| People | Namibia |
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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):
|
$10.72 billion (2007 est.) |
GDP (official exchange rate):
|
$7.4 billion (2007 est.) |
GDP - real growth rate:
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4.4% (2007 est.) |
GDP - per capita (PPP):
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$5,200 (2007 est.) |
GDP - composition by sector:
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agriculture: 10.8%
industry: 33.4%
services: 55.8% (2007 est.) |
Investment (gross fixed):
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27.7% of GDP (2007 est.) |
Population below poverty line:
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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:
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lowest 10%: 0.5%
highest 10%: 64.5% (2003) |
Distribution of family income - Gini index:
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70.7 (2003) |
Inflation rate (consumer prices):
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6.7% (2007 est.) |
Labor force:
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660,000 (2007 est.) |
Labor force participation rate:
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31.60 % of population |
Labor force - by occupation:
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agriculture: 47%
industry: 20%
services: 33% (1999 est.) |
Unemployment rate:
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5.2% (2007 est.) |
Budget:
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revenues: $2.765 billion
expenditures: $2.515 billion (2007 est.) |
Budget revenues per capita:
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1,324 USD per capita |
Public debt:
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21.8% of GDP (2007 est.) |
Industries:
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meatpacking, fish processing, dairy products; mining (diamonds, lead, zinc, tin, silver, tungsten, uranium, copper) |
Industrial production growth rate:
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4% (2007 est.) |
Electricity - production:
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1.688 billion kWh (2005) |
Electricity - production per capita:
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809 kWh per capita |
Electricity - consumption:
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2.863 billion kWh (2005) |
Electricity - consumption - per capita:
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1,371 kWh per capita |
Electricity - exports:
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78 million kWh (2005) |
Electricity - imports:
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1.567 billion kWh; note - electricity supplied by South Africa (2005) |
Oil - production:
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0 bbl/day (2005 est.) |
Oil - production per capita:
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void |
Oil - consumption:
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18,400 bbl/day (2005 est.) |
Oil - consumption - per capita:
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3.22 bbl/year per capita |
Oil - exports:
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0 bbl/day (2004) |
Oil - imports:
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17,580 bbl/day (2004) |
Oil - proved reserves:
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0 bbl (1 January 2006 est.) |
Natural gas - production:
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0 cu m (2005 est.) |
Natural gas - production per capita:
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void |
Natural gas - consumption:
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0 cu m (2005 est.) |
Natural gas - consumption - per capita:
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void |
Natural gas - exports:
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0 cu m (2005 est.) |
Natural gas - imports:
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0 cu m (2005) |
Natural gas - proved reserves:
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59.75 billion cu m (1 January 2006 est.) |
Agriculture - products:
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millet, sorghum, peanuts, grapes; livestock; fish |
Current account balance:
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$1.36 billion (2007 est.) |
Current account balance - per capita:
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652 USD per capita |
Exports:
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$2.916 billion f.o.b. (2007 est.) |
Exports per capita:
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1,397 USD per capita |
Exports - commodities:
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diamonds, copper, gold, zinc, lead, uranium; cattle, processed fish, karakul skins |
Exports - partners:
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South Africa 33.4%, US 4% (2006) |
Imports:
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$2.977 billion f.o.b. (2007 est.) |
Imports per capita:
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1,426 USD per capita |
Imports - commodities:
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foodstuffs; petroleum products and fuel, machinery and equipment, chemicals |
Imports - partners:
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South Africa 85.2%, US (2006) |
Reserves of foreign exchange and gold:
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$896 million (31 December 2007 est.) |
Reserves of foreign exchange and gold - per capita:
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429 USD per capita |
Debt - external:
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$941.1 million (31 December 2007 est.) |
Debt - external - per capita:
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451 USD per capita |
Stock of direct foreign investment - at home:
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$NA |
Stock of direct foreign investment - abroad:
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$NA |
Market value of publicly traded shares:
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$541.8 million (2006) |
Economic aid - donor:
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void |
Economic aid - recipient:
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ODA, $123.4 million (2005 est.) |
Economic aid - recipient per capita:
|
60 USD per capita |
Currency (code):
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Namibian dollar (NAD); South African rand (ZAR) |
Exchange rates:
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Namibian dollars per US dollar - 7.18 (2007), 6.7649 (2006), 6.3593 (2005), 6.4597 (2004), 7.5648 (2003) |
Fiscal year:
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1 April - 31 March |
|
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