STAFF WRITER
Namibia’s trade deficit widened by N$393 million at the end of December 2025,the latest trade statistics released by the Namibia Statistics Agency showed Wednesday.
Trade deficit refers to the difference between the country’s exports and imports.
Statistician General Alex Shimuafeni said the trade deficit indicates a notable improved trade balance when compared to a N$4.4 billion deficit recorded a month earlier.
Further analysis shows a N$297 million surplus recorded year-on-year, NSA said.
“ The analysis of Namibia’s top trading partners revealed that South Africa emerged as the country’s largest market for both exports and imports.
“In terms of goods, the country’s export basket for December 2025 was mainly composed of commodities from the mining sector such as non-monetary gold, precious stones (diamonds) and uranium,” Shimuafeni said.
The statistics agency added that fish and ‘fruit and nuts’ were the only non-mineral products among the top five exports.
“Moreover, decreases of 5.3 percent and 38.7 percent were observed for re-exports both month-on-month and year-on-year. The re-export basket primarily comprised precious stones (diamonds), petroleum oils,‘nickel ores and concentrates’ , ‘ores and concentrates of base metals’, and fertilizers. On the other hand, the import basket mainly comprised petroleum oils, motor vehicles (for commercial purposes), ‘nickel ores and concentrates’, ‘civil engineering and contractors’ equipment’ and motor vehicles for the transportation of persons,” Shimuafeni said.
According to the NSA, Namibia remained a net exporter of food with a trade surplus of N$870 million and a net importer of Beverages, having recorded a deficit amounting to N$203 million.
The current report considered corrugated iron as the commodity of the month.
“The analysis revealed that, on the demand side, the country imported corrugated iron worth N$6 million, mainly sourced from South Africa and China, while on the supply side, the country exported corrugated iron worth N$251 100, solely destined to South Africa,” NSA said.
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