WINDHOEK: The Namibian economy experienced growth of 2.8 percent in the third quarter of 2024, driven primarily by robust performance in the tertiary industries, according to a report from the Namibia Statistics Agency (NSA).
According to Namibia Press Agency, Statistician General Alex Shimuafeni announced that the country’s GDP expanded by N.dollars 5.3 billion during this period, reaching N.dollars 61.6 billion, compared to N.dollars 56.3 billion in the same quarter last year. The growth rate in real terms was 2.8 percent, slightly down from the 3.1 percent growth recorded in the third quarter of 2023.
Shimuafeni highlighted that the tertiary sectors were the main contributors to this growth, achieving a 4.9 percent increase in real value added, a significant improvement from the 1.9 percent growth seen in the previous year. The health sector led with a 16.0 percent rise, followed by transport and storage at 7.9 percent, and financial service activities at 7.1 percent.
The secondary industries, however,
saw a more modest growth rate of 1.5 percent in real value added, a decline from the 4.4 percent increase in the third quarter of 2023. This was largely attributed to the manufacturing and construction sectors, which posted growth of 2.6 percent and 1.6 percent, respectively, bouncing back from declines of 9.4 percent and 7.3 percent in the previous year.
Conversely, the NSA reported a decline in the primary industries by 4.4 percent in real value added, a stark contrast to the 13.8 percent growth recorded in the same quarter of 2023. The decline was mainly driven by downturns in the mining and quarrying sector and the agriculture and forestry sector, which saw decreases of 6.7 percent and 6.3 percent, respectively.
Shimuafeni attributed the underperformance in these sectors to reduced livestock markets due to lower stock and drought impact, along with a decrease in diamond production.