Economy records growth of 0.3% in 2018
The domestic economy is showing slight improvements, with real GDP in 2018 recording growth of 0.3%, compared to a decline of 0.1% in 2017, the Namibia Statistics Agency said on Thursday.
The Agency attributes this improvement to growth in the manufacturing and water & electricity sectors that recorded growth of 0.3% and 6.6% in 2018, compared to declines of 1.5% and 14.9% in 2017, respectively. The recovery in the manufacturing sector is attributed to increases in economic activities in the food processing sub-sectors such as beverages and other food products.
However, Statistician General Alex Shimuafeni said while these activities are showing signs of recovery, they remain suppressed for now. Shimuafeni said contractions were registered in diamond processing, basic non-ferrous metals, chemical and related products sub-sectors.
Furthermore, the primary industries performances slowed down, posting a growth of 8.4% compared to a strong growth of 11% in real value added in 2017, predominantly driven by the slow performance in agriculture, forestry and fishing sectors.
“Despite these improved and slow performances being observed in the secondary and primary industries respectively, the tertiary industries performance took a downward trajectory. The tertiary industries performance decelerated further, recording a contraction of 1.6% compared to a decline of 0.1% in real value added registered in 2017,” Shimuafeni said.
Shimuafeni further said the consolidated fiscal policy being pursued by the government is yielding mixed results as the education sector surged to a positive performance, recording growth of 1.2% in 2018, from a decline of 2% in 2017, while activities in the health sector deteriorated, posting a contraction of 5.8% in 2018 compared to the 6.1% registered in 2017.
