Namibia recorded a N$773 million food trade surplus in August 2026, driven by N$1.3 billion in fish exports and N$434 million from meat and edible meat offal, according to the Namibia Statistics Agency (NSA).
The surplus came despite the country recording an overall merchandise trade deficit of N$3.9 billion during the month, as imports continued to exceed total exports.
Fish dominated Namibia’s food exports in August, accounting for 62.4% of the total, followed by meat at 20.3% and edible vegetables at 4.8%.
“The surplus on food items was mainly attributed to the export of fish and ‘meat and edible meat offal’, which stood at N$1.3 billion and N$434 million, respectively,” the NSA said in its latest International Merchandise Trade Statistics Bulletin.
On the import side, cereals accounted for 15.8% of food imports, followed by sugar at 11.9% and animal fodder at 9%.
Overall, Namibia exported goods worth N$12.7 billion in August, up 18.8% from July and 65.3% compared with August 2025.
Imports stood at N$16.6 billion, increasing by 0.2% month-on-month and 28% year-on-year.
The stronger export performance narrowed the country’s trade deficit to N$3.9 billion from N$5.9 billion in July and N$5.3 billion in August 2025.
For the first eight months of 2026, Namibia exported goods worth N$91.2 billion, N$6.9 billion more than during the corresponding period of 2025.
Imports, however, climbed to N$120.8 billion from N$98.3 billion over the same period last year, leaving the country with a cumulative merchandise trade deficit of about N$29.6 billion.
Despite the surplus in food, Namibia remained a net importer of beverages, recording exports of N$134 million against imports of N$327 million. This resulted in a beverage trade deficit of N$193 million.
Poultry and poultry products, highlighted by the NSA as its commodity of the month, also recorded a trade deficit. Namibia exported N$49 million worth of poultry products in August, mostly re-exports to the Democratic Republic of Congo, Zambia and Botswana, while imports reached N$53.4 million.
The poultry imports were sourced mainly from Brazil, South Africa and the United States.
France emerged as Namibia’s largest export market during August, accounting for 21.6% of exports, followed by South Africa at 19.7%, Zambia at 10.8%, Botswana at 10.6% and China at 8.8%.
South Africa remained the country’s largest source of imports with a 32.4% share, followed by Oman at 12.9%, China at 8.8%, Zambia at 5.3% and India at 5.1%.
Namibia recorded its largest bilateral trade surplus with France at N$2.6 billion, followed by Botswana at N$1.3 billion and Spain at N$396 million.
Its largest bilateral trade deficit was with South Africa at N$2.9 billion, followed by Oman at N$2.1 billion and China at N$1 billion.
