The Namibia Statistic Agency’s inaugural COVID-19 Household and Job Tracker Survey published on Wednesday revealed that COVID-19 legislative restrictions on the sale of alcohol, curfews, and closure of businesses such as gyms and restaurants, led to income and jobs losses.
The report also showed that 7.3% of the population surveyed who were working before the onsets of COVID-19 experienced job losses due to the deadly pandemic.
“The main reason people cited lost jobs was due to business closure due to COVID-19 restrictions (47.6%) introduced by the government,” the NSA said.
Figures from the Ministry of Labour according to media reports show that the economic downturn, exacerbated by the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, resulted in 13 683 job losses between January 2020 and June 2021.
Households according to the NSA survey who relied on income from family livestock farming or fishing (49%), non-farming related family businesses (65%) and those who depended on income from properties, investment and savings (55%) experienced the largest reductions in income during the period under review.
Prices hikes for food items were found to have impacted many households during the period, with many resorting to rationing their consumption.
“Food security was a major concern during the pandemic. An increase in the price of food that was consumed was the most widely reported shock affecting households.59% of the households reported price increases in major food items as the most commonly experienced shock. Households reduced food consumption as a way to handle the shock,” the NSA said.
The NSA survey is a multi-disciplinary study which was used to understand how measures taken by government during the onset of COVID-19, impacted households and individuals.
The Namibia COVID-19 Households and Job Tracker Survey was conducted nation-wide between 14 March 2021 and 13 April 2021, with the purpose of providing basic information on the impact of COVID-19 on households and economic activity in Namibia.
A total of 7002 households were selected and 3648 households were successfully reached and interviewed in both rural (54.2 %) and urban (45.8%) areas respectively.
The Namibian government last year was forced to announce COVID-19 regulations, which included travel restrictions to limit the spread of COVID-19 in the country.
