Namibia Economy 2008

Economy - overview:
The economy is heavily dependent on the extraction and processing of minerals for export. Mining accounts for 8% of GDP, but provides more than 50% of foreign exchange earnings. Rich alluvial diamond deposits make Namibia a primary source for gem-quality diamonds. Namibia is the fourth-largest exporter of nonfuel minerals in Africa, the world's fifth-largest producer of uranium, and the producer of large quantities of lead, zinc, tin, silver, and tungsten. The mining sector employs only about 3% of the population while about half of the population depends on subsistence agriculture for its livelihood. Namibia normally imports about 50% of its cereal requirements; in drought years food shortages are a major problem in rural areas. A high per capita GDP, relative to the region, hides one of the world's most unequal income distributions. The Namibian economy is closely linked to South Africa with the Namibian dollar pegged one-to-one to the South African rand. Increased payments from the Southern African Customs Union (SACU) put Namibia's budget into surplus in 2007 for the first time since independence, but SACU payments will decline after 2008 as part of a new revenue sharing formula. Increased fish production and mining of zinc, copper, uranium, and silver spurred growth in 2003-07, but growth in recent years was undercut by poor fish catches and high costs for metal inputs.

GDP (purchasing power parity):
$10.67 billion (2007 est.)

GDP (official exchange rate):
$5.612 billion (2007 est.)

GDP - real growth rate:
4.5% (2007 est.)

GDP - per capita (PPP):
$5,200 (2007 est.)

GDP - composition by sector:
agriculture: 10.6%
industry: 30.8%
services: 58.6% (2007 est.)

Labor force:
660,000 (2007 est.)

Labor force - by occupation:
agriculture: 47%
industry: 20%
services: 33% (1999 est.)

Unemployment rate:
5.3% (2006 est.)

Population below poverty line:
the UNDP's 2005 Human Development Report indicated that 34.9% of the population live on $1 per day and 55.8% live on $2 per day

Household income or consumption by percentage share:
lowest 10%: 0.5%
highest 10%: 64.5% (2003)

Distribution of family income - Gini index:
70.7 (2003)

Inflation rate (consumer prices):
6.7% (2007 est.)

Investment (gross fixed):
29.1% of GDP (2007 est.)

Budget:
revenues: $2.561 billion
expenditures: $2.483 billion (2007 est.)

Public debt:
23.9% of GDP (2007 est.)

Agriculture - products:
millet, sorghum, peanuts, grapes; livestock; fish

Industries:
meatpacking, fish processing, dairy products; mining (diamonds, lead, zinc, tin, silver, tungsten, uranium, copper)

Industrial production growth rate:
4.6% (2007 est.)

Electricity - production:
1.688 billion kWh (2005)

Electricity - consumption:
2.863 billion kWh (2005)

Electricity - exports:
78 million kWh (2005)

Electricity - imports:
1.567 billion kWh; note - electricity supplied by South Africa (2005)

Oil - production:
0 bbl/day (2005 est.)

Oil - consumption:
18,400 bbl/day (2005 est.)

Oil - exports:
0 bbl/day (2004)

Oil - imports:
17,580 bbl/day (2004)

Oil - proved reserves:
0 bbl (1 January 2006 est.)

natural gas - production:
0 cu m (2005 est.)

natural gas - consumption:
0 cu m (2005 est.)

natural gas - exports:
0 cu m (2005 est.)

natural gas - imports:
0 cu m (2005)

natural gas - proved reserves:
59.75 billion cu m (1 January 2006 est.)

Current account balance:
$1.065 billion (2007 est.)

Exports:
$2.87 billion f.o.b. (2007 est.)

Exports - commodities:
diamonds, copper, gold, zinc, lead, uranium; cattle, processed fish, karakul skins

Exports - partners:
South Africa 33.4%, US 4% (2006)

Imports:
$2.82 billion f.o.b. (2007 est.)

Imports - partners:
South Africa 85.2%, US (2006)

Economic aid - recipient:
ODA, $123.4 million (2005 est.)

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold:
$750 million (31 December 2007 est.)

Debt - external:
$1.429 billion (31 December 2007 est.)

Stock of direct foreign investment - at home:
$NA

Stock of direct foreign investment - abroad:
$NA

Market value of publicly traded shares:
$541.8 million (2006)

Currency (code):
Namibian dollar (NAD); South African rand (ZAR)

Exchange rates:
Namibian dollars per US dollar - 7.18 (2007), 6.7649 (2006), 6.3593 (2005), 6.4597 (2004), 7.5648 (2003)