Namibia’s Economy Grows by N$5.3 Billion in Q3 2024. According to the Namibia Statistics Agency (NSA), the country’s economy grew by N$5.3 billion during the third quarter of 2024, reaching a total value of N$61.6 billion compared to N$56.3 billion in the same period of 2023.
In real terms, Namibia’s economy expanded by 2.8% in the third quarter of 2024, slightly lower than the 3.1% growth recorded during the same period in 2023.
Alex Shimuafeni, the NSA Statistician-General, explained that the growth was largely driven by the tertiary industries, which experienced a 4.9% increase in real value added. This marks an improvement over the 1.9% growth seen in the third quarter of 2023. “The tertiary sectors showed significant growth, especially health (up 16.0%), transport and storage (up 7.9%), and financial services (up 7.1%),” Shimuafeni noted.
In contrast, the secondary industries, including manufacturing and construction, saw slower growth of 1.5% in real value added, compared to a 4.4% increase during the same period in 2023. However, this was an improvement from the declines experienced in 2023 in these sectors. “The manufacturing sector grew by 2.6%, while construction saw a 1.6% increase. Both sectors had experienced significant declines in 2023, with manufacturing down 9.4% and construction down 7.3%,” Shimuafeni explained.
Meanwhile, primary industries saw a decline of 4.4% in real value added, compared to a strong 13.8% growth in the third quarter of 2023. This negative performance was mainly due to challenges in the mining, quarrying, and agriculture sectors. “The mining and agriculture sectors struggled, with declines of 6.7% and 6.3%, respectively. These setbacks were linked to lower livestock sales due to reduced stock and drought impacts, along with a drop in diamond production,” Shimuafeni said.
Additionally, gross fixed capital formation decreased by 7.2%, a stark contrast to the dramatic 92.8% growth seen in the same quarter of 2023. However, exports of goods and services rose by 19.3%, outpacing the 7.3% increase in imports, which led to a reduction in the external balance of goods and services deficit.