The country’s domestic economy recorded a positive growth of 1.6 per cent during the second quarter of 2021, compared to a decline of 11.6 per cent recorded in the same quarter of the preceding year.
Namibia Statistics Agency’s Statistician-General, Alex Shimuafeni, announced this on Thursday during a press conference that took place at the agency’s head office.
He said the last time the economy recorded a positive growth of 4.7 per cent was during the fourth quarter of 2019, and since then the economy has been recording negative growth rates. While Gross Domestic Product stood at N.dollars 43.3 billion in the quarter under review, compared to N.dollars 42.8 billion recorded during the same quarter in 2020, this shows that the size of the economy increased by N.dollars 500 million, he said.
“In real terms, the improved performance in the economy was driven by the tertiary industries that posted positive growth rates. The positive performances were observed in the hotels and restaurants sector due to the relaxation of COVID-19 regulations, coupled with the roll-out of the COVID-19 vaccines. This sector registered solid growth of 34.3 per cent in real value-added, compared to a decline of 50.0 per cent registered in the corresponding quarter of 2020,” said Shimuafeni.
He added that the wholesale and retail sector grew by 17.3 per cent and as economic activities gained momentum, the administrative and support service sectors posted a positive performance of 15.6 per cent in real value-added from a negative growth of 25.9 per cent registered in the corresponding quarter of 2020. The improved performance in the sector is attributed to car rentals and travel agent activities as a result of increased international and domestic passenger arrivals witnessed during the quarter under review.
“However, poor results were observed in the primary and secondary industries, registering negative growth rates with the exception of the fishing sectors which bounced back and posted a positive growth of 13.8 per cent in real value-added relative to a decline of 16.4 per cent,” stated Shimuafeni.
He further added that primary sectors remained under pressure as a result of reduced marketing activities for livestock, while crops suffered from locust outbreaks and poor rainfalls in some parts of the country. Thus, the agriculture and forestry sector recorded a decline of 6.9 per cent in real value-added during the second quarter of 2021, with the livestock subsector registering a double-digit decline of 21.7 per cent and the crop subsector declining by 1.6 per cent.
Source: The Namibia Press Agency
