectively. 

The report further said most of the registered motor vehicles were from Japan and South Africa. 

During the same quarter, Toyota was the most popular make in the first registrations followed by Mazda and Honda respectively, although the Japanese model’s  registrations had declined, it says. 

The Statistics Botswana report also said that during the same period, the volume of goods transported through rail went down by 19.6 per cent from 279 868 net tonnes in quarter three to 224 938 net tonnes in quarter four. 

It said a total of P41.9 million in revenue was generated in the transportation of goods through rail in the quarter under review. 

The report also said the revenue generated from goods transported into, out and within the country constituted 93.6 per cent of the total, while goods transported through the country generated a small proportion. 

As for air transport, it says a total of 11 149 aircraft movements were recorded, which is 8.4 per cent decline from the previous quarter, most of which movements were domestic. Ends