Namibia’s trade deficit surged by 93.75% to N$3.1 billion in September 2021, compared to N$1.6 billion in September 2020, latest figures show.
According to Namibia Statistics Agency (NSA), the country’s September deficit was also a bit higher compared to the August 2021 figure of N$2.9 billion while export earnings were down 8.1% on a monthly basis at N$7.2 billion. In the period under review, the country’s import bill stood at N$10.3 billion.
China emerged as Namibia’s largest market for exports whereas South Africa maintained her position as the largest import market for the country.
“The composition of the export basket mainly consisted of minerals such as copper, precious stones (diamonds), non-monetary gold, petroleum oils and fuels; and ores and concentrates of base metals. As usual, fish remained the only non-mineral product among the top five exports,” NSA Statistician General & CEO Alex Shimuafeni said.
“On the other hand, the import basket consisted mainly of copper, petroleum oils and fuels; ships, boats and floating structures; copper ores and concentrates; and inorganic chemicals.”
The September 2021 trade figures show that the country’s re-exports improved slightly, rising by 0.1% month-on-month and a noticeable decline of 12% year-on-year.
“As always, copper had the largest share of all goods re-exported, accounting for 64.4% of total re-exports mainly destined to China. Most of the re-exported copper originated from Zambia and D.R.C. Notably, copper featured as the most dominant commodity on both trade flows indicating the vital role the country plays as a major logistics hub for SADC in terms of copper,” Shimuafeni said.
Charcoal Exports
Charcoal worth N$73 million was exported in September 2021, an increase of 13.2% from N$64 million recorded in August this year.
South Africa (29.3%), the Netherlands (16.7%), Belgium (14.4%) and United Arab Emirates (7.3%) emerged as the largest destinations for Namibia’s charcoal industry.
“The largest increase of 38.9% was recorded between April and May 2021. Notably, most charcoal exported from Namibia is lump charcoal i.e., unpacked, hence there is a possibility for adding value to the product by packaging it,” Shimuafeni said
