Namibia’s economy grows 2.4 pct in Q3

WINDHOEK, Dec. 16 — Namibia’s economy in the third quarter of 2021 recorded a growth of 2.4 percent compared to a decline of 12.3 percent recorded in the corresponding quarter of 2020, according to economic statistics released Thursday.
The size of the economy was estimated at 45 billion Namibia dollars (2.78 billion U.S. dollars) in the quarter under review relative to the 43.9 billion posted in the same quarter of 2020, Namibia Statistics Agency (NSA) Statistician-General Alex Shimuafeni said.
“This shows that the size of the economy increased by 1.1 billion Namibia dollars over a year. The expansion of economic activities in the third quarter of 2021 was observed in almost all the sectors of the economy,” he added.
According to Shimuafeni, double-digit growth rates were registered in mining and quarrying (41.9 percent) and hotels and restaurants (19.5 percent).
However, Shimuafeni said decreased economic activities were observed in the secondary and some tertiary industries.
“The construction sector recorded the deepest contraction of 43.7 percent, followed by financial services sector declining by 10.9 percent. Likewise, the manufacturing sector declined by 2.6 percent and the wholesale and retail trade sector also registered a contraction of 0.7 percent,” he said. (Xinhua)