Namibia’s trade deficit improves from N$2.7b to N$2b

By: Hertha Ekandjo

Namibia’s trade deficit stood at a deficit of N$2 billion in February 2025, an improvement when compared to a deficit of N$2.7 billion and N$3.9 billion recorded in January 2025 and February 2024, respectively.

The Namibia Statistics Agency reported that the breakdown of Namibia’s trade by partner indicates that South Africa was the country’s top trading partner for both export and import.

Namibia International Merchandise Trade Statistics Bulletin for February 2025 noted that the country’s export composition for the month under review was concentrated in the mining sector, mostly by products such as uranium, non-monetary gold, petroleum oils and inorganic chemical elements and fish being the only non-mineral product among the top five exported goods.

“Re-exports saw a 12.3% decline month-on-month while noting a 38.9% increase year-on-year. The re-exports basket was mainly comprised of inorganic chemical elements, petroleum oils, ‘copper and articles of copper’, fertilizers and precious stones (diamonds),” NSA’s Statistician-General Alex Shimuafeni said.

On the other hand, the import basket mainly comprised of Petroleum oils, Motor vehicles (for commercial purposes), Inorganic chemical elements, ‘Nickel ores and concentrates’ and ‘Ores and concentrates of base metals.

Regarding trade of Food items (excluding Live animals) and Beverages, in February 2025 Namibia was a net exporter of Food items with a trade surplus of N$152 million while a trade deficit was witnessed for Beverages at N$268 million.

The current report considered Wine as the commodity of the month. The analysis revealed that the country imported Wines worth an amount of N$67.2 million, mainly from South Africa and France.

On the other hand, the country exported Wines at a value of N$5.5 million with 99.8 percent being re-exports during the period under study.