In July 2020, Namibia recorded a trade deficit of N$3.5 billion, after the country’s exports stood at N$5.9 billion and imports at N$9.4 billion.
According to the Namibia Statistics Agency (NSA) in its monthly trade statistics report released last week, July 2020 figures show that exports weakened, falling by more than 20% from its revised level of N$7.5 billion in June 2020 and N$7.6 billion recorded in July 2019.
Total imports increased by 31% from its level of N$7.2 billion in the preceding month and declined by 3.8% when compared to its level of N$9.8 billion recorded in July 2019.
According to the report, China maintained its dominance as the country’s largest export destination, with a share of 40% of all goods exported, and was followed by South Africa, which accounted for 18% of total exports. Furthermore, Belgium, Spain and Zambia formed part of Namibia’s top five export destinations.
The demand side saw South Africa maintaining its first spot as the country’s largest source of imports, accounting for 37% of total imports into Namibia. Zambia also remained firm in its usual second position with 15% of the market share. Countries such as DRC, Chile and Bulgaria also formed part of Namibia’s top five sources of imports.
On analysis of commodities, the report revealed that the category of non-ferrous metals had the largest share with 29% in Namibia’s total exports ahead of metalliferous ores and metal scrap 23%, fish 12%, non-monetary gold 10%, and inorganic chemical 4%.
In terms of imports, non-ferrous metals also appeared as the most imported commodity with a relative share of 19% of total imports, followed by metalliferous ores and metal scrap with 15%, and petroleum and petroleum products with 12%. Moreover, vehicles contributed 5% whereas inorganic chemicals had a share of 4% in Namibia’s total imports.
In terms of regional composition, Brazil, Russia, India and China (BRIC) were the largest export markets during the month of July 2020, with a market share of 42% of total exports followed by the SACU region with a relative market share of 22%.
“On the import side, SACU remained the main source of Namibia’s imports having a share of 38.2 percent in the country’s total import bill followed by COMESA with a share of 22.5 percent,” reads the report.
Namibia’s trade by mode of transport shows that in July 2020, the majority of goods exported left the country by sea, accounting for 67% of total exports; whereas most goods that entered Namibia came in by road, accounting for 63% of total imports.
An analysis of the import of Covid-19 pandemic-related products indicates that sugar, cooking oil, maize and toilet paper topped the list and breathing appliances were the least imported products for the month of July 2020.
Finally, fish was selected as the commodity of the month (July 2020) and the figures show that export of fish stood at N$663.6 million, mainly distributed among the following countries: Spain 50%, Zambia 14%, South Africa 9%, DRC 6%, and France 5%.
– mndjavera@nepc.com.na