Namibia recorded a N$33.4 billion trade deficit in 2021 after exporting goods valued at N$95 billion against total imports of N$129 billion, latest figures released by the Namibia Statistics Agency (NSA) show.
This was after the country’s trade balance with the rest of the world had declined in December to N$2.4 billion from a deficit of N$3.2 billion recorded in November 2021.
According to NSA, the country’s exports earnings for December 2021 stood at N$ 9.3 billion, a 3.8% decrease month on month, while the country’s imports bill amounted to N$11.7 billion, down 9% on a monthly basis.
“This resulted in a trade deficit of N$2.4 billion, which is an improvement from the trade deficit of N$3.2 billion recorded in November 2021,” NSA Statistician General & CEO, Alex Shimuafeni said.
The country’s total exports and imports for the month of December, however, declined by 6.8% to N$ 21.1 billion, from N$22.6 billion recorded in November 2021 according to NSA figures.
“Namibia’s trade activities picked up for the period of January to December 2021 when compared to the same period of 2020. Cumulative total trade (import + export) for the period of January 2021 to December 2021 stood at N$223.8 billion compared to N$195.1 billion recorded during the same period of 2020,” he said.
Manufactured products emerged as the largest exported goods with a value of N$6 billion, representing 63.9% of total exports, while mining and quarrying industry exports declined by N$1.3 billion during the period under review.
“Export of products from the manufacturing industry increased by N$869 million from N$5.1 billion recorded in November 2021. The Mining and quarrying industry came in second place with exports valued at N$2.6 billion recorded for December 2021. Export of products from this industry decreased by N$1.3 billion from N$3.9 billion recorded for November 2021,” Shimuafeni said.
The manufacturing industry, according to the NSA, imported commodities from the manufacturing industry worth N$9.2 billion and N$2.3 billion from the mining and quarrying industry.
“The demand for products was mainly dominated by commodities from the manufacturing industry, with an import bill of N$9.2 billion in December 2021. This is a decline of N$1.7 billion from N$10.9 billion recorded in November 2021. Furthermore, the country imported goods from the mining and quarrying industry amounting to N$2.3 billion representing an increase of N$588 million from N$1.7 billion recorded in November 2021,” he said.
“During the month of December 2021, Namibia’s top five export partners were China, South Africa, Botswana, USA and France. These top five markets accounted for 72.2 percent of Namibia’s total exports, up from 69.8 percent witnessed in November 2021 and 65.6 percent recorded in December 2020.”
In December 2021, total re-exports stood at N$4.9 billion from N$4 billion recorded in the previous month and the corresponding month of last year.
