CHAMWE KAIRA
The country’s economy expanded by 2% in real terms during the first quarter of 2026. The Namibia Statistics Agency (NSA) announced that the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) reached N$70.9 billion in nominal terms during the quarter, up N$4.7 billion from N$66.2 billion recorded in the first quarter of 2025.
Statistician-General and chief executive officer, Alex Shimuafeni said the quarter’s growth was primarily driven by the tertiary industries, which recorded real value-added growth of 5.1%, matching the performance achieved in the same quarter last year.
The strongest-performing service sectors included wholesale and retail trade, which grew by 9.3% compared with 7.5% a year earlier, followed by financial services at 7.2%, up from 1.6%.
Health services expanded by 6.4%, education by 4.6%, while public administration recorded growth of 3.7%.
However, the secondary industries contracted by 3.1% during the quarter, reversing the 2.4% growth recorded in the first quarter of 2025.
The decline was largely attributed to the manufacturing sector, where real value addition fell by 5.9%, compared to a 1.2% decline in the corresponding quarter last year.
Primary industries also remained under pressure, contracting by 5.7%, compared to a 4.2% decline a year earlier.
The NSA attributed the weaker performance mainly to the mining and quarrying sector, which declined by 12.2% following lower mineral production, particularly of diamonds and gold.
On the expenditure side of the economy, private final consumption expenditure increased by 1.4%, significantly slower than the 8.4% growth recorded in the first quarter of 2025, reflecting weaker household spending.
Government final consumption expenditure rose by 4.5%, compared to 6.4% in the corresponding quarter last year.
The agency said the increase was driven by a higher number of public servants.
Gross Fixed Capital Formation, a measure of investment, rebounded with growth of 3.4%, compared to a contraction of 4.8% in the same quarter of 2025.
The improvement was supported by higher investment in machinery, transport equipment and construction activities.
External trade also expanded during the quarter, with exports of goods and services increasing by 4.1%, while imports grew by 4.6%.
The faster growth in imports resulted in a wider external balance of goods and services deficit.
