The gross domestic product for the third quarter of 2023 expanded by 7.2 percent

Domestic Economy

1. In the third quarter of 2023, the Real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) exhibited a noteworthy expansion, registering a robust growth of 7.2 percent. This represents a substantial increase from the 5.4 percent recorded during the corresponding quarter of the preceding year. The economy witnessed a commendable trend, characterized by 10 consecutive quarters of positive growths.

2. In nominal terms, the size of the Namibian economy, quantified by the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) at current prices, reached N$59.7 billion during the quarter under scrutiny. An increase from the N$52.9 billion recorded in the corresponding quarter of 2022. Consequently, the expansion in the GDP size is evident, amounting to an increment of N$6.8 billion.

3. The commendable performance in the third quarter of 2023 was primarily propelled by the primary industries, which experienced a substantial expansion of 38.3 percent. Notably, this growth was spearheaded by the ‘Mining and quarrying’ sector, which demonstrated an impressive 51.7 percent increase, alongside the ‘Agriculture and forestry’ sector, which exhibited a commendable 19.9 percent expansion. These positive developments can be attributed to enhanced oil and gas exploration activities, coupled with increased momentum in livestock marketing. 

4. Moreover, tertiary industries demonstrated a growth of 2.2 percent during the quarter under review, with noteworthy contributions from key sectors such as ‘Wholesale and retail,’ Transport, Hotels and restaurants, and Financial services. These sectors exhibited robust expansions in real value added, with growth rates of 6.1 percent, 8.8 percent, 6.4 percent, and 3.7 percent, respectively.

5. On the contrary, secondary industries encountered challenges during the third quarter of 2023, as both Manufacturing and Construction experienced contractions of 8.7 percent and 30.6 percent, respectively. The downturn in the Manufacturing sector can be attributed to declines in specific subsectors, namely Basic non-furious metal (-74.4%), Diamond processing (-29.8%), and Beverages (-24.9%). Expenditure on GDP

6. Private final consumption expenditure experienced a measured growth of 1.3 percent during the period under consideration, exhibiting a deceleration from the robust 23.0 percent recorded in the corresponding quarter of 2022. Concurrently, Government final consumption expenditure witnessed a marginal decline of 0.7 percent during quarter three of 2023.

7. Gross Fixed Capital Formation, underpinned by heightened activities in oil and gas exploration during the quarter under review, demonstrated a substantial expansion of 36.3 percent. This robust growth represents a noteworthy acceleration from the 15.4 percent recorded in the corresponding quarter, indicating a significant upswing in investment.

8. In the third quarter of 2023, export activities displayed a commendable growth of 7.4 percent, whereas imports expanded by 11.2 percent during the same period. Consequently, the balance of goods and services revealed a negative net export of N$14.4 billion. 3 CONCLUSION

9. In conclusion I would also like to emphasize the importance of accurate and timely delivery of data from our stakeholders in private and public sectors to the Namibia Statistics Agency (NSA), on which the compilation of statistics depends on. Your unwavering commitment to providing data does not go unnoticed.

10. Finally, I wish to express my appreciation to all the data providers; both institutions and individuals, without whose assistance these publications would not have been possible. Further I would like to request all our esteemed stakeholders to continue supporting and providing NSA with the required data so that collectively we can make the production of accurate, reliable and timely statistics a resounding success.

11. To access the publications released today and other publications please visit our website https://nsa.nsa.org.na