CHAMWE KAIRA
The final consumption expenditure in nominal terms stood at N$59 billion during the third quarter of this year, the Namibia Statistics Agency said in Gross Domestic Product (GDP) figures.
Final consumption expenditure is made up of household final consumption expenditure, while government final consumption expenditure is made for collective consumption or for individual consumption in the form of social transfers in kind to households.
In real terms it increased by 1,8 % from a growth of 0,6% witnessed in the third quarter of 2023. Private final consumption expenditure in nominal terms increased to N$45,1 billion during the third quarter, marking an increase of N$1,9 billion from the same quarter of 2023.
Meanwhile, government final consumption expenditure amounted to N$13,9 billion compared to the N$12,7 billion recorded in the same quarter of 2023, resulting in a 5,7% increase in real terms from a decline of 0,7% that was recorded in the third quarter of 2023.
“This increase is attributed to a rise in employee compensations,” the NSA said.
The figures showed gross fixed capital formation in real terms declined by 7,2% during the review quarter, compared to a growth of 92,8% registered during the corresponding quarter of 2023.
“The decrease is primarily due to a decline in investments of mineral exploration activities and construction of buildings,” the agency said.
The export of goods and services amounted to N$27,7 billion during the quarter under review, reflecting an increase of N$5,3 billion compared to N$22,4 billion recorded in the third quarter of 2023, the NSA said.
The NSA figures showed that in real terms, export of goods and services grew by 19,3 % in the third quarter, an improvement when compared to the 1,1% decline witnessed in the same quarter of 2023.
“This strong performance was primarily driven by increased export of intermediate and final goods,” the NSA said.
Meanwhile, the import of goods and services increased by N$4,4 billion, reaching N$43,6 billion during the third quarter, up from N$39,2 billion recorded in the third quarter of 2023.
“In real terms, import of goods and services grew by 7,3% compared to the 17,6% growth registered in the corresponding quarter of 2023. The performance is mainly attributed to the import of final goods. As a result, the deficit of external balance of goods and services shrunk during the period under review, registering a deficit of N$15,9 billion compared to N$16,8 billion recorded in the third quarter of 2023,” the agency said.
