Story by John Nhandara

THE Zimbabwe National Statistics Agency (ZIMSTAT) this Monday presented a transport sector statistics report for the period 2018 to 2022, with statistics on motor vehicle registration, road traffic accidents, flight movements and inland water transport, among other categories.

The report reveals that the country recorded an increase in newly registered light vehicles from 76.2 percent in 2021 to 78.1 percent in 2022.

However, this has unfortunately resulted in a worrying increase in the number of road traffic accidents after more than 52 000 accidents were recorded in 2022 compared to 45 307 recorded the previous year.

ZIMSTAT Director General Mr Taguma Mahonde noted, “A year-on-year comparison of total road traffic accidents reported reflects a 16.1 percent increase in the numbers from 45 307 in 2021 to 52 585 in 2022.”

On air transport, the number of flights recorded in 2022 were 50 640, reflecting a 52,3 percent increase compared to 33, 254 flights in 2021.

However, all airports recorded a decline in the number of air transport passengers over the period 2018 to 2020 before the country recorded a percentage increase in 2022.

“Across all airports, there were more flights in the third quarter of 2022 than they were in the fourth quarter, the number of flights in 2022 was 50 640 reflecting a percentage increase of 52.3 percent compared to 33, 254 in 2021,” said Mr Mahonde.

Elsewhere, 161 inland water permits were issued in 2022, while the number of newly registered vessels increased by 59.1 percent from 22 in 2021 to 350 in 2022.