Trade balance in May comes in at a deficit of N$2.8 billion
The country’s trade balance in May stood at a deficit of N$2.8 billion compared to the trade deficit of N$1.3 billion recorded in April 2023 and N$5.2 billion observed in May 2022, according to the latest trade statistics from the NSA.
According to the latest bulletin released on Tuesday, Namibia’s trade composition by partner showed that Botswana emerged as Namibia’s largest market for exports while South Africa was recorded as the largest source of imports for the country.
The composition of the export basket for the month of May 2023 mainly comprised minerals such as Uranium, Precious stones (diamonds), Non-monetary gold, and ‘Copper and articles of copper’.
According to the NSA fish remains the only non-mineral product within the top five products
exported.
On the other hand, the import basket mainly comprised Petroleum oils, Copper ores, and concentrates, Motor vehicles for the transportation of goods, ‘Civil engineering and contractors’ equipment’ and Motor cars for the transportation of persons.
Meanwhile, for the month under review, re-exports decreased by 15.1% month-on-month and 7.3% year-on-year. The re-exports basket mainly comprised of ‘Copper and articles of copper’, Precious stones (diamonds), and Petroleum oils.
The analysis for the commodity of the month focused on both the exportation and importation of ‘Sugars, Molasses and Honey’. For the month of May 2023, Namibia imported ‘Sugars, Molasses and Honey’ valued at N$124.9 million mainly sourced from South Africa while on the supply side, the country exported the same commodity worth N$ 9.8 million (predominantly re-exports) mostly destined to Zimbabwe.
