Martin Endjala
The Namibia Statistics Agency (NSA) reported a trade deficit of N$3.6 billion in August 2024, widening from N$2.1 billion in July 2024 but narrowing compared to the N$4.9 billion deficit recorded in August 2023.
This data comes from the Namibia International Merchandise Trade Statistics Bulletin, released on Tuesday.
NSA statistician-general and chief executive officer, Alex Shimuafeni said the country’s trade composition by partner showed that South Africa emerged as Namibia’s largest market for exports and imports.
“We have introduced a section in the report that tracks trade on food items (excluding live animals) and beverages; for the month under review, Namibia was a net exporter of food items with a trade surplus of N$223 million,” he said.
According to Shimuafeni, the export basket’s composition for August 2024 mainly consisted of minerals such as precious stones (diamonds), non-monetary gold, petroleum oils, and ‘nickel ores and concentrates’.
Within the top five exported products, fish remained the only non-mineral product.
For the month under review, re-exports decreased by 15.0% month-on-month and increased by 15.9% year-on-year.
The import basket primarily included petroleum oils, fertilisers, “motor” vehicles for the transportation of goods, inorganic chemical elements, and “civil engineering and contractors’ equipment.”
In the analysis of the commodity of the month, during the month under review, Namibia exported salt worth N$59 million and imported N$1.4 million worth of the same commodity.
The country witnessed trade surpluses of N$1.6 billion with Botswana, Zambia N$619 million, and Spain N$428 million.
Trade deficits were recorded against South Africa at N$3.2 billion, Qatar at N$526 million, and China at N$491 million during the period under review.
The report noted demand-side revisions of N$1 million in the categories of “Trailers and semi-trailers,” “Motor vehicles for the transportation of goods,” and “Paper and Paperboard.”
Namibia’s cumulative exports recorded N$ 77.1 billion in August 2024, higher than the N$ 67.2 billion registered during the same period of the previous year.
Namibia’s export earnings in August 2024 stood at N$8.7 billion, a decline of 12.7% from the N$10 billion recorded in July 2024.
The import bill for the month under review stood at N$12.3 billion, an increase of 1.9% from the N$12 billion recorded during the preceding month.
In August 2024, the manufacturing sector took the first position with the largest export of goods valued at N$4.9 billion, absorbing 56.6% of total exports.
The industry’s products decreased by N$649 million compared to the previous month.
In August 2024, the mining and quarrying sector ranked second with 38.3% of total exports.
This industry’s exported goods decreased by N$553 million compared to the previous month.
Furthermore, the ‘agriculture, forestry and fishing’ sector ranked third, contributing 4.3% of the total exports of goods.
Products from the manufacturing sector dominated the demand side, with an import bill of N$9.8 billion in August 2024, up 9.9% from July 2024.
The mining and quarrying industry ranked second, with imports valued at N$2.2 billion during the month under review, a decrease of 20% compared to the preceding month.
The agriculture, forestry, and fishing industries ranked third, accounting for N$327 million in imports during the study month.
During the month under review, the export3 bill decreased by 12.7% compared to N$10 billion recorded in July 2024 and increased by 18.2% compared to N$7.4 billion registered in the corresponding 2023.
Imports for the same period stood at N$12.3 billion, translating into an increase of 1.9% month-on-month and a decrease of 0.1% year-on-year.
In August 2024, South Africa took first place as Namibia’s main export destination, accounting for 25.1% of exports; Botswana was in second position with a share of 19.0%, while Zambia occupied third position with a share of 10.1%.
China and Spain took the fourth and fifth positions, contributing 8.5% and 5.8%, respectively.
