CHAMWE KAIRA
Namibia’s trade developments reveal that exports amounted to N$10.7 billion in July, while imports were higher at N$16.5 billion, resulting in a trade deficit (a negative difference between the country’s exports and imports) of N$5.9 billion.
International Merchandise Trade Statistics for July released by the Namibia Statistics Agency showed that this development reflects a worsened trade balance when compared to the N$5.4 billion deficit recorded in June 2026.
Further analysis shows a N$17 million surplus recorded in the same month of the previous year.
The analysis of Namibia’s top trading partners revealed that South Africa emerged as the country’s largest market for both exports and imports.
“On the goods front, the country’s export basket for July 2026 was mainly composed of commodities from the mining sector, such as non-monetary gold, precious stones (diamonds), nickel ores and concentrates and uranium. Fish was the only non-mineral product among the top five exports. Re-exports notably decreased by 10.5 % and 3.6 % on a monthly and annual basis, respectively,” said Alex Shimuafeni, Statistician General and chief executive officer of the Namibia Statistics Agency.
The re-export basket primarily comprised ‘nickel ores and concentrates’, petroleum oils, ‘sulphur and unroasted iron pyrites’, other crude minerals and fertilizers.
On the other hand, the import basket mainly comprised petroleum oils, ‘nickel ores and concentrates’, ‘sulphur and unroasted iron pyrites’, motor vehicles (for commercial purposes), and motor vehicles for the transportation of persons.
Namibia was a net exporter (exported more food than it imported) with a trade surplus of N$533 million, while for beverages, Namibia was a net importer (imported more beverages than it exported), having recorded a deficit amounting to N$282 million.
The current report considered ‘Wheat and Meslin’ as the commodity of the month. The analysis revealed that, on the supply side, the country re-exported ‘Wheat and Meslin’ worth N$85.5 million destined for Zambia, while on the demand side, the country imported ‘Wheat and Meslin’ worth N$169 million, mainly sourced from Germany, Latvia and Poland.
In July, Namibia’s intra-African trade recorded exports valued at N$ 6.2 billion. On the other hand, the country imported goods worth N$7.3 billion from the continent, yielding a trade deficit of N$1.2 billion and total trade of N$13.5 billion.
Intra-African exports account for 58% of total exports and imports from Africa making up 44.4% of total imports.
Namibia’s exports were mostly absorbed by countries such as South Africa, Zambia, Botswana, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Mozambique.
In contrast, most imports came from the same countries, except for Mozambique and Botswana, which were replaced by Zimbabwe and Nigeria.
