Financial inclusion rises to 86%
Namibia's financial inclusion rate has risen to 86%, up from 78% in 2017, according to a new government survey.
The Namibia Statistics Agency (NSA) released the 2025 Namibia Financial Inclusion Survey (NFIS) this week, its fifth such study since 2004, following earlier surveys in 2007, 2011 and 2017. The survey covered all fourteen regions and targeted adults aged 15 and above, though the results are only representative at national level.
The survey found 1 563 688 adults now have access to some form of financial service. Formal inclusion, covering banks and other regulated institutions, stood at 81.5%, with 75.6% of adults holding a bank account and 71.3% using other formal non-bank services.
A gap remains between urban and rural Namibia. Inclusion in towns and cities reached 91.7%, against 79.3% in rural areas. Just 5.7% of rural adults said they could reach a bank within 30 minutes, compared with 40.1% of urban adults, and nearly a third of rural residents said they travel more than three hours to reach a bank, against 1.6% of city dwellers.
Women were slightly more likely to be financially included than men, at 87.6% against 84.2%, though the gap has narrowed since 2017.
Savings remain central to household finances, with 72.5% of adults saving in some form. But formal savings dipped from 60% to 53.2% over the period, while informal savings edged up from 2.9% to 3.5%.
Borrowing has grown too, rising from 42.1% to 49% of adults, mostly to cover food (51.3%), education (22.1%) and transport (16.4%). Most borrowers said they relied on recommendations from family and friends, or looked for low fees, when choosing where to borrow.
Insurance uptake lags behind at 32.7%, with the bulk of that formal cover. Remittances were more widely used, with 61.6% of adults sending or receiving money, almost all of it domestically.
On financial capability, 63% of adults said they struggled to keep up with financial commitments, down from 68.5% in 2017, while just over a quarter said they could reliably make their income last until the next payday. Awareness of investment products such as unit trusts and bonds remained low, at under 7% each.
Statistician-General Alex Shimuafeni said the findings would guide the Namibia Financial Sector Transformation Strategy 2025-2035, aimed at widening access to affordable financial services.
Financial exclusion has nearly halved since 2017, falling from 22.0% to 14.0%, though it remains higher among men (15.8%) than women (12.4%), and considerably higher in rural areas (20.7%) than urban ones (8.3%).
