Did You Know: Kenyans Spend Most Of Their Income On Airtime

How much do you spend on mobile airtime daily, weekly or monthly? Do you ever stop to think how much your mobile phone consumes in terms of airtime and how it impacts on your pockets?

A survey conducted by the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) revealed that Kenyans are spending their income more on purchasing mobile airtime than even food. Is this true?

In its Consumer Price Index (CPI) for the month of March 2020, mobile airtime carried the greatest weight of 5.50 percent, followed by bus fare, rent and then food.

The revelation, which few have given a thought about, means telecommunications companies are making a kill in selling airtime than those selling food and those with rental apartments. Interesting. Right?

According to the Communications Authority of Kenya (CA), mobile phone penetration in Kenya is above 94 percent with mobile subscriptions being around 44.1 million. Kenyans use mobile phones to make calls, send text messages and to browse across online platforms.

According to Falcolink Technologies, dealers in electronic airtime, there is a huge drop in Kenyans purchasing physical mobile scratch cards from the shop with the majority opting for the use of mobile money platforms such as M-Pesa.

READ: Why Kenyans Are Moving Away From Physical Airtime

“It is easy to buy your airtime using a mobile money platform such as M-Pesa than it is going to the shop. It saves you time and it is convenient,” said Falcolink Technologies.

For Safaricom users, buying airtime via M-Pesa is easier than buying a physical scratch card. All one needs to do is go to M-Pesa, Choose buy airtime, choose if buying for self, enter the amount and you will be done.

One can also buy airtime via M-Pesa for another service provider such as Airtel. That is how flexible M-Pesa. This works better with a Paybill number. For instance, to buy airtime for an Airtel line via M-Pesa, go to Lipa Na M-Pesa, paybill, enter 156215, use your Airtel number as account and you will have the airtime.

READ: Kenyans Spending 5,000,000 Hours Daily Of Continuous Viewing Using Safaricom Data