Social programme financing Social protection programmes: Initiatives and financing
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Figure 56. Namibia: Population pyramids for 2010 and 2030
Source: US Census Bureau, 2010.
From an economic standpoint, Namibia is a low-middle-income country with a GDP per capita in 2009 of US4,178 US6,457 in PPP terms. Annual economic growth before
independence was low, averaging 1.1 per cent between 1981 and 1989. The decade that followed Independence improved the countrys overall economic circumstances and its
average annual growth rate tripled from the previous decade 3.8 per cent per year. However, it was during the 2000s that Namibia enjoyed a substantial boost to its GDP,
with rates moving from 2.5 per cent to 12.3 per cent for an average of 5.2 per cent per year. As a result, GDP per capita, measured in nominal terms, showed a remarkable increase
during this period, from US 1,770 in 2002 to US 4,178 in 2008 Figure 57.
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Figure 57. Namibia: GDP per capita, 1980-2008 US current
Source: World Bank, 2010.
Contrary to neighbouring countries such as Botswana and Lesotho whose fiscal position changed significantly, Namibias public finances have remained at a more or less constant
level since Independence figure 58. In 1991 tax revenues accounted for 32.4 per cent of GDP and public spending for 36.2 per cent. Perhaps the most important factor in this
respect was the strong decline in the participation of public spending, which dropped to 24 per cent of GDP in 2007. As a result, the net balance of the Namibian Government moved
from a deficit in the 1990s to a surplus by the end of the 2000s. This was achieved by reducing expenditure instead of increasing revenue collection. In fact, the share of tax
revenue in GDP also fell between 1991 and 2007.
Figure 58. Namibia: Tax revenues and public spending as a percentage of GDP several years
Source: World Bank, 2010.
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External debt remained at a manageable level during the 2000s 12 per cent of GDP, with a slight drop in average terms during the second half of the decade figure 59. This
reduction in the external debt seems to have contributed to the fiscal surplus experienced in the late 2000s, as is evidenced by the decline in public expenditure on debt service from
7.2 per cent of GDP in 1990 to 1.6 per cent in 2008.
Figure 59. Namibia: External debt as a percentage of GDP, 2003-2008
Source: World Bank, 2010.
Another remarkable feature of Namibias recent economic evolution is the low level of ODA received by the country since 1990. On average, ODA constituted 4.1 per cent of the
gross national income GNI between 1990 and 2008, but it declined substantially to 2.8 per cent of GNI during the 2000s. This contrasts with the experience of countries such as
Mozambique which on average received ODA flows that were above 15 per cent of GNI.