Monthly Economic Update – June 2026

Growth Recovering, But the Engine Is Narrow

The Namibia Statistics Agency confirmed real GDP growth of 2.0% for Q1 2026 — a rebound from near-stagnation in late 2025, but below the 2.8% recorded a year earlier. The composition is the concern: mining contracted 12.2% on weaker diamond and gold output, while the tertiary sector — trade, financial services and transport — expanded around 5%. “A 2.0% print after a flat fourth quarter tells you the economy stopped falling, not that it has turned the corner,” says Pieter De Klerk, CEO of Covest Wealth. “Services are carrying us, but they don’t earn the foreign exchange or fiscal revenue a healthy mining sector does. Until diamonds and gold stabilise, growth stays fragile.” The Bank of Namibia has trimmed its 2026 forecast to 2.6%, below the government’s earlier 3.1% projection.

Inflation Surged, and the Bank Was Forced Off the Sidelines