The Namibia Statistics Agency (NSA) reports that the country’s economy grew by N$1.7 billion in the first quarter of 2024, bringing the total GDP to N$38.9 billion, up from N$37.2 billion in the same period of 2023.
NSA’s Statistician-General and CEO Alex Shimuafeni says this reflects a year-on-year growth rate of 4.7%, a slight decrease from the 5.3% growth recorded in the first quarter of 2023.
This data was disclosed in the NSA’s First Quarter GDP 2024 report and Shimuafeni provided detailed insights into the performance across various sectors.
“The performance is mainly attributable to the primary industries, which witnessed a growth of 5.1% in real value-added,” Shimuafeni says.
He highlighted that the increase in economic activities was largely driven by the mining and quarrying sector, which registered a growth of 6.6%, driven by a significant uptick in diamond production.
Meanwhile, Shimuafeni noted an improved performance in the tertiary industries, with a 4.7% growth in real value added, compared to the 1.5% growth seen in the first quarter of 2023.
“This growth was mainly observed in sectors such as wholesale and retail trade, which grew by 8.4% compared to 7.2% last year, health, which saw a remarkable increase to 7.5% from 1.4%, and financial services, which rebounded with a 5.3% growth compared to a contraction of 7.3% in the same period last year,” he explained.
However, Shimuafeni pointed out a slowdown in the secondary industries, which posted a growth of only 1.5%, a significant drop from the 6.7% growth in the corresponding quarter of 2023.
He attributed this slower performance to sectors such as electricity, water and construction, which registered growth rates of 9.8% and 3.5%, respectively, down from 32.9% and 26.8% in the previous year.
“The manufacturing sector recorded a decline of 1.4% in real value-added, though this was an improvement compared to the 2.0% decrease in the first quarter of 2023. This poor performance was mainly driven by the Diamond cutting and polishing subsector, which saw a significant decline of 44.1%,” Shimuafeni added.
On the demand side, the report highlighted a robust recovery in private final consumption expenditure, which accelerated by 13.4% compared to a 0.6% decline in the same period last year.
“Household consumption is rising, reflecting a stronger economic recovery,” stated Shimuafeni.
Government final consumption expenditure also increased, posting a growth of 4.1% compared to just 0.4% in the corresponding quarter of 2023 attributable to higher public sector spending.
Investment in oil and gas exploration continued to fuel growth in Gross Fixed Capital Formation, with activities expanding by 23.5% during the period under review. However, this was lower than the 68.0% growth in 2023.
“Exports of goods and services declined by 17.3%, while imports increased by 4.1%,” says Shimuafeni, emphasising the mixed performance in trade.
