Half of working Namibians borrow to buy food
Namibians have turned to banks and microlenders to borrow money to meet their daily household food needs. The latest Namibia Statistics Agency (NSA) Financial Inclusion Survey has revealed that 546 000 working Namibians have no disposable income and have taken up debt to finance their basic needs. The survey shows 51.3% of the Namibia’s working […] The post Half of working Namibians borrow to buy food appeared first on The Namibian .
Namibians have turned to banks and microlenders to borrow money to meet their daily household food needs.
The latest Namibia Statistics Agency (NSA) Financial Inclusion Survey has revealed that 546 000 working Namibians have no disposable income and have taken up debt to finance their basic needs.
The survey shows 51.3% of the Namibia’s working population borrows to buy food, while 22.1% borrow to pay for education financial needs and 16.4% borrow to pay for daily transport needs.
Rather than borrowing to buy homes, vehicles or start businesses, thousands of Namibians are taking on debt simply to meet everyday living expenses.
NSA statistician general Alex Shimuafeni says the last nine years saw an upshot in Namibians taking up debt, with borrowing increasingly becoming common.
“Borrowing (both formal and informal) has increased from 42.1% in 2017 to 49% in 2025,” Shimuafeni said while presenting the survey findings yesterday.
The dependence on cash loans is attributed to the low wages experienced by Namibians, who are increasingly struggling to cope with the increasing cost of living in the country.
The NSA states about 295 000 of the 546 000 working Namibians earn less than N$2 000 a month, while only 44 000 people earn more than N$11 000 monthly.
