By: Nghiinomenwa-vali Hangala
From 2015 to 2025, the Namibia economy has only managed to expand by N$14.1 billion in terms of extra goods and services produced, according to real Gross Domestic Production (GDP) figures.
The national account figures also show that it took Namibia 8 years to reach the N$150 billion Real GDP mark.
Annual Real GDP is the value of goods and services produced in a particular year, adjusted for inflation, which shows real production changes keeping prices constant at a certain base year. Namibia’s base year is 2025.
The Namibia Statistics Agency (NSA) released the 2025 annual production figures (GDP) yesterday, showing a growth of 1.7% from 2024.
In real numbers, the economy produced extra goods in 2025 to the value of N$2.7 billion, adding to the N$157.4 billion GDP of 2024.
The annual increase in the country’s production level is an indicator of various matters, as production requires capital and labour.
It is expected that when production is expanding, it also utilises more labour and machinery, creating income for those rendering such services. Low production, in turn, means the economy requires less labour or capital to produce, while keeping the same employment level.
Such a scenario explains the Namibian unemployment picture.
In the 10-year review period, the Namibian economy has never experienced an annual growth of N$8 billion. The largest annual growth recorded during this period was in 2022, at around N$7 billion, which was driven by diamonds and uranium.
However, mining has a low employment elasticity, as its expansion does not result in many jobs due to the sector tending to be capital-intensive.
Namibia’s broad unemployment level is currently above 50%, with the youth the most affected. Some diagnostic studies indicate that the unemployment rate is mostly a result of the slow-growing economy or mismatch of skills.
Economic explanations have linked the slow growth to low demands for labour.
Though 2025 recorded an economic growth of only 1.7%, most sectors recorded positive expansions during the year. From the 18 sectors, three recorded declines in the real value added, while seven sectors’ growth was above average.
The highest performance across the sectors was 20.2%, with the lowest being -9.4%.
Coming in at the highest, construction recorded said growth due to increased activities in civil engineering. Electricity and water also rose (+12.6%), as own generation improved. Sales and information, together with communications, grew by 10.7% through increased minutes and internet usage.
Mining and quarrying slumped (-9.4%) due to lower diamond and metal ore production. Agriculture, forestry and fishing remained weak, recording a -3.3% decline from the livestock subsector while manufacturing declined by -2.9% as meat processing and diamond cutting slowed.
erastus@thevillager.com.na
