Namibia’s annual inflation rate accelerated to 4.4% in July 2026 from 3.5% a year earlier, driven largely by a sharp rise in fuel, transport and housing costs, according to the Namibia Statistics Agency (NSA).
The NSA’s July 2026 Consumer Price Index Bulletin shows that transport emerged as the biggest driver of inflation, contributing 1.4 percentage points to the headline rate.
Annual inflation for transport surged to 9.3% from a deflation rate of 1.2% in July 2025, reflecting significantly higher costs for motorists and public transport users.
The operation of personal transport equipment recorded inflation of 11.3%, compared with a 3% decline a year earlier, after petrol and diesel prices increased by 15.5%.
Public transportation services recorded an even sharper increase, with annual inflation accelerating to 14.7% from 1.3% in July last year.
“The Transport category, which carries a weight of 14.3 percent in the consumer basket, recorded an annual inflation rate of 9.3 percent in July 2026, compared to a deflation of 1.2 percent in July 2025,” the NSA said.
Housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels was the second-largest contributor to overall inflation, adding 1.2 percentage points.
Inflation in the housing category increased to 4.8% from 3.6% in July 2025, reflecting higher electricity, gas and other fuel costs, as well as increases in rentals and dwelling maintenance.
Food and non-alcoholic beverages contributed another 0.7 percentage points, although annual food inflation slowed to 3.7% from 6.1% a year earlier.
Fruit prices increased by 15.3%, while vegetables rose by 5.6%. Price pressures eased elsewhere, with fish inflation slowing to 3.1% from 10.3% and meat inflation declining to 3.3% from 10.3%.
Coffee, tea and cocoa inflation also slowed sharply to 1.5% from 9.1% in July 2025.
Services inflation increased to 4.8% from 3.8% a year earlier, while goods inflation rose to 4.2% from 3.3%.
Khomas recorded the highest regional inflation rate at 5.3%, up from 3.1% in July 2025, largely due to higher transport and recreation and culture costs.
Hardap, //Kharas, Erongo and Omaheke recorded combined inflation of 4.3%, compared with 3.6% a year earlier, while the northern regions recorded the lowest inflation rate at 3.6%, down from 3.9%.
Despite the acceleration in annual inflation, monthly price growth moderated, with inflation slowing to 0.1% in July from 0.3% in June. Core inflation, which provides an indication of underlying price pressures, stood at 3.7%.
