Namibia recorded a trade deficit of N$3.3 billion during the month of September compared to N$4.9 billion and N$2.6 billion recorded in August 2023 and September 2022, respectively, latest data reveals.
The growth in imports outpaced the rise in exports during the month, with data from the Namibia Statistics Agency (NSA) showing that the country’s exports stood at N$7.8 billion in September while imports amounted to N$11.1 billion.
NSA Statistician General and CEO Alex Shimuafeni noted Namibia’s export earnings recorded an increase of 5.3% to N$7.8 billion from N$7.4 billion recorded in August 2023.
“Moreover, the import bill for the month under review decreased to 9.6% compared to N$12.3 billion recorded during the preceding month, resulting in a trade deficit of N$3.3 billion, compared to a trade deficit of N$4.9 billion recorded in August 2023,” he said.
This comes as Namibia’s exports continue to be on an upward trajectory, recording N$74.9 billion for the first nine months of 2023, higher when compared to N$70.0 billion registered during the same period of 2022.
Meanwhile, on the import side, cumulative trade for the first nine months amounted to N$98.1 billion, an increase of N$ 2.9 billion when compared to the same period of the previous year.
In September 2023, the manufacturing industry emerged as the industry with the largest exported goods valued at N$3.8 billion, absorbing 48.6% of total exports, products from the industry decreased by N$894 million when compared to the previous month.
Products from the mining and quarrying industry came in second position absorbing 44.3% of the export bill in September 2023.
Exported goods from this industry increased by N$1.3 billion month-on-month.
NSA noted that the demand side was largely dominated by products from the manufacturing industry, with an import bill of N$7.9 billion recorded in September 2023, decreasing by 10.7% from N$8.9 billion recorded the previous month.
In second position was the mining and quarrying industry which stood at N$2.8 billion, resulting in a decrease of N$338 million during September 2023.
South Africa emerged as Namibia’s largest export destination at 20.6%, followed by Botswana at 19.2%.
In terms of imports, “South Africa leads with 40.2%, and the United Arab Emirates follows at 12.3%. China, Zambia, and the UAE are prominent export markets, while China, India, and the USA are among the top import sources”.
“Namibia’s export analysis highlights diamonds as the leading commodity, constituting 22.4% of total exports, followed by uranium at 17.1% and fish at 12.1%. Non-monetary gold holds the fourth position at 10.6%, while petroleum oils rank fifth at 6.3%” the trade bulletin notes.
On the import side, petroleum oils dominate at 23.7%, with inorganic chemical elements and motor vehicles for goods transportation following at 3.9% and 3.2%, respectively.
Motor cars for passenger transportation and civil engineering and contractors’ equipment contribute 2.4% and 2.3%, respectively.
“Namibia’s trade by mode of transport revealed that in September 2023, vast goods were exported via air transport, accounting for 34.9% of total exports, followed by sea transport with 34.2% and road transport with 30.9%,” the NSA said.
From the demand side, road transport was the most frequent mode of transport accounting for 58.4% of total imports followed by sea transport with 38.6% and air transport with 2.9%.
