Winter pushes Namibians to import N$10,8m worth of blankets

The long cold winter nights have prompted Namibians to buy N$10,8 million worth of blankets in May.

The blankets were mostly imported from South Africa.

According to the Namibia Statistics Agency Trade Statistics Bulletin, the country also exported N$29 387 worth of blankets during this period.

Namibia has continued to buy more than it sells, with a trade deficit amounting to N$3,3 billion.

This is worse than the N$3,1 billion recorded in April.

“Trade deficits were recorded regarding Namibia’s trade with South Africa (N$2,5 billion), China (N$1,2 billion) and Bahrain (at N$930 million) during the period under review,” the bulletin says.

It says petroleum oils contributed the most to the trade deficit, having recorded a deficit of N$2,3 billion, followed by medicine with a deficit of N$287 million and vehicles for the transportation of goods in third position at N$262 million.

There were, however, trade surpluses with Botswana of N$1,4 billion, Zambia (N$658 million) and Belgium (N$567 million).

“Namibia’s trade surplus on precious stones (diamonds) stood at N$1,5 billion. The second and third places were occupied by fish and non-monetary gold, respectively, each recording trade surpluses valued at N$1,2 billion,” the bulletin says.

South Africa was the main export and import destination for May, accounting for 21,6% of exports and an import share of 35,3%.

“Botswana was in second position with a share of 15,8%, while Zambia occupied the third position with a share of 12,5% of exports. Belgium and Spain took the fourth and the fifth positions,” the bulletin states.

“Fish remained the only non-mineral product within the top five products exported,” says statistician general Alex Shimuafeni.
The bulletin says China was in second position for imports with 12,3%, followed by the United Arab Emirates in third position, supplying the country with 9,3% of total imports.

Bahrain (7,3%) and India (5,6%) took the fourth and fifth positions, respectively.

“During May 2024, goods worth N$3,4 billion, representing 35,7% of total exports, left the country by sea,” the bulletin states.

Goods exported via air accounted for 33,6% of total exports, with the export basket mainly comprising precious stones (diamonds), non-monetary gold, and ‘crustaceans, molluscs and aquatic invertebrates’.

“Road transportation accounted for 30,6%, with fish, petroleum oils and ‘rotating electric plant and parts’ being the highest-valued commodities transported via the respective mode,” the bulletin states.

– e-mail: shania@namibian.com.naTwitter:@ShaniaLazarus