By Jeremiah Ndjoze

Namibia’s trade balance took a turn for the worse in March 2025, standing at a deficit of N$2.7 billion, when compared to the N$2.0 billion recorded the previous month.  The scenario, however, presents a significant improvement when compared to the same month last year, which recorded a trade deficit of N$4.6 billion. The trade balance refers to the difference in value between a country’s imports and exports.

These revelation was made by the Statistician General and Chief Executive Officer of the Namibia Statistics Agency (NSA), Alex Shimuafeni last week, with the unveiling of the Namibia International Merchandise Trade Statistics Bulletin.  Shimuafeni further revealed that an analysis of Namibia’s trade by her partners suggested that Botswana emerged as the leading export destination, while South Africa remained the primary source of imports. 

“The country’s export composition for March 2025 was concentrated in the mining sector, mostly by products such as Precious stones (diamonds), Non-monetary gold, Uranium, as well as ‘Copper and articles of copper,” Shimuafeni revealed. 

“Fish was the only non-mineral product among the top five exported goods. Re-exports saw a 3.8 percent decline month-on-month while noting a 4.1 percent increase year-on-year,” he added.   The re-exports basket, Shimuafeni further stressed, comprised of Copper and articles of copper, Precious stones (diamonds), Petroleum oils, ‘Nickel ores and concentrates’ and Fertilizers. 

On the other hand, the import basket mainly comprised Petroleum oils, Motor vehicles (for commercial purposes), Inorganic chemical elements, ‘Nickel ores and concentrates’ and ‘Civil engineering and contractors’ equipment’. It has further emerged that regarding the trade of Food items and Beverages, in March 2025, Namibia was a net exporter of food items with a trade surplus of N$361 million while a trade deficit was witnessed for Beverages at N$183 million. The current report considered cigarettes as the commodity of the month. The analysis revealed that the country imported cigarettes worth an amount of N$ 42.1 million, mainly from South Africa and Switzerland. On the other hand, the country re-exported cigarettes at a value of N$0.1 million during this period.

The publication of the bulletin, according to Shimuafeni, is necessitated by the crucial role that international merchandise trade plays in economic development as it links producers and consumers located in different countries across the world into a unified global market system.

“In this context the availability of timely and high-quality trade statistics becomes a precondition for an in-depth analysis of employment, production, income, consumption, and overall welfare of the domestic economy as well as at the global level. 
“It is in that light that since its establishment, the Namibia Statistics Agency (NSA) has strived to make provision of timely and quality trade statistics through various publications,” he maintained.   The report has it that Namibia’s export earnings for March 2025 stood at N$10.1 billion, reflecting a decrease of 0.4 percent when compared to exports recorded in February 2025.  

Whereas the country’s import bill for the month stood at N$12.8 billion, reflecting an increase of 5.2 percent from N$12.1 billion recorded in the preceding month. The export and import position translates into a worsened trade deficit of N$2.7 billion when compared to the N$2.0 billion recorded in February 2025. 

It has further emerged that Namibia’s cumulative exports recorded N$30.9 billion during March 2025, an increase when compared to N$25.9 billion registered over the same period of the previous year. On the import side, the cumulative trade value for the month under review amounted to N$38.3 billion, higher by N$1.9 billion when compared to N$36.5 billion recorded over the same period in 2024, the report further suggests.