Namibians have spent N$151 million on video downloads and streaming services, with Netflix being the most used platform.
Netflix is followed by Apple TV and Amazon Prime Video.
The reasons for the popularity of these platforms include convenience, flexibility and advert-free content.
This is according to the Bank of Namibia’s (BoN) discussion note on ‘Unlocking insights: Harnessing Card Data to Measure Namibia’s Cross-Border Digital Purchases’ released last month.
In the last four years, the value of video downloads or streaming services rose from N$62 million in 2020 to N$151 million in 2023.
According to the market segments, video streaming accounted for 25% of digitally delivered purchases by Namibians, said BoN.
BoN said this is primarily due to these platform offering cheaper subscription fees when compared to traditional television services.
“This reflects the growing popularity of downloadable video and streaming platforms, given the relatively low subscription fees compared to some local and regional cable television services.”
These platforms also use artificial intelligence algorithms to filter large content and offer users a personalised experience.
The discussion note also shows that there has been an overall increase in the demand for digital services since 2020.
“Total digital services ordered and delivered digitally rose since 2020, increasing by a cumulative N$887 million to reach N$1.3 billion during 2023,” said BoN.
This represents 3.6% of total imports of services during 2023.
“Significant rises were particularly observed in the categories of travel, online courses, eBooks, newspapers and audiobooks, software and cloud services, and video downloads or streaming services,” said BoN.
According to the discussion note, approximately N$197 million was used to buy online courses, eBooks, newspapers and audiobooks.
Digitally ordered services that are not digitally delivered were more prevalent in transportation and travel services, rising from N$172 million in 2020 to N$704 million in 2023.
“About 59% of these were payments for travel services with the payments more pronounced in online booking for lodging, hotels, motels, ride-hailing and automobile rentals abroad,” said BoN.
According to BoN, online booking of airline tickets and the use of shipping sites by residents contributed to the import of digital services related to transportation services.
Moreover, payments for online games have also picked up from N$7 million in 2020 to N$31 million in 2023.
“Interestingly, online gambling increased rapidly during 2023, more specifically the use of betting on online platforms such as South Africa’s Lottostar,” said BoN.
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