Africa-Press – Namibia. THE domestic economy remained in a positive trajectory in the third quarter of 2021, recording a growth of 2.4 % compared to a decline of 12.3 % recorded in the corresponding quarter of 2020.
Statistician-General Alex Shimuafeni said the economy increased by N$1.1 billion over a year. The positive growth comes in a time where the Namibian economy has seen subdued growth and a sizeable number of job losses on the back of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The statistics were released by the Namibia Statistics Agency (NSA) recently. The expansion of economic activities in the third quarter of 2021 was observed in almost all sectors of the economy. Double-digit growth rates were registered in mining and quarrying (41.9%), and hotels and restaurants (19.5%).
Other sectors that also showed strong growth during the period under review were health (7.3%); agriculture and forestry (5.9%); transport and storage (5.6%); and real estate and professional services (4.2%).
However, decreased economic activities were observed in the secondary and some tertiary industries. The construction sector recorded the deepest contraction, of 43.7%, followed by the financial services sector declining by 10.9 %. The manufacturing sector declined by 2.6 %, and wholesale and retail trade registered a contraction of 0.7%.
Shimuafeni stated that investment stood at N$6.0 billion in the quarter under review, down from N$7.7 billion in the corresponding quarter of 2020. In real terms, investment declined by 43.3 % in the third quarter of 2021.
For the quarter under review, exports of goods and services stood at N$13.4 billion while imports of goods and services stood at N$21.5 billion, resulting in a trade deficit of N$8.1 billion. In real terms, exports of goods and services increased by 3.4 % while imports of goods and services increased by 6.1 %.
For More News And Analysis About Namibia Follow Africa-Press
