Sri Lankan Vehicle Ownership Has Doubled
From 2002-2010, the Sri Lankan vehicle population has more than doubled. There were 1.9 million vehicles on the road in 2002 and now there are nearly 4 million. I highlight vehicles because these are not cars*. Over 50% of the vehicles on the road are motorcycles. As you may have noticed, at every single junction.
It’s actually very simple. A motorcycle costs orders of magnitude less than a car. You can get a motorbike for less than 1 million rupees easy. You cannot get a car, besides a Nano, but with tax that comes out to just under a mil. The closest car car is the Geely/Micro Panda which I think sells for about 1.3. It’s important to note that Sri Lankan demand for vehicles is even higher than these numbers show.
New Vehicle Registrations
Look at new vehicle registrations. They spiked in 2010 partly cause the war ended, but mostly because the government dropped taxes (which can be 100% of a vehicles price and up). For a while hybrids weren’t taxed, and they boomed. Two years ago I never saw a hybrid on the streets, and all the Vitz’s were of my vintage (96 I think). Now I see hybrids everyday and my Vitz feels old.
Many people may react by saying, ‘Oh God, more vehicles’, which is true, but consider whether you have a car, or private transport. Seriously, I’ve taken the bus around and it sucks. At certain times fine, but if you’re doing a work commute, it takes literally hours out of your day in rather unpleasant circumstances. If you’re a girl you’re quite liable to get masturbated at and it’s altogether not a working public transit.
At the same time, however, cars are so insanely expensive that I don’t know how anyone purchases a new one. I slowly paid mine off month after month, but when I called Suzuki to see how much a new Swift cost I think they told me 4 million. I mean, what? That’s like $40,000. You could buy a Beamer in the States.
On the plus side, however, the excessive taxation created a possible loop for hybrids and electrics. The government opened that briefly and tons of hybrids sailed through. They’re taxed now, but less.
Cars And Poverty
Anyways, the broader point here was how Sri Lanka has gotten dramatically less poor over the past few decades. The average household income is like Rs. 36,000 now, and that’s not all going to expenses. Food prices have been rising globally so it’s hard to peg poverty to that, but private transport is one measure. By that measure Sri Lankans are wealthier than they were in 2002, and much wealthier than they were before.
Of course, taking young children to school on motorbikes is one the more terrifying things I’ve seen, and I see it on a daily basis. There is no chance that a swaddling baby has a chance in a motorcycle accident, but many parents have no choice. So there’s obviously a ways to go.
Data source: Department Of Motor Traffic
*I myself messed this up in the original title, it’s vehicle ownership, not cars. Car ownership has increased by about 1.6
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Janith has updated 
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Sri Lankan domestics never say anything, they just stop coming. My maid just stopped coming and when I finally pressed her she said I needed to get a washing machine. I was hoping to ride this one out, but I’ve run out of underwear and I have no choice. I finally caved and bought a washing machine, from 
I wonder inf the country’s infrastructure is ready to absorb the incoming vehicles. I too have seen those motorbike riding kids and your heart stops seeing them. This is common to most south Asian countries where bikes are more affordable. I have seen whole families riding on a small motorbike, in Thailand or Cambodia.
Sri Lanka is already WAY overcrowded… roads are absolutely crap with extremely poor public transport. Yay for more vehicles.
[...] Indi.ca reports that “from 2002-2010, the Sri Lankan vehicle population has more than doubled”. Tweet [...]
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I don’t how it is in Sri Lanka but in Pakistan motorcycle prices have tumbled over the last 4-5 years or so. Two reasons for this 1) lower priced Chinese bikes 2) local production. I don’t know whether Sri Lanka has local motorcycle assemblers but you probably do take advantage of cheaper imported Chinese bikes. So, IMO, the increasing motorcycle population can be explained by a massive reduction in the price of motorcycles. So while that means Sri Lankans enjoy a higher living standard it doesn’t necessarily mean that you are wealthier.
Also the price of a swift is insane. It costs around USD 12,500 here but we get a locally assembled one that isn’t off the same quality as the Japanese made ones. So having a local industry of car assemblers is a mixed blessing. 200k people get employment in the industry and the nation saves some forex but consumers get ripped off.
Thanks for the view from Pakistan abdussamad. We have local assemblers here for Chinese cars (Geely, Rexton) which avoid the tax and come out much cheaper. Not sure about the quality though
[...] are some fun stats to orient yourself. Only 10% of vehicles on the road in 2010 were cars. The population that lives in Colombo is about 800,000, and about 400,000 commute in [...]