Retail and wholesalers earn N$17 billion in third quarter

In the three months from July to September 2023, retailers and wholesalers saw a 6,1% increase in their activities, earning a total of N$17 billion.

This is according to the Namibia Statistics Agency’s gross domestic product (GDP) report released yesterday.

According to the report, though businesses made N$1,7 billion more compared to last year, it is still a decline from 2021.

“This is a nominal increase of 11,1% compared to a growth of 17,9% recorded in the same period in 2022,” noted the report.

Namibia’s 2023 third quarter GDP stood at N$38,7 billion compared to N$36,1 billion over the same period in 2022.

This is a N$2,6 billion growth from last year during the same period.

According to the report, GDP expanded by 7,2% compared to 5,4% in the corresponding quarter of 2022.

“The positive performance is mainly attributable to the primary industry, which recorded an expansion of 38,3% in real value added.”

The report further showed that the mining and quarrying sector was the main contributor to the increase in economic activities.

Additionally, the agriculture and forestry sector rebounded to record growth of 19,9% due to the recovery in the livestock subsector, posting growth of 25,6% in real value added.

This is attributed to improved livestock marketing during the period under review.

People spent N$46,3 billion on personal things during this quarter, which is N$2,6 billion more than last year.

This shows a 1,3% increase when considering inflation.

According to the report, government spending went up by N$0,3 billion, which is less than the N$0,8 billion increase in the same quarter of 2022.

In real terms, this is a 0,7% decrease, mainly because the government reduced employee compensation and spent less on goods and services.

The total amount people spent on goods and services, without considering inflation, slowed down by N$2,9 billion.

Last year, during the same period, there was an increase of N$6,2 billion.

When we consider the real value, there was a 0,8% increase, down from the 5,5% growth in the third quarter of 2023.