Month: March 2018

Imports – The total number of imports from the EU into Namibia was US$ 6.7 billion in 2017. There is a decline of imports from the EU since 2014 on various goods and services consumed in Namibia.

The highest number of imports from the EU is Motor vehicles (US$ 425 million) which are declining since 2015. The second highest imports is copper, followed by medical equipment and telephone sets. Other key imports are tractor parts, tyres and steel.

Exports – The goods exported from Namibia to the EU was US$ 5.2 billion in 2017. The export value declined drastically in 2014 with a slight recovery in 2016 and 2017, the highest record of exports to the EU was recorded at US 6.3 billion in 2013. The major exports from Namibia to the EU is diamonds valued at US$ 1.5 billion in 2017, followed by gold at a mere US$ 427 million. The level of exports remain relatively very low.

Trade Balance – Namibia enjoys a healthy trade balance with the EU meaning exports don’t outweigh imports largely. Namibia’s imports exceed exports by US$ 1.55 billion. The country needs to increase the number of exports to overtake imports from the EU. The trade deficit was wider in 2015 but narrowed down in 2016 and 2017 consecutively.

Future Potential Namibian exports in the EU

It is important to measure Namibian exports into the EU market compared to imports from the rest of the world (including inter-EU trade).  As depicted in the chart below Namibian products only reach a small segment of the European market. The core reason is that inter EU trade is very high which only leaves little room for imports from other countries to occupy in the EU territories.

On one hand Namibia can draw analysis to identify lucrative sectors for export into the EU market, for example the Namibian diamonds reach 8% of the EU market meaning there is huge demand for diamonds in the EU whereby our market is too small to fill. Gold only reaches 1%, fish 3%, zinc 4%, copper 3%, grapes 1% and meat 0.2% of the EU market. Thus if more grapes is produced in Namibia there is room to reach a huge potential market at their disposal.

by: Rodney Dan-Ao !Hoaeb