The latest Population and Housing Census Labour Force Report has revealed that men account for 51% of managerial positions in Namibia, while women hold 49% of these roles.
Out of 47,174 people in managerial positions, 23,988 are men and 23,186 are women.
Despite this near parity, the data highlights that only 8% of men in the labour force hold managerial roles, while a slightly higher percentage of women—9.4%—occupy similar positions. The total labour force consists of 300,794 men and 246,011 women.
The Namibia Statistics Agency (NSA) report further indicates that the highest proportion of the employed population, 21.8%, work in elementary occupations, totaling 546,805 individuals. Service and sales workers represent the second-largest occupational group, accounting for 13.4% of the employed workforce.
The findings also show that a higher proportion of men than women are employed in craft and related trade work, skilled agriculture, forestry and fishery, plant and machine operation, and the armed forces. The armed forces category recorded the smallest employment share at 3.4%.
Education levels among female managers were also analyzed, revealing that 52% lack tertiary education, while 50.3% have completed secondary school. The lowest proportion—32.5%—consists of women who attained only technical or vocational education.
The NSA reported that the employment-to-population ratio stood at 33.4% for men and 25.2% for women. The total working-age population (15 years and older) was estimated at 1,876,122 in 2023, with the overall labour force recorded at 867,247 and the youth labour force at 455,030.
The country’s unemployment rate has risen to 36.9%, up from 33.4% recorded in the 2018 Labour Force Survey. Of the 867,247 individuals in the labour force, 320,442 were unemployed. Unemployment was more prevalent in rural areas (38.0%) than in urban centers (36.4%). The male unemployment rate stood at 34.6%, while the female unemployment rate was notably higher at 39.6%.
Overall, the labour force remains male-dominated, with 459,723 men compared to 407,524 women. Additionally, urban areas housed a larger share of the workforce, with 573,043 individuals compared to 289,145 in rural areas.
