By Wezi Tjaronda WINDHOEK The income of the poor and very poor has not increased sufficiently to reduce the existing high level of income inequality in the last ten years. Although the GINI-coefficient, which measures income distribution in the country, has decreased from 0.7 in 1994 to 0.6 in 2004, the level of inequality still puts Namibia among countries with the highest inequalities in the world. The recently released Namibia Household and Income Expenditure Survey (NHIES) indicates that, although inequality has decreased incrementally, the level of inequality remains among the highest. The report, launched on Friday notes that income also varies greatly among language groups to an extent where a German-speaking household has an average income level 31 times that of a Khoisan-speaking household. While a greater percentage of the Khoisan live on income from salaries and wages, drought relief and kind receipts, German-speaking people live on salaries and wages and income from businesses. The NHIES, also known as the budget survey, indicates that inequalities have persisted since 1994 because 10 percent of the households in the highest income bracket account for nearly half of the total income reported. The survey found that Namibia has over 371ÃÆ’Æ‘ÀÃ…ÃÆ”šÃ‚ 500 households with an estimated population of 1.8 million, with the majority living in rural areas. Khomas is the most populated region while, Omaheke region is the least populated. According to the report, the income of the households includes salaries and wages, subsistence farming, commercial farming, pensions, cash remittances, maintenance grants, drought relief and kind receipts. Subsistence farming provides a livelihood for 29 percent of households while nine percent live on pension payouts. But, at the same time, 48 percent of households in rural areas reported subsistence farming as their main source of income in comparison with only one percent in urban areas. While subsistence farming provides a large proportion of households with a livelihood in Kavango, Ohangwena, Omusati and Oshikoto Regions, the same goes for female-headed households, Oshiwambo-speaking households as well as households whose heads have no formal education. According to the report, the household and the distance to the source of drinking water, as well as the type of dwelling of the household, the source of income is indicated by the type of dwelling. Since the last survey, done in 1994, there has been a decline in the number of households whose main source of income is subsistence farming, and an increase in income derived by households from salaries and wages. Launching the report on Friday, National Planning Commission Permanent Secretary, Mocks Shivute, said the report presented interesting findings on the socio-demographic characteristics of the population, which have corroborated with findings of other surveys and censuses. He said the latest survey shows, among others, that the average household size has declined, rural population has fallen, while literacy levels are on the increase, access to health-care services and safe water have increased. The welfare of households is also measured by access to various amenities and facilities such as magistrate’s courts, drinking water, health-care facilities, shops and markets, and police stations, among others. “The results show that in general most households in Namibia have these services within a few kilometes,” the report indicates. But as is the case, there are differences not only between urban and rural areas, but also among regions. Erongo and Khomas Regions stand out as areas where most households travel short distances to access services, while most Ohangwena, Oshikoto and Kavango Regions travel more than three kilometres to access services. The NHIES provided data for the NDP2 terminal review, benchmark data for NDP3 and to avail data for the assessment of various policies on poverty reduction and income inequalities in Namibia, said Shivute.