The Namibian economy recorded growth of 2.8% during the third quarter of 2024, the Namibia Statistics Agency (NSA) said in its third quarter Gross Domestic Product (GDP) on Thursday.
In real terms, he reported that the domestic economy grew by 2.8% during the third quarter of 2024 compared to the 3.1% growth registered in the parallel quarter of 2023.
“The growth was primarily driven by the tertiary industries, which saw a 4.9% increase in real value added during the third quarter of 2024. This is an improvement when compared to a 1.9% growth recorded in the same period of 2023,” he said.
He added that the key performing sectors during the review period were health, with 16.0%; transport and storage at 7.9%; and financial service activities, which recorded 7.1%.
The secondary industries experienced slower growth of 1.5% in real value added, compared to a 4.4% increase in the third quarter of 2023.
This was mainly due to the manufacturing and construction sectors, which grew by 2.6% and 1.6%, compared to declines of 9.4% and 7.3% noted in 2023, respectively, Shimuafeni said.
On the other hand, the NSA reported that primary industries declined by 4.4% in real value added, contrasting with a 13.8% growth recorded in the same quarter of 2023.
Shimuafeni said the decline was driven by the mining and quarrying and agriculture and forestry sectors, which posted declines of 6.7% and 6.3%, respectively.
“The poor performance is owed to reduced livestock markets emanating from lower stock and drought impact, along with a decrease in diamond production,” he said.