Majority of Kenyans’ incomes stagnated or dipped last year, affecting consumer habits across most sectors, the quarterly Consumer Spending Index by ICEA Lion Asset Management shows.
- •61% of respondents indicated their income levels ended 2024 at the same level as 2023, 24% ended the year with lower incomes, and only 15% reported increased incomes.
- •Only the 26 – 35 years age group had a high proportion of individuals spending more while all other age groups reported lower spending trends.
- •60% of retailers surveyed reported an increase in sales compared to the final quarter in 2023, while approximately 40% had lower sales as individual spending trends remained largely unchanged.
“We also note that the proportion of individuals reporting lower incomes declined to the lowest levels witnessed during the year,” said Judd Murigi, Head of Research at ICEA LION Asset Management.
In the Q3 index, half of respondents indicated static income levels over the last year, while 30% reported lower income and less than 20% saw their incomes rise in the third quarter of 2024 compared to the same period in 2023.
The Q4 index shows that the Real estate and construction sectors had the largest proportion of respondents who had higher incomes compared to 2023 while the wholesale and retail sector had the biggest proportion of workers whose incomes declined in 2024. This represented the second successive quarter when the trade sector has led to declining income trends.
Clothing, retail shopping, and food & beverage sectors witnessed higher sales in the final quarter of 2024 compared to the previous year, while the household fittings and accessories sector saw most businesses report lower sales trends between October and December 2024.
“Consumer spending trends in the final quarter of the year were broadly similar with those in the third quarter,” ICEA LION Asset Management CEO – Einstein Kihanda, said.
The majority of retail businesses in Nairobi, Mombasa, Eldoret, and Kisumu reported improved sales, but Nyeri bucked the trend with most retailers experiencing lower sales. The shift in