The Namibian government significantly reduced its net borrowing to N$4.5 billion in 2024, marking a 43.6% decline from the N$8 billion recorded in 2023, according to the Namibia Statistics Agency (NSA).
The NSA reported that net borrowing as a percentage of GDP dropped to 1.8% in 2024 from 3.5% the previous year.
“To finance the budget deficit in 2024, the government is estimated to have borrowed N$4.5 billion, lower when compared to N$8.0 billion that was recorded in 2023,” the NSA stated.
Government income rose to N$91.9 billion in 2024, reflecting a 13.1% nominal increase from N$81.2 billion in 2023. However, this growth was slower compared to the 21.5% rise recorded in the previous year.
“The improvement in government income is mainly driven by SACU receipts and ‘taxes on income and wealth’ that amounted to N$27.1 billion and N$32.8 billion recorded in 2024 from N$21.8 billion and N$28.5 billion registered in 2023, respectively,” the NSA reported.
Despite overall income growth, property income receivable declined by N$0.7 billion to N$5.9 billion in 2024. Meanwhile, taxes on production and imports increased from N$20.1 billion in 2023 to N$21.4 billion in 2024.
The NSA data further revealed that tax revenue and SACU receipts continue to be the backbone of government income, accounting for 88.5% of total revenue.
On the expenditure side, government spending reached N$92.4 billion in 2024, reflecting a 7.7% nominal increase.
The rise in spending was attributed to increases in various categories, including current transfers to the rest of the world (14.9%), current transfers to households and nonprofit institutions serving households (10.5%), property income payable (9.1%), and final government consumption expenditure (5.7%).
Despite the uptick in expenditure, the government’s budget deficit improved substantially. “The government recorded a net deficit of only N$0.6 billion in 2024, a significant improvement from the N$4.7 billion deficit recorded in 2023,” the NSA report stated.
