Namibia/

The economy is heavily dependent on the extraction and processing of minerals for export. Mining accounts for 8% of GDP, but provides more than 50% of foreign exchange earnings. Rich alluvial diamond deposits make Namibia a primary source for gem-quality diamonds. Namibia is the fourth-largest exporter of nonfuel minerals in Africa, the world’s fifth-largest producer of uranium, and the producer of large quantities of lead, zinc, tin, silver, and tungsten. The mining sector employs only about 3% of the population while about 35-40% of the population depends on subsistence agriculture for its livelihood. Namibia normally imports about 50% of its cereal requirements; in drought years food shortages are a major problem in rural areas. A high per capita GDP, relative to the region, hides one of the world’s most unequal income distributions, as shown by Namibia’s GINI coefficient. The Namibian economy is closely linked to South Africa with the Namibian dollar pegged one-to-one to the South African rand. Until 2010, Namibia drew 40% of its budget revenues from the Southern African Customs Union (SACU). Increased payments from SACU put Namibia’s budget into surplus in 2007 for the first time since independence. SACU allotments to Namibia increased in 2009, but will drop for 2010 and 2011 because South Africa went into recession during the global economic crisis, reducing overall SACU income. Increased fish production and mining of zinc, copper, uranium, and silver spurred growth in 2003-08, but growth in recent years was undercut by poor fish catches, higher costs of producing metals, and the global recession.

$14.64 billion (2010 est.)

$14.06 billion (2009 est.)

$14.17 billion (2008 est.)

$11.45 billion (2010 est.)

4.1% (2010 est.)

-0.8% (2009 est.)

4.3% (2008 est.)

$6,900 (2010 est.)

$6,700 (2009 est.)

$6,800 (2008 est.)

729,000 (2010 est.)

51.2% (2008 est.)

36.7% (2004 est.)

55.8%

70.7 (2003)

24% of GDP (2010 est.)

20% of GDP (2010 est.)

15.1% of GDP (2009 est.)

4.6% (2010 est.)

8.8% (2009 est.)

7% (31 December 2009)

10% (31 December 2008)

11.12% (31 December 2009 est.)

13.74% (31 December 2008 est.)

$3.049 billion (31 December 2010 est)

$2.495 billion (31 December 2009 est)

$4.756 billion (31 December 2010 est.)

$3.691 billion (31 December 2009 est.)

$5.122 billion (31 December 2010 est.)

$4.041 billion (31 December 2009 est.)

$846.3 million (31 December 2009)

$618.7 million (31 December 2008)

$702 million (31 December 2007)

millet, sorghum, peanuts, grapes; livestock; fish

meatpacking, fish processing, dairy products; mining (diamonds, lead, zinc, tin, silver, tungsten, uranium, copper)

6.5% (2010 est.)

1.491 billion kWh (2009 est.)

2.845 billion kWh (2009 est.)

40 million kWh (2007 est.)

2.045 billion kWh (2007 est.)

0 bbl/day (2009 est.)

22,000 bbl/day (2009 est.)

0 bbl/day (2007 est.)

19,120 bbl/day (2007 est.)

0 bbl (1 January 2010 est.)

0 cu m (2008 est.)

0 cu m (2008 est.)

0 cu m (2008 est.)

0 cu m (2008 est.)

62.29 billion cu m (1 January 2010 est.)

-$187 million (2010 est.)

-$160.9 million (2009 est.)

$4.277 billion (2010 est.)

$3.535 billion (2009 est.)

diamonds, copper, gold, zinc, lead, uranium; cattle, processed fish, karakul skins

$5.152 billion (2010 est.)

$4.519 billion (2009 est.)

foodstuffs; petroleum products and fuel, machinery and equipment, chemicals

$1.961 billion (31 December 2010 est.)

$2.051 billion (31 December 2009 est.)

$2.373 billion (31 December 2010 est.)

$2.175 billion (31 December 2009 est.)

$NA

$NA

Namibian dollars (NAD) per US dollar - 7.57 (2010), 8.4234 (2009), 7.75 (2008), 7.18 (2007), 6.7649 (2006)