The mining and quarrying sector in Namibia has made significant strides, recording an impressive 18.9% increase in real value, as revealed by the 2023 Annual National Accounts report.
The Namibia Statistics Agency says the growth is due to all subsectors which recorded increases in real added value.
According to the Namibia Statistics Agency, the diamond subsector registered a 10.9% increase during the period under review.
This was a slow performance compared to the 45.1% recorded in 2022.
The decelerating growth is ascribed to a slowdown in carats produced. Uranium mining bounced back to a positive trajectory, witnessing a 24.5% increase in real value added from a contraction of 2.5% observed in 2022.
The performance is attributed to the increase in uranium production. In addition, the other metal ores subsector, which includes zinc, gold, and other metal ores, recorded a rise of 28.9% in real value added compared to a growth of 1.5% reported in the preceding year.
Moreover, the subsector of ‘Other mining and quarrying’ continued with positive performance, registering a growth of 37.2% in real value added for 2023, relative to an increase of 6.7% recorded in 2022.
The subsector is primarily driven by mineral exploration activities that witnessed significant direct investment during the period under review.
Statistician general Alex Shimuafeni says in nominal terms, the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) stood at N$227.8 billion during the reporting period relative to N$205.5 billion recorded in 2022.
Shimuafeni also says this shows a moderate expansion of N$22.3 billion. He adds that year on year, in real terms, the domestic economy posted a growth of 4.2% relative to an increase of 5.3% recorded in 2022.
“The slower performance is attributed to both the Primary and Secondary industries, registering slower growths of 9.7% and 2%, compared to growths of 13.7% and 3.4% in the parallel period of 2022, respectively,” Shimuafeni says.
