The statistic shows the distribution of employment in Namibia by economic sector from 2012 to 2022. In 2022, 21.56 percent of the employees in Namibia were active in the agricultural sector, 16.58 percent in industry and 61.86 percent in the service sector.

The unemployment rate in Namibia decreased by 0.3 percentage points (-1.52 percent) in 2023 in comparison to the previous year. Nevertheless, the last two years recorded a significantly higher unemployment rate than the preceding years.The unemployment rate refers to the share of the economically active population currently without work but in search of employment. The unemployment rate does not include economically inactive persons such as the long-term unemployed, children, or retirees.

Abstract

The first full-scale Labour Force Survey (LFS) in Namibia was carried out in 1997 under the National Household Survey Programme, launched after the Government endorsed the Five Year Plan of Development of Statistics in Namibia in 1993. Since then, five Labour Force Surveys have been conducted in the country at more or less regular intervals of every four years. This survey was conducted only one year after the previous survey, in 2012, and the Namibia Statistics Agency plans to continue to conduct the LFS on an annual basis going forward. Like all its predecessors, the 2013 survey was conducted with the objective of generating "timely collection and release of key socio-economic indicators for assessment of labour market conditions in Namibia." The survey covers all aspects of people's work, including the education and training needed to equip them for work, the jobs themselves, job search of those out of work, and income and benefits from work.

In this year's LFS analysis more efforts were made to cover wide-range of topics to meet the demands of local stakeholders in labour statistics, and as well standard reporting demanded by SADC, the AU, and the ILO. For example we have included SADC Minimum Indicator List page, for a quick glance of standard employment and unemployment indicators for accessing Namibia's efforts in meeting its various developmental goals in particular, those relating job creations.

Moreover, the anonymised micro-level data used for this report are available via the NSA website at http://www.nsa.org.na to enable other agencies and individuals to conduct further analysis of the data. In this way, the country will derive full benefit from the resources that were allocated to conduct the survey.

In conclusion, I would like to address my sincere thanks to the International Labour Organisation (ILO) for their technical inputs to the 2013 labour force survey in Namibia. A word of appreciation goes also to our stakeholders for their contributions towards the review of questions use for the survey.

Finally, I also thank all the staff of the NSA that worked hard for the successful and timely conclusion of the first annual labour force survey in Namibia.

Geographic coverage

The survey had national coverage. The lowest level of geographic aggregation of the data is Region (the 13 regions in the country).

Analysis unit

The units of analysis in the survey includes households and individuals

Universe

The universe of the survey was all household members. Homeless people and the people who are living in institutions (institutional population) are excluded.

Sampling procedure

The target population of the LFS 2013 was members of private households in Namibia. The population living in institutions, such as hospitals, hostels, police barracks and prisons was not covered in the survey. However, private households within institutional settings were covered, such as teachers' houses on school premises. The sample design for the LFS 2013 was a stratified two-stage probability sample, where the first stage units were geographical areas designated as the Primary Sampling Units (PSUs) and the second stage units were the households. Up-to-date listings of households in the selected PSU was prepared during the field work, and 18 households were selected in each PSU using systematic sampling. The distribution of the sample is given below.

Mode of data collection

Face-to-Face

Unemployment Rate in Namibia decreased to 19.60 percent in 2023 from 20 percent in 2022. This dataset provides - Namibia Unemployment Rate - actual values, historical data, forecast, chart, statistics, economic calendar and news.

In 2023, the youth unemployment rate in Namibia remained nearly unchanged at around 38.03 percent. Still, 2023 marked the third consecutive decline of the youth unemployment rate. The youth unemployment rate refers to the share of the workforce aged 15 to 24 that is currently not working but is actively searching for work. It does not include the economically inactive population, such as the long-term unemployed or full-time students.

Abstract

The Namibia Labour Force Survey (NLFS) is a household-based sample survey. Namibia's first Labour Force Survey was conducted in 1997, and the survey has been conducted every 4 years since then, by the Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare (MoLSW). The NLFS 2012 is the first Labour Force Survey conducted by the new Namibia Statistics Agency, established as an autonomous National Statistics Office in 2011. The NLFS 2012 collected labour market data on people aged 15 years and above for the week prior to the survey week (16-27 October 2012).

Geographic coverage

The survey had national coverage. The lowest level of geographic aggregation of the data is Region (the 13 regions in the country).

Analysis unit

The units of analysis in the survey includes households and individuals

Universe

The universe of the survey was all household members. Homeless people and the people who are living in institutions (institutional population) are excluded.

Kind of data

Sample survey data [ssd]

Sampling procedure

The National Sampling Frame maintained by the NSA is based on the Enumeration Areas (EAs) of the 2011 Population and Housing Census and the households within the EAs. The frame was revised and updated in July 2011. The revised frame now has 6,104 EAs or PSUs. Each PSU consists of between 40 and 120 households. The frame was stratified first by region, and then by urban/rural areas within each region. A probability sample of 506 PSUs was selected proportionately across the regions in the first stage using the probability proportional to size sampling procedure together with systematic sampling. Within each region PSUs were selected randomly to achieve the number allocated for that region. Sample size of households was increased to cater for more reliable estimation at the regional level than in previous labour force surveys. At the field level, 8,906 of 9,108 sampled households were visited and interviewed, resulting in 98% coverage.

Mode of data collection

Face-to-face [f2f]

Research instrument

The survey instrument for the Namibia Labour Force Survey 2012 was a single questionnaire. The questionnaire collected data on the following:

Part A: Field administrative information Part B: Household composition and particulars of each household member (relationship to household head, age, citizenship, marital status and receipt of government grants) Part C: (for all persons 6 and above) Education data (schooling status, highest education level, main language) Part D: (for all persons 8 and above) Employment data (employment status, work activity, non-wage labour, reasons for not working) Part E: (for all persons 8 and above) Employment data (industry and occupation, place of work, full/part-time employment, self-employment, employment sector, payment in kind, deductions, work in multiple jobs, job-seeking strategies) Part F: Working hours Part G: Employment conditions (employers' social security contributions, employment contracts, income and payment rate Part H: Employers and the self-employed (registration, business accounts, size of workforce, business turnover) Part I: (for all persons who had not worked in the previous 7 days) The unemployed (job-seeking strategies, reasons for not working, reasons for not looking for work, rediness to work, length of unemployment, occupation and industry of previous employment, support for the unemployed) Part J: (administered only to the household head/main respondent) Dwelling type, tenure, main/secondary household income source, total household income (last month), employment of domestic workers) Part K: (completed by the coder/editor/supervisor) Data collection and data entry control information

Cleaning operations

Data validation included checking for invalid questionnaire numbers, invalid geo-codes, missing data values, incorrect data values, and duplicate questionnaire numbers. Consistency checks involved checking of validated records against logical rules and subsequent editing where necessary. Industies and occupations were also coded during data editing.

Contains data from the World Bank's data portal. There is also a consolidated country dataset on HDX.

The supply of labor available in an economy includes people who are employed, those who are unemployed but seeking work, and first-time job-seekers. Not everyone who works is included: unpaid workers, family workers, and students are often omitted, while some countries do not count members of the armed forces. Data on labor and employment are compiled by the International Labour Organization (ILO) from labor force surveys, censuses, establishment censuses and surveys, and administrative records such as employment exchange registers and unemployment insurance schemes.

Abstract

Namibia conducted its fifth post-Independence national labor force survey in 2008. This survey, known as the Namibia Labor Force Survey 2008 (LFS 2008), provides a wealth of information on the state of labor force in the country that is by far superior in scope and quality to any that has been available previously, in particular that it incorporated a detailed module on Informal sector and Informal employment.

The 2008 Namibia Labor Force Survey was conducted to generate all the necessary information that would provide Government with the statistical data for analysis of employment, unemployment and underemployment and hence assist in formulating well-conceived policies designed to achieve full employment and promote socio-economic development in general. The report provides a wide range of information on population size and composition, employment and unemployment and other socio-economic characteristics of the workforce.

The findings of the survey provide important statistical base for strategic policy formulation. Apart from informing the public about the state of employment in Namibia, the survey results and in particular the unemployment rate should provide a basis for the evaluation and analysis of the macro-economic policies of the country. The results will also be essential in the design and evaluation of overall government policies aimed at promoting and creating employment.

Geographic coverage

The survey was conducted nation-wide and covered all thirteen regions.

Analysis unit

• Individuals
• Households

Universe

Whole population excluding the following groups: Persons living in institutions such as hospitals, hostels, barracks and prisons.

Kind of data

Sample survey data [ssd]

Sampling procedure

A stratified two-stage probability sample where the first stage units were geographical areas designated as the Primary Sampling Units (PSUs) and the second stage units were the households. The first stage units were selected from the sampling frame of PSUs and the second stage units were selected from a current list of households within the PSU, which was compiled just before the interviews for the survey.

The national sampling frame, which is maintained by the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS), is based on the enumeration areas (EAs) of the 2001 Population and Housing Census and the households within the EAs. One PSU could be an EA, Part of an EA or more than one EA. The frame was stratified first by regions and then by urban/rural areas within each region. PSUs in the urban areas were further stratified into the high, middle or low levels of living according to the geographical location and the level of housing. In the regions where these levels contain large number of PSUs separate strata were made, while in the other regions a combined list of PSUs ordered by the levels was made. In the rural areas large proclaimed settlements and villages were stratified separately while the others were combined with the communal area PSUs. Communal and commercial area PSUs were grouped separately and combined to form one list for the rural strata. After all the above groupings the PSUs were geographically ordered within the strata.

Mode of data collection

Face-to-face [f2f]

Research instrument

In general the sections of the questionnaire are as follows: Section A: Identification particulars of household Section B: Information on all members of household Section C: Education questions for those aged 6 years and above Section D: Employment and labor questions for persons 10 years and above during the last 7 days (currently economically active or Labor force) Section E: Employed for those who have worked the last 7 days or who had a job but did not work coded 1 in D1 or D2 Section F: Hours worked Section G: Unemployed Section H: Employees Section I: Employers, Own Account Workers Section J: Housing conditions Section K: Control Section

Cleaning operations

The editing and coding of the questionnaires were handled in the regional centers. This arrangement, proved to be efficient as many of the errors made by the interviewers were detected and corrected by them before the questionnaires left the regional centers. A further benefit was the improvement of the processing speed since this process ran parallel to the fieldwork.

Response rate

Of 5,975 households covered countrywide, 5,246 households responded. This gives an 87.8% response rate.

Sampling error estimates

An average is in effect a ratio of two estimates, an estimate of the total and an estimate of the total number of units (households, individuals, etc.). For more details on the sampling error estimation, see the Report on page 21.

Travel and tourism represented an important source of employment in Namibia. In 2020, the industry accounted for 11.1 percent of the total employment in the country. That year, there were 81 thousand jobs in travel and tourism in Namibia, despite a decrease of about 28 percent compared to 2019.

Abstract

Like all its predecessors the Namibia Labor Force Survey (LFS) 2014 was conducted with the objective of generating “timely collection and release of key socio-economic indicators for assessment of labor market conditions in Namibia.” The survey covered all aspects of people's work including the education and training needed to equip them for work, the jobs themselves, the job search for those out of work and the income and benefits from work. As with previous LFS analysis this survey covered wide-range of topics to meet the demands of local stakeholders in labor statistics as well as standard reporting demanded by the Southern African Development Community (SADC), the African Union (AU) and the International Labour Organization (ILO). For example the survey included SADC Minimum Indicator List page, for a quick glance of standard employment and unemployment indicators for accessing Namibia's efforts in meeting its various developmental goals in particular, those relating to job creations. The objective of this survey was therefore to provide basic findings and indicators from the survey and to promote understanding of the prevailing labor market situation in the country since 2012. These findings provided a basis for better planning, policy formulation and labor-related discussions. The survey was conducted nationwide and covered all fourteen administrative regions. The main objectives of the survey include:

1. Basic information on the size and structure of the country's work force.
2. Basic information on the size of the informal economy.
3. Basic elements for measuring the labor supply and the extent to which the available human resources are utilized in the production process of the economy.
4. Basic information for projections of the economically active population and its components for socio-economic planning.
5. A basis for research in areas ranging from testing labor market segmentation theories to formulating demographic models.
6. Information on the situation in regional markets and on the number of persons employed in specific occupational categories.
7. Useful indicators on the future course of the economy.

Geographic coverage

National

Analysis unit

• Individuals
• Households

Kind of data

Sample survey data [ssd]

Sampling procedure

The target population of the Labor Force Survey 2014 was members of private households in Namibia. The population living in institutions, such as hospitals, hostels, police barracks and prisons was not covered in the survey. However private households within institutional settings were covered, such as teacher's houses on school premises or doctors living in separate houses in the hospital compound.

A representative sample of 572 Primary Sampling Units (PSUs) giving 10,296 households were selected through a stratified two-stage probability sample, where the first stage units were geographical areas designated as PSUs and the second stage units were the households. Up-to-date listings of households in the selected PSU were prepared during the field work and 18 households were selected in each PSU using systematic sampling. The National Sampling Frame which is maintained by the NSA, was based on the Enumeration Areas (EAs) of the 2011 Population and Housing Census (PHC) and the households within the Enumeration Areas (EAs).

Mode of data collection

Face-to-face [f2f]

Research instrument

The Namibia Labor Force Survey 2014 questionnaires were enclosed in a booklet of eight questionnaires. Each book was assigned a unique sequential number and each questionnaire was assigned a unique number.