Namibia's Economy Grows to N$64.8b in 3 Months

In the last three months (between April and June) the size of the country's economy grew to N$64.8 billion.

This is N$6 billion more than the same quarter last year.

However, there has been a slowdown in growth due to a decline in manufacturing, fishing and agriculture.

According to the latest Bank of Namibia quarterly report, the year-on-year real growth rate slowed to 1.6% in the second quarter of 2025 from 3.3% recorded in the second quarter of 2024 and 2.8% in the first quarter of 2025.

"The weaknesses were observed in manufacturing, fishing and fish processing on board, and agriculture, which registered contractions during the period under review," says the report.

The report shows that among the primary industries, only mining managed to record growth. This was primarily from uranium.

On the other hand, the manufacturing industry struggled, with the blister copper, and diamond cutting and polishing sectors performing poorly.

However, other secondary industries such as electricity, water and construction also had some growth.

The tertiary industries maintained a steady performance, with growth in the wholesale and retail trade, education and finance sectors.

On the inflation front, the country recorded a decline in inflation for the last three months mostly due to a slowdown in transport inflation.

This can be attributed to the prices of fuel which have remained steady for over four months.

"Namibia's annual inflation declined both quarter on quarter and year on year during the second quarter of 2025, with headline inflation falling to 3.6% from 3.7% in the previous quarter.

This disinflationary trend was mainly reflected in a steep contraction in transport inflation," says the report.

However, food and housing saw an increase in prices.

In the financial sector, broad money supply growth slowed with a decline in both net foreign assets and domestic claims.

"Annual growth in the broad money supply slowed to 7.6% at the end of the second quarter of 2025, compared to 10.1%. The overall cash holdings of commercial banks declined, largely due to corporate tax payments at the end of the quarter," says the report.

However, private sector credit extension increased from 5% to 5.7%

This was mainly from a rise in credit demand in the real estate sector, and a more accommodative monetary policy rate which stood at 6.75%.

Read the original article on Namibian.