Economy of Namibia

Economy of Namibia
	Windhoek, the capital and economic centre of Namibia
Currency	Namibian dollar (NAD); South African rand (ZAR);
Fixed exchange rates	1 NAD = 1 ZAR
Fiscal year	1 April – 31 March
Trade organisations	AU, AfCFTA, WTO, SADC, SACU
Country group	Developing/Emerging; Lower-middle income economy;
Statistics
Population	3,022,401 (2023)
GDP	$14.69 billion (nominal; 2025); $37.63 billion (PPP; 2025);
GDP rank	144th (nominal; 2025); 144th (PPP; 2025);
GDP growth	4.4% (2023); 3.7% (2024); 3.8% (2025); 3.7% (2026f);
GDP per capita	$4,413 (nominal; 2025); $12,341 (PPP; 2025);
GDP per capita rank	119th (nominal; 2025); 117th (PPP; 2025);
GDP by sector	GDP shares (2024): Primary sector: 20.6%; Secondary sector: 15.9%; Tertiary sector: 63.5%; ;
Inflation (CPI)	3.5% (2025)
Gini coefficient	59.1 high (2015, World Bank)
Human Development Index	0.665 medium (2023) (136th); 0.438 low IHDI (2023);
Labour force	867,247 (strict, 2023); 1,209,178 (broad, 2023)*;
Unemployment	36.9% (strict, 2023); 54.8% (broad, 2023);
Main industries	Financial services; wholesale and retail trade; manufacturing (alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages, grain mill products, meat processing, fish processing, dairy products, diamond processing); mining (diamonds, gold, uranium, copper, lead, zinc, tin, silver, tungsten); agriculture (cattle, chicken, poultry, crops, forestry), fishing
External
Exports	N$125.7 billion (2025)
Export goods	Top 5 export goods (2025): Uranium: 22.4%; Non-monetary gold: 16.0%; Precious stones (diamonds): 11.7%; Fish: 11.4%; Petroleum oils: 3.8%;
Main export partners	Top 5 export markets (2025): South Africa 23.2%; China 18.1%; Botswana 11.3%; Zambia 10.2%; Spain 4.5%;
Imports	N$150.7 billion (2025)
Import goods	Top 5 import goods (2025): Petroleum oils: 14.9%; Motor vehicles (commercial): 4.2%; Nickel ores, concentrates: 3.1%; Base metal ores, concentrates: 2.6%; Motor vehicles (for personal use): 2.6%;
Main import partners	Top 5 import partners (2025): South Africa 37.9%; China 11.9%; India 6.3%; Zambia 3.4%; Oman 3.4%;
FDI stock	N$222.0 billion inflow stock as at Q2 2025;
Current account	−N$34.7 billion (2024)
Public finances
Government debt	67.3% of GDP (2024/25)
Foreign reserves	N$63.0 billion (31 December 2024)
Revenues	N$89.1 billion (2024/25)
Expenses	N$99.5 billion (2024/25)
	All values, unless otherwise stated, are in US dollars.

The economy of Namibia has a modern market sector, which produces most of the country's wealth, and a traditional subsistence sector. Although the majority of the population engages in subsistence agriculture and herding, Namibia has more than 200,000 skilled workers and a considerable number of well-trained professionals and managers.