Namibia’s trade deficit for the month of September 2022 improved by 41.2% year-on-year to N$2.4 billion in September 2022 from N$4.1 billion recorded the previous month, latest data shows.
This comes as the country’s exports earnings during the period under review rose by 2.3% from N$7.8 billion recorded the prior month to N$8 billion while the imports bill amounted to N$10.4 billion representing a decrease of 12.5% from N$11.9 billion recorded in August 2022.
“Namibia’s trade composition by partner showed that Botswana remained Namibia’s largest market for exports whereas South Africa was the main source of imports. The composition of the export basket for the month of September 2022 mainly consisted of minerals such as Precious stones (diamonds), Uranium, Copper ores and concentrates and Non-monetary gold,” said Namibia Statistics Agency’s Statistician General and CEO Alex Shimuafeni.
He added that fish continued to be the only non-mineral commodity within the top five products exported.
“On the other hand, the import basket mainly consisted of Petroleum oils, Precious stones (diamonds), Motor vehicles for the transportation of goods, Medicaments, and Wheat. Analysis for the commodity of the month under study focused on both the exportation and importation of Rice. The value of Rice imported into the country was valued at N$20. 1 million of which most was sourced from South Africa and India.”
Shimuafeni noted that between September 2021 and September this year Namibia recorded a deficit averaging N$2.9 billion in which no trade surplus was noted.
The country’s exports to South Africa were valued at N$1.4 billion while imports stood at N$4.2 billion resulting in a trade deficit of N$2.8 billion with its neighbour.
“A country that Namibia enjoys a trade surplus with is Botswana with exports to this country valued at N$1.6 billion and imports valued at N$63 million during the month of September 2022. The trade surplus between these two countries was the highest during the month under study,” he said.
Re-exports increased by 8.4% month-on-month in September 2022 and surged 147.9% year-on-year.
“During September 2022, goods amounting to N$3.4 billion were re-exported, an increase of 8.4% month-on-month and 147.9% year-on-year when compared to N$3.1 billion recorded the previous month and N$1.4 billion observed the same month of 2021. The re-exports basket mainly consisted of Precious stones (diamonds), Copper ores and concentrates and Petroleum oils,” he said.
Petroleum oils topped the list of imported goods for the month of September 2022, with a share of 26.9% of the nation’s total import value, precious stones (diamonds) with a share of 5.9%, while motor vehicles for the transportation of goods and medicaments were rated third and fourth in the list accounting for 3.2% and 2.5% of all commodities imported, respectively, with Wheat ranked fifth after contributing 2.3% to the total imports.
“Petroleum oils were mostly sourced from the United Arab Emirates, the United States of America and Bahrain, while precious stones (diamonds) were sourced mainly from Belgium. Motor vehicles for the transportation of goods were mainly imported from South Africa. Medicaments were mostly imported from India and lastly, Wheat was mostly sourced from Lithuania,” NSA CEO said.
This comes as the country’s trade activities continued to increase during the period of January to September 2022 when compared to the same period last year.
“Cumulative exports from the month of January to September 2022 stood at N$68.7 billion, representing an increase of 51.4% from N$45.4 billion recorded during the same period in 2021.For imports, an increase of 44.6% is depicted when compared to the value of N$65.4 billion recorded during the same period the previous year,” added the Statistician General.
The Southern African Customs Union remained the most prevalent export destination for Namibia’s goods during the month, accounting for 38.3% of total exports, with European Union exports accounting for 21.3% of Namibia’s total exports
