Chart of the week
For the first time since ‘18, the Namibia Statistics Agency (NSA) has released data on the Namibian labour force. Namibia’s broad unemployment rate has increased from 33.4% in ‘18 to a staggering 54.8% in ’23, while the strict unemployment rate has increased from 19.8% to 36.9%.
According to the National Planning Commission in a 2020 paper on unemployment, as well as the NSA in labour force surveys such as that in 2018, the broad definition "is considered a better measurement and is very useful in developing economies such as Namibia, where work opportunities are limited, and potential workers may give up after an unsuccessful period of looking for work".
Reliance on the strict definition is misplaced and inappropriate for Namibia given the large presence of an informal market and impoverished households who cannot actively seek employment through recruitment agencies, job advertisements, the internet, and the like. These households, typically in rural areas where home internet access sits at 5% and mobile connectivity sits at 16%, tend to suffer from geographical immobility and require migration to urban areas to have a slightly less unrealistic chance of obtaining employment.
National policy planning on a 36.9% unemployment rate leaves nearly 350,000 unemployed individuals out of policy considerations – more than the number of individuals who are classified as unemployed under the strict definition. This group cannot be treated as an optional statistic in policy planning, as we would be ignoring the lived reality of hundreds of thousands of Namibians suffering without work.
With a broad unemployment rate upwards of 60% in Namibia's most rural regions, and with 65% of the employed population earning less than N$5,000 per month, it is clear that drastic change is needed.
Unfortunately, infrequent collection of crucial statistics such as labour force data means Namibia is not able to take a proactive approach to control the situation as it progresses. Namibia falls behind all her neighbouring countries when it comes to this, with Angola, Botswana, Zimbabwe, and South Africa all collecting labour force data every three months (with Zambia collecting this annually).
These countries have been able to recover from the pandemic, as they have been able to steer policies and prioritisations in the right direction shortly after changes in the labour force occur – while Namibia has waited more than five years to measure its progress (or in this case, regress) in addressing job creation. It is difficult to imagine how Namibia can materially reverse a broad unemployment rate of 54.8%, and the survey has shown that none of Namibia's blindfolded efforts have worked - something dramatically different is needed.
According to the National Planning Commission in a 2020 paper on unemployment, as well as the NSA in labour force surveys such as that in 2018, the broad definition "is considered a better measurement and is very useful in developing economies such as Namibia, where work opportunities are limited, and potential workers may give up after an unsuccessful period of looking for work".
Reliance on the strict definition is misplaced and inappropriate for Namibia given the large presence of an informal market and impoverished households who cannot actively seek employment through recruitment agencies, job advertisements, the internet, and the like. These households, typically in rural areas where home internet access sits at 5% and mobile connectivity sits at 16%, tend to suffer from geographical immobility and require migration to urban areas to have a slightly less unrealistic chance of obtaining employment.
National policy planning on a 36.9% unemployment rate leaves nearly 350,000 unemployed individuals out of policy considerations – more than the number of individuals who are classified as unemployed under the strict definition. This group cannot be treated as an optional statistic in policy planning, as we would be ignoring the lived reality of hundreds of thousands of Namibians suffering without work.
With a broad unemployment rate upwards of 60% in Namibia's most rural regions, and with 65% of the employed population earning less than N$5,000 per month, it is clear that drastic change is needed.
Unfortunately, infrequent collection of crucial statistics such as labour force data means Namibia is not able to take a proactive approach to control the situation as it progresses. Namibia falls behind all her neighbouring countries when it comes to this, with Angola, Botswana, Zimbabwe, and South Africa all collecting labour force data every three months (with Zambia collecting this annually).
These countries have been able to recover from the pandemic, as they have been able to steer policies and prioritisations in the right direction shortly after changes in the labour force occur – while Namibia has waited more than five years to measure its progress (or in this case, regress) in addressing job creation. It is difficult to imagine how Namibia can materially reverse a broad unemployment rate of 54.8%, and the survey has shown that none of Namibia's blindfolded efforts have worked - something dramatically different is needed.
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