The housing and transport sectors have been the main drivers of inflation in Namibia. 

Focusing on the third quarter of 2021, the Bank of Namibia (BON) noted inflation picked up pace year-on-year by 1.4 percentage points to 3.7% during the third quarter of 2021.

“Namibia’s inflation rose on a yearly basis during the third quarter of 2021, driven mainly by an increase in the inflation for transport and housing, but declined on a quarterly basis during the quarter under review,” reads the report. 

The rise in inflation was reflected in the categories of transport and housing during the quarter under review. 

The central bank added the rise in transport inflation was driven by an increase in the international price of oil, while the rise in inflation for housing was driven by an increase in rental payment for the dwelling subcategory, given the deflationary pressure experienced in 2020.  Meanwhile, the inflation for food declined year-on-year and quarter-on-quarter during the quarter under review, slightly offsetting the rise in overall inflation. On a quarterly basis, overall inflation declined by 0.2 percentage point from 3.9%. 

“The decline was reflected in low quarterly inflation for food and transport, while that of housing rose over the same period. The inflation rate for November 2021 stood at 4.1%, higher than the inflation rate of 3.6% registered during the previous months. The increase was due to a rise in the inflation rate for the transport, housing and food categories,” explained BON.