By: Nghiinomenwa-vali Hangala
The September 2025 statistics on livestock marketing have indicated that Namibia has exported 49,051 kilograms of animal skins stripped from slaughtered animals.
These are referred to as hides and skins exports and are used in the production of leather products such as shoes, bags, and sofas.
The export statistics are provided by the Livestock and Livestock Products Board of Namibia in the September 2025 cattle marketing updates.
All 49,051 kg that was exported in September 2025 went to South Africa; no consignments were recorded to other markets in the month.
According to a short assessment made by The Villager, leather products, especially leather bags in Namibia, were made in South Africa.
This means Namibia exports raw materials to South Africa and receives the finished products in return.
Year-to-date hides and skins exports totalled 824,834 kg by the end of September 2025. This is part of the animal skins collected from the 141,429 head of cattle slaughtered since the beginning of the year.
According to the Board, the animal skin exports for the month are linked to the number of local slaughterhouses.
“The monthly pattern broadly tracks cattle slaughter trends; lower abattoir throughput has limited raw material availability,” the Board wrote.
Namibia did not just export raw skin to South Africa, it also exported live animals. Live exports reached 7,711 heads, representing a 34% decline from 11,690 cattle exported during the same month in 2024.
Export destinations remained concentrated, with South Africa absorbing about 98% of live exports (7,025 heads), followed by consignments to the DRC (544) and Zimbabwe (86).
Year-on-year, marketing also dropped by 30.8%, from 26,345 heads in September 2024 to 18,224 heads in 2025, and recorded a further decline of 10.1% month-on-month.
Total cattle marketed year-to-date stood at 156,297 heads, compared to 314,466 heads over the same period last year.
This shows a decline of 50.3% from last year.
According to the Board, this underscores subdued throughput at both A and B&C Class abattoirs, following a similar trend.
The livestock sector remains under supply pressure, with most subsectors recording lower marketing volumes due to a constrained supply of market-ready animals across key marketing channels.
