Botswana remained Namibia’s primary export destination, while South Africa remained the country’s main import source during December 2023.
The Namibia Statistics Agency (NSA) stated this week that the country exported beer worth N$98.1 million during December, with South Africa being the main destination, followed by Zimbabwe and the Bahamas accounting for a smaller portion of the exports.
In December 2023, Namibia’s trade deficit - the amount by which the cost of imports exceeds the value of its exports - marked the lowest figure for the year as it improved to N$299 million, down from N$4 billion in November 2023, and N$1.4 billion in December 2022.
Official figures show that export earnings slightly decreased to N$11.5 billion from N$11.8 billion in November 2023, while the import bill decreased to N$11.8 billion from N$15.8 billion in November 2023, but increased from N$10.8 billion in December 2022. The NSA added that petroleum oils contributed the most to the trade deficit observed in December 2023, with an import bill totalling N$3.0 billion. This was followed by fertilisers, which accounted for a deficit of N$444 million, and motor- vehicles for the transportation of goods, with a deficit of N$321 million.
These figures indicate that the trade balance deficit for 2023 slightly expanded to N$31.9 billion from N$31.6 billion in 2022. Total exports increased to N$105 billion in 2023 from N$97.4 billion in 2022, and total imports also increased to N$136.8 billion in 2023 from N$128.9 billion in 2022.
In its breakdown of the trade figures, Simonis Storm (SS) - a 100% Namibian-owned and managed stockbroker and wealth management company - noted that this export trend aligned well with the festive season, explaining the prominence of beer as the commodity of the month in December. SS also pointed out that in December 2023, Namibia’s largest exported commodity was diamonds, primarily destined for Botswana.
“Non-monetary gold followed, accounting for 11.2% of total exports, mainly headed to South Africa. Fish ranked third, with Spain, Zambia and Mozambique as primary destinations. Fruits and nuts constituted the fourth-largest export, predominantly bound for The Netherlands and the United Kingdom. Uranium rounded out the top five exports, primarily shipped to China. On the import side, the basket was primarily composed of petroleum oils (sourced mainly from India, Oman and Bahrain), fertilisers (mainly from Saudi Arabia), motor-vehicles for transportation of goods, civil engineering and contractors’ equipment, and specialised machinery and equipment for particular industries,” the SS report continued.
Moreover, a decline in the exports of goods for December 2023 was primarily driven by decreases in uranium by N$2.1 billion, nickel ores and concentrates by N$248 million, non-monetary gold by N$163 million, other crude minerals by N$161 million, and rubber tyres by N$103 million.
“As for imports during the same period, the decrease was notably seen in petroleum oils by N$1.3 billion, inorganic chemical elements by N$300 million, sulphur and unroasted iron pyrites by N$159 million, civil engineering and contractors’ equipment by N$155 million, and wheat by N$149 million,” the SS report added.