Uranium fuels Namibia's exports with N$2.8 billion haul

Trade
Dominating April's export earnings, uranium accounted for nearly a third of total revenue, significantly boosting Namibia's trade balance.
Ogone Tlhage
  • 1 Day Ago - 2025-06-13 00:00:00
Uranium generated N$2.8 billion in export earnings for Namibia, accounting for almost one-third of total export earnings in April, the Namibia Statistics Agency (NSA) reported in its latest trade report.

“Uranium was Namibia’s largest exported commodity in April 2025, accounting for 26% of total exports, predominantly consumed by China. Non-monetary gold came second, accounting for 15.4% of total exports, destined for South Africa,” the report stated.

According to the NSA, fish occupied the third position, accounting for 11.5% of total exports, mainly destined for the Spanish, Zambian, and Italian markets. Precious stones ranked fourth, accounting for 10.5%, with the commodity mainly exported to Botswana, the United Arab Emirates, and Belgium.

“Ores and concentrates of base metals’ took the fifth position and contributed 5.8% to the country’s total export revenue, mostly destined for the Brazilian, South African, and Chinese markets. The top five export commodities jointly accounted for 69.1% of total exports,” the NSA said.

Imports
On the import side, petroleum oils emerged as the top imported commodity during the month under review, accounting for 22.4% of total imports. “In second and third positions were motor vehicles for commercial purposes and nickel ores and concentrates, gaining shares of 4.9% and 3.5% of total imports, respectively. Motor cars for the transportation of persons ranked fourth, accounting for 3.3%,” the NSA reported.

Petroleum oils were the largest contributor to the country’s trade deficit, with a recorded deficit of N$2.5 billion in April 2025.

“Following in second position were motor vehicles for commercial purposes, which posted a deficit of N$569 million, while motor cars for the transportation of persons ranked third after recording a deficit of N$421 million,” the report added.

“Encouragingly, the country recorded trade surpluses on uranium amounting to N$2.9 billion,” the NSA noted.