Namibia

Namibia: sluggish, near-stagnant growth, 1980–2024

Namibia is a mining-led upper-middle-income economy (diamonds, uranium, gold) with a financial sector closely tied to South Africa's, but it has one of the world's highest levels of income inequality; recent offshore oil discoveries could transform it. Between 1980 and 2024, Namibia's GDP per capita grew from $2,468 to $4,413 (current US$), a compound annual growth rate of 1.3% — sluggish, near-stagnant growth. Annual GDP growth averaged 3.0% with a year-to-year standard deviation of 3.3 points, reflecting relatively stable macroeconomic conditions. Structurally, agriculture's share of the economy moved from 8.0% to 7.3% of GDP (a classic decline as the economy industrialized/modernized), while services rose from 38.3% to 54.5% of GDP, underscoring a shift toward a services-driven economy. On human development, life expectancy rose from 56.6 to 67.5 years, while tertiary school enrollment moved from 2.8% to 26.1%, while the urban population share grew from 25.6% to 50.4%.

What this growth cost: Growth was not without cost: per-capita CO2 emissions rose from 1.05 to 1.20 tonnes CO2e per person; income inequality (Gini index) narrowed from 71.1 to 59.1; the poverty headcount ratio fell from 60.3% to 22.9%.