Media Statement Economic Outlook August 2025

ECONOMIC OUTLOOK – AUGUST 2025
THE NAMIBIAN ECONOMY IS EXPECTED TO GROW BY 3.5 PERCENT IN 2025

1. Introduction
The Bank of Namibia released the Economic Outlook for August 2025. The domestic economy is estimated to expand marginally by 3.5 percent in 2025 and by 3.9 percent in 2026.

2. Global and Regional Outlook
Global economic activity is expected to slow in 2025 due to heightened policy uncertainty, before improving slightly in 2026. The latest forecasts anticipate that growth will slow to 3.0 percent for 2025 before picking up marginally to 3.1 percent in 2026, from 3.3 percent in 2024. This is according to the IMF’s World Economic Outlook (WEO) update for July 2025. These projections represent upward revisions by 0.2 and 0.1 percentage points, respectively, when compared to the forecasts published in the April 2025 WEO.

Real GDP Growth in Advanced Economies is expected to slow in 2025 before slightly edging up in 2026. Growth in Advanced Economies is projected to slow to 1.5 percent in 2025 before marginally increasing to 1.6 percent in 2026 from 1.8 percent in 2024. Significant upward revisions for the Euro Area, the United Kingdom, and the United States led to an improved growth forecast for the Advanced Economies, when compared to earlier forecasts during April 2025.

Real GDP Growth in Emerging Markets and Developing Economies (EMDEs) is projected to decrease, both in 2025 and in 2026. Growth in EMDEs is projected to drop from 4.3 percent forecasted in 2024 to 4.1 percent in 2025 and to 4.0 percent in 2026. The latest growth estimate for 2025 is 0.4 percentage points lower than the growth estimate in the April 2025 WEO for the same year.