KEETMANSHOOP – South Africa was Namibia’s largest export destination in January 2025, with a share of 22.8% of all goods exported.
This is according to the Namibia International Merchandise Trade Statistics Bulletin released on Tuesday by the Namibia Statistics Agency (NSA).

The bulletin also showed that the United States of America was Namibia’s second-largest export destination, accounting for 14.0% of total exports.
“The demand side saw South Africa maintaining its position as the country’s largest source for imports, accounting for 29.5% of total imports into Namibia, followed by China in second position with 13.7% of the market share. Peru, the USA and India were among the country’s top five import markets,” it said.

It further noted that in January 2025, Namibia’s exports stood at N$10.7 billion, while imports stood at N$13.4 billion, resulting in a trade deficit amounting to N$2.7 billion.
During January 2025, exports decreased by 15% from N$12.6 billion recorded in December 2024 and 7.9% when compared to January 2024. 

The import value increased by 5.7% when compared to the value recorded in December 2024, and decreased by 2.0% compared to the value of N$13.7 billion recorded in January 2024.
The report further indicated that non-monetary gold had the largest share of the export basket, accounting for 17.1% of total exports ahead of uranium, which accounted for 13.1%, and fish, with a share of 11.7%. Diamonds accounted for 8.9% and copper and articles of copper accounted for 6.8%.

In terms of imports, petroleum oils and copper ores and concentrates took the first and second positions, both accounting for a share of 11.8% of total imports. This was followed by aircraft and associated equipment and motor vehicles for the transportation of goods with respective shares of 4.0% and 3.4% in third and fourth positions.

According to the report, Namibia’s trade by mode of transport revealed that in January 2025, a diverse number of goods were exported via sea transport, accounting for 46.5% of total exports, followed by air transport with 27.2% and road transport with 26.4%.
“From the demand side, sea transport took the first position, accounting for 53.1% of total imports followed by road transport at 44.3% and air transport at 2.6%. 

With regards to trade on food items (excluding live animals) and beverages, for the month under review, Namibia was a net exporter with a trade surplus of N$264 million, while beverages had a deficit of N$161 million,” it added. 

– Nampa