Finance and Public Enterprises Minister Iipumbu Shiimi projects Namibia’s gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate to ease to 4% in 2024, a decrease from 5.6% in 2023.
He said the domestic economic outlook has improved significantly, as reflected in the latest quarterly GDP statistics released by the Namibia Statistics Agency (NSA) expected to moderate to 3.9% in 2025.
“The strong growth is anchored by upbeat activities in the natural resources sector, including the residual impact of ongoing petroleum exploration on domestic economic activities and the surge in uranium production following price increases,” Shiimi stated on Wednesday while delivering the budget statement for the 2024/25 financial year.
In addition, he said, sentiments have also broadly improved across many other sectors of the economy such as tourism, transport and storage, financial services, and electricity generation.
Nevertheless, he said the strong economic activities largely reflect a recovery in the traditional engines of domestic growth, particularly the mining sector which is highly capital-intensive.
As such, the projected economic recovery is not expected to address the pervasive and entrenched national challenges such as high unemployment, poverty, and income inequalities.
“Consequently, the urgency to diversify the economy remains a key cornerstone of our fiscal and economic policy framework moving forward,” he added.
Analyst forecast
Bank of Namibia
GDP growth is projected to decelerate from a revised 6.4% in 2022 to 3.9% in 2023 and further down to 3.4% in 2024.
PSG Namibia
PSG Namibia forecasts GDP growth to slow from 3.8% (previously 3.1%) in 2023 to 2.2% in 2024 amid global headwinds.
United Nations (UN)
UN World Economic Situation Prospects Report 2024 forecasts the country’s GDP to slow to 2.6% for 2024, from the 3.2% projected for 2023.
FNB Namibia
FNB Namibia Economist Ruusa Nandago anticipates a GDP growth of 3.3% in 2023 and a further decline to 2.8% in 2024, down from the robust 4.6% recorded in 2022.
