A Christmas on budget as Kenyans cut back on festive spending

Fred Kageni, a trader in second-hand shoes at Fig Tree Market, Ngara in Nairobi, on December 15, 2025. [Kanyiri Wahito, Standard]

With less than a week to Christmas, festive sights and sounds fill towns across Kenya: Decorated malls, carols echoing through shopping centres, and mitumba traders calling out to passers-by in open-air markets. Yet, beneath the seasonal cheer, traders say this year’s Christmas shopping rush has been unusually subdued.