Namibia recorded a N$510 million trade surplus on food items in between May 2025 and May 2026, supported by strong exports of fish and meat products, according to the Namibia Statistics Agency (NSA).
The latest trade statistics released by the NSA show that the country exported food items worth N$2.1 billion during the said period, while imports totalled N$1.6 billion.
Fish remained the biggest contributor to Namibia's food export earnings, with exports valued at N$1.5 billion, followed by meat and edible meat offal at N$426 million.
Follow us on WhatsApp | LinkedIn for the latest headlines
According to the NSA, the surplus was driven mainly by exports of fish and meat products.
"The surplus on food items was mainly attributed to the export of fish and 'meat and edible meat offal', which stood at N$1.5 billion and N$426 million, respectively," the NSA reported.
Performance has been consistently positive over the past year. Between May 2025 and May 2026, Namibia recorded an average food trade surplus of N$536 million.
The highest surplus during the period was in January 2026 at N$1.1 billion, followed by December 2025 and July 2025, with surpluses of N$864 million and N$792 million, respectively.
The country recorded no food trade deficits over the 12-month period.
Fish accounted for 69.5% of Namibia's food exports in May 2026, making it the dominant export product. Meat and edible meat offal contributed 20%, while edible fruit and nuts accounted for 3%.
The NSA said the top five food exports accounted for 95.5% of total food exports during the month under review.
However, Namibia continues to rely on imports for certain food products. In May 2026, cereals were the largest category of food imports, accounting for 25.3%, followed by sugar and sugar confectionery at 9.7% and meat products at 8.3%.
The agency noted that the top five imported food items accounted for 56.8% of the country's food import basket for the month.
Meanwhile, the beverage trade remained dominated by imports. The NSA recorded that Namibia imported an average of N$330 million of beverages per month between May 2025 and May 2026, compared with average beverage exports of N$91 million.
"The highest beverage imports during the period were recorded in October 2025 at N$677 million, while beverage exports peaked in November 2025 at N$179 million."
Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters
Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox
