Namibia has exported goods valued at N$8.3 billion and imported N$11.9 billion worth of goods, resulting in the country’s trade deficit of N$3.7 billion in July 2023.

The Namibian merchandise trade statistics bulletin for July 2023, issued by the Namibia Statistics Agency (NSA) yesterday, said the country’s export earnings decreased by 3.8% from N$8.6 billion recorded in the previous month to N$8.3 billion.

The report indicated that the imports for the month under review increased by 17.8% when compared to the value recorded in June 2023, and by 12.5% compared to its value of N$10.6 billion recorded in July 2022.

It further revealed that diamonds had the largest share of 30.5% of Namibia’s total exports, ahead of uranium with 15.2% and fish with a share of 13.7%, whilst non-monetary gold accounted for 11% in fourth position and petroleum oils came in fifth position, contributing 4.4%.
The report further indicated that petroleum oils were the highest valued commodity with a share of 15.3% of total imports, followed by copper ores and concentrates with a share of 11.7%, while motor vehicles for the transport of goods came third with a share of 4%. Civil engineering and contractors’ equipment and motor vehicles for the transport of persons contributed 3.4% and 2.7% respectively.

It noted that Botswana emerged as the country’s largest export destination, with a share of 23.3% of all goods exported, followed by South Africa with a share of 19.6%, then China, Zambia and Spain as Namibia’s top five export markets. -Nampa