That dollar amount results from a 20.3% increase from 5 years earlier in 2020 when Namibian exports totaled $5.42 billion.
Year over year, the value of Namibia’s exported goods accelerated by 14.5% compared to $5.7 billion starting from 2023.
Based on the average exchange rate for 2024, the Namibia dollar depreciated by -10.6% against the US dollar since 2020 but appreciated by 0.9% from 2023 to 2024. Namibia’s weaker local currency compared to 2020 makes its exports paid for in stronger US dollars relatively less expensive for international buyers starting from American currency.
Namibia’s Major Trading Partners
The latest available country-specific data shows that 87.5% of products exported from Namibia was bought by importers in: South Africa (19% of the Namibian total), mainland China (17%), Botswana (15%), Zambia (9.3%), Belgium (5.2%), Spain (4.7%), Netherlands (3.4%), Democratic Republic Congo (3.3%), France (3%), United Arab Emirates (2.9%), United States of America (2.6%) and Canada (2.1%).
From a continental perspective, 49.9% of Namibia’s exports by value was delivered to fellow African countries while 23.3% was sold to importers located in Asia. Namibia shipped another 21.5% worth of goods to Europe.
Smaller percentages went to buyers in North America (4.8%), Latin America (0.3%) excluding Mexico but including the Caribbean, then Oceania (also 0.3%) led by Australia and Marshall Islands.
Given Namibia’s population of 2.99 million people, its total $6.53 billion in 2024 exports translates to $2,200 for every resident in the southwest African country. That dollar metric surpasses the average $1,900 per capita calculated for one year earlier during 2023.
Namibia’s Top 10 Exports
The following export product groups represent the highest dollar value in Namibian global shipments during 2024. Also shown is the percentage share each export category represents in terms of overall exports from Namibia.
- Gems, precious metals: US$1.8 billion (28.3% of total exports)
- Ores, slag, ash: $1.5 billion (22.3%)
- Fish: $781.1 million (12%)
- Copper: $376.3 million (5.8%)
- Mineral fuels including oil: $331 million (5.1%)
- Machinery including computers: $189.5 million (2.9%)
- Salt, sulphur, stone, cement: $164.7 million (2.5%)
- Inorganic chemicals: $164.6 million (2.5%)
- Live animals: $115 million (1.8%)
- Meat: $98.2 million (1.5%)
Namibia’s top 10 exports accounted for 84.6% of the overall value of its global shipments.
Inorganic chemicals represent the fastest grower among the top 10 export categories, up by 820.3% from 2023 to 2024.
In second place for improving export sales was machinery including computers via a 80.6% advance.
Namibia’s shipments of ores, slag and ash posted the third-fastest gain in value, up by 56.5%.
The leading decliner among Namibia’s top 10 export categories was gems and precious metals, thanks to a -7.5% year-over-year drop.
At the more granular four-digit Harmonized Tariff System code level, uranium or thorium ores and concentrates represent Namibia’s most valuable exported product at 16.7% of the country’s total. In second place were unmounted and unset diamonds (16.2%), unwrought gold (12%), refined copper plus unwrought alloys (5.6%), fish fillets plus other pieces (5.5%), frozen whole fish (also 5.5%), processed petroleum oils (4.8%), nickel ores and concentrates (3.2%), cobalt oxides or hyrdroxides (1.8%) then fresh or dried grapes (1.3%).
Products Generating Namibia’s Best Trade Surpluses
The following types of Namibian product shipments represent positive net exports or a trade balance surplus. Investopedia defines net exports as the value of a country’s total exports minus the value of its total imports.
In a nutshell, net exports represent the amount by which foreign spending on a home country’s goods or services exceeds or lags the home country’s spending on foreign goods or services.
- Gems, precious metals: US$1.7 billion (Down by -11.5% since 2023)
- Fish: $750.8 million (Down by -2.3%)
- Ores, slag, ash: $666.1 million (Up by 14.4%)
- Copper: $364.7 million (Up by 46.6%)
- Live animals: $112.2 million (Up by 7.9%)
- Salt, sulphur, stone, cement: $96.2 million (Up by 24.6%)
- Fruits, nuts: $72.9 million (Up by 23.5%)
- Meat: $57.1 million (Up by 41.8%)
- Wood: $27.2 million (Down by -21.1%)
- Raw hides, skins not furskins, leather: $8.6 million (Up by 19.7%)
Historically, Namibia has highly positive net exports in the international trade of diamonds and gold. In turn, these cashflows indicate Namibia’s strong competitive advantages under the gems and precious metals category.
Products Causing Namibia’s Worst Trade Deficits
Overall Namibia incurred a -US$2.3 billion trade deficit for 2024, expanding by 32.1% from -$1.74 billion one year earlier in 2023.
Below are exports from Namibia that result in negative net exports or product trade balance deficits. These negative net exports reveal product categories where foreign spending on home country Namibia’s goods trail Namibian importer spending on foreign products.
- Mineral fuels including oil: -US$1.1 billion (Down by -14.8% since 2023)
- Machinery including computers: -$783.6 million (Up by 16.1%)
- Vehicles: -$643.2 million (Up by 8.7%)
- Electrical machinery, equipment: -$445.4 million (Up by 12.4%)
- Articles of iron or steel: -$234.2 million (Up by 26.2%)
- Plastics, plastic articles: -$194.7 million (Up by 25%)
- Cereals: -$174.1 million (Up by 29.5%)
- Pharmaceuticals: -$159.9 million (Up by 14%)
- Aircraft, spacecraft: -$157.3 million (Up by 250.5%)
- Sugar, sugar confectionery: -$124.4 million (Up by 31.8%)
Namibia has highly negative net exports and therefore deep international trade deficits under the energy-related product category titled mineral fuels including oil.
Namibian Export Companies
Not one Namibian corporation ranks among Forbes Global 2000.
Wikipedia lists companies from Namibia that participate in international trade transactions. Selected examples are shown below.
- Air Namibia (airliner)
- BidFish (fishery, fish processor)
- FIDES Bank Namibia (commercial bank)
- MTC Namibia (mobile telecommunications)
- Namib Mills (grain processor)
- Ohorongo Cement (cement)
- TN Mobile (mobile telecommunications)
In macroeconomic terms, Namibia’s total exported goods represent 18.4% of its overall Gross Domestic Product for 2024 ($35.4 billion valued in Purchasing Power Parity US dollars). That 18.4% for exports to overall GDP in PPP for 2024 compares to 16.5% for 2023. Those percentages suggest a relatively increasing reliance on products sold on international markets for Namibia’s total economic performance, albeit based on a short timeframe.
Another key indicator of a country’s economic health is its unemployment rate. Namibia’s jobless rate averaged 19.15% for 2024, down from an average 19.37% for 2023 based on Statista metrics.
Namibia’s capital city is Windhoek, a term that translates to “windy corner” in the Afrikaans language.
See also Botswana’s Top 10 Exports, Uganda’s Top 10 Exports, Somalia’s Top 10 Exports and Top African Export Countries
Research Sources:
Central Intelligence Agency, The World Factbook Country Profiles. Accessed on December 4, 2025
EXCHANGE-RATES.org Exchange Rates History, Namibia dollar to US dollar. Accessed on December 4, 2025
Forbes Global 2000 rankings, The World’s Biggest Public Companies. Accessed on December 4, 2025
International Monetary Fund, World Economic Outlook Database (GDP based on Purchasing Power Parity). Accessed on December 4, 2025
International Trade Centre, Trade Map. Accessed on December 4, 2025
Investopedia, Net Exports Definition. Accessed on December 4, 2025
Wikipedia, Flag of Namibia. Accessed on December 4, 2025
Wikipedia, Gross domestic product. Accessed on December 4, 2025
Wikipedia, List of Companies of Namibia. Accessed on December 4, 2025
Wikipedia, Namibia. Accessed on December 4, 2025
Wikipedia, Purchasing power parity. Accessed on December 4, 2025