The latest trade statistics for the second quarter of this year, which were released by the Namibia Statistics Agency (NSA) on September 13, show that the country's quarterly trade deficit dropped to its lowest level for the past couple of years, second only to the first quarter of 2016 when a deficit of N$448 million was recorded. However, a local economist says the trade statistics, which refer to trade in goods only and exclude the trade in services, show good numbers for both fish and meat exports. Namibia usually achieves a surplus in the trade of services.
"The increase in the value of exported fish and of imported fish that is further processed in Namibia is encouraging. The value of fish exports was the second highest over at least the past five years. Likewise, the increase in the export value of meat, while the value of live animal exports dropped, suggests that more value was added to livestock in Namibia," noted Klaus Schade, research associate at the Economic Association of Namibia. The value of live animals dropped by 8.1 percent to N$671 million.
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