ATI
COUNTRY PROFILE
Namibia
Namibia is a medium economic transformer with an overall ATI score of 34.5/100. The country achieved its highest ATI score of 45/100 in 2013 but has since retrogressed. With the exception of technology upgrading, on which Namibia has an extremely low score of 7, the country scores above the African average on every DEPTH dimension, with a particularly high score of 62.6 on productivity increases.
Windhoek
2.6 million
1.4 %
4.2 %
US $4,743
Namibia’s Performance on the African Transformation Index
The overall African Transformation Index score measures the five dimensions of DEPTH.
Overall score
34.5 /100
Score change
since 2000
At a glance
- Namibia is a medium economic transformer with an overall ATI score of 34.5/100. The country achieved its highest ATI score of 45/100 in 2013 but has since retrogressed.
- With the exception of technology upgrading, on which Namibia has an extremely low score of 7, the country scores above the African average on every DEPTH dimension, with a particularly high score of 62.6 on productivity increases.
- Namibia’s narrow industrial base remains a concern, prompting policymakers to commit to economic diversification to address this structural imbalance.
| Score /100 |
Change since 2000 | ||
 |
Diversification |
38.9 |
-5.9
|
 |
Export competitiveness |
14.4 |
+3.7
|
 |
Productivity increases |
62.6 |
+4.1
|
 |
Technology upgrading |
7 |
-4.4
|
 |
Human well-being |
49.6 |
+7.0
|
Diversification of production and exports measures countries’ capability to produce and export a widening array of goods and services.
Score
38.9 /100
Score change
since 2000
At a glance
- Namibia's diversification score of 38.9 is just above the African average, indicating moderate diversification. Between 2000 and 2010, the country’s score on this dimension declined by 5.9. It further declined by 12.9 from 2010 to 2020.
- Namibia’s growth is largely dependent on its mineral wealth, which accounts for more than 70 percent of the country’s export earnings but has limited spillover effects on other sectors of the economy. This dependence makes the country vulnerable to shocks affecting its traditional subsistence sector.
- The manufacturing sector remains volatile, with its contribution to total value-added falling from 13 percent in 2011 to 11 percent in 2022. The share of manufactured goods and services in total exports has also dropped from 52.3 percent in 2013 to 29.1 percent in 2020.
- Meanwhile, the service sector remains the largest contributor to total value added at 63 percent. As a result, there has been a shift toward extractive industries, with the share of the top five exports increasing from 58.6 percent to 74.3 percent.
Export competitiveness is measured as the ratio of a country’s share in the world’s exports of non-extractive goods and services to its share in world non-extractive GDP.
Score
14.4 /100
Score change
since 2000
At a glance
-
Namibia is an average performer on export competitiveness relative to other African countries. The country had a score of 14.4 in 2020, which is slightly above the African average.
-
Over the past 20 years, Namibia's percentage of exports in GDP, excluding extractives, has steadily increased relative to the world average. However, the share of manufactured goods in total exports has been declining, reaching its lowest point at 29.9 percent in 2020.
-
Approximately 60 percent of Namibia's exports comprise of mineral resources and non-processed agricultural commodities, making the country’s export basket less competitive on the world market.
Productivity increases measure the value added per unit of labor in agriculture, manufacturing, and services.
Score
62.6 /100
Score change
since 2000
At a glance
- Namibia’s productivity score is significantly higher than most of its African peers, although the country has retrogressed on this dimension since 2016.
- Agricultural productivity has been decreasing, with just $5218 of agricultural value added in 2020.
- Service productivity decreased from $20,488 per worker in 2016 to $18,746 per worker in 2020.
- Productivity in the industry (manufacturing and construction) sector saw major fluctuations between 2011 and 2020, decreasing from $29,305 to $16,247.
Technology upgrading measures the medium-and high-technology content in total production activities and total commodity exports.
Score
7 /100
Score change
since 2000
At a glance
- Namibia lags significantly behind many of its African counterparts on technology upgrading, scoring only 7 out of 100 compared to the African average of 29.7. Momentum on technology upgrading surged between 2003 and 2015 but has since stalled.
- Namibia’s low score is mainly due to a decline in the utilization of medium and high-technology in manufacturing.
- Despite a sophisticated formal economy based on capital-intensive industries, sectors reliant on technology, such as telecommunications, energy, and mining, have seen minimal private sector initiatives to enhance learning and adoption of new production technologies.
- The share of medium and high-tech exports in manufactured exports has averaged 15 percent over the past 20 years.
Human well-being measures economic and social outcomes and enablers in terms of incomes, income inequality, formal employment, and female participation in formal labor markets.
Score
49.6 /100
Score change
since 2000
At a glance
- Namibia demonstrates above-average performance on human well-being. Despite having a high GDP per capita, income inequality remains very high.
- The labor market's duality, coupled with slow job creation and low productivity, results in high unemployment rates.
- Declines in human well-being have been observed since 2015, driven by significant drops in the share of waged and salaried females in female employment and the share of formal employment within the labor force.
- These declines indicate setbacks in efforts to reduce the gender gap in formal sector employment and suggest a deterioration in the economic welfare of its citizens.
Discover more from the ATI
ATI Scorecard
Explore the data behind the economic transformation progress of 30 African countries between 2000-2020.
Growth with DEPTH
Explore the ATI in DEPTH and see how African countries performed on each dimension between 2000-2020.
Methodology
Learn more about our methodology, sources, and how we calculate the index.
Country Profiles
To explore the results of the index in greater detail and provide context and analysis, the ATI report includes 11 case studies.
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