:: Urban Question in Namibia :: NUST Library Special Collections

Republic of Namibia National Planning Commission

Republic of Namibia National Planning Commission

Central Statistics Office

-------------------------------------------------------------

Living Conditions

in Namibia

BASIC DESCRIPTION WITH HIGHLIGHTS

The 1993/1994 Namibia Household Income and Expenditure Survey

MAIN REPORT

Table of Contents

PREFACE ............................................................................................................................ 3

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ................................................................................................. 4

Chapter 1: INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................... 32

Chapter 2: FACTS ABOUT THE SURVEY ................................................................ 33

Chapter 3: SOCIO-DEMOGRAPHIC CHARACTERISTICS ................................. 36

Chapter 4: EDUCATION .............................................................................................. 46

Chapter 5: ECONOMIC ACTIVITY ........................................................................... 54

Chapter 6: HOUSING AND INFRASTRUCTURE ................................................... 84

Chapter 7: ACCESS TO DURABLE/CAPITAL GOODS AND

PROPERTY IN HOUSEHOLDS ............................................................. 120

Chapter 8: ECONOMIC STANDARD ......................................................................... 143

Chapter 9: HOUSEHOLD DISTRIBUTION OF CONSUMPTION AND

EXPENDITURE .......................................................................................... 167

Chapter 10: WINDHOEK ................................................................................................ 217

Chapter 11: WALVIS BAY .............................................................................................. 241

Chapter 12: DOMESTIC WORKERS AND FARM WORKERS ............................... 265

LIST OF TABLES ............................................................................................................... 286

PREFACE

The 1993/94 Namibia Household Income and Expenditure Survey (NHIES) is the first module

of the National Household Survey Programme endorsed by the Government in 1993. This

programme is an integrated part of A Five-Year Development Plan of Statistics in Namibia .

In October 1994, a prelimary report from the NHIES was published. This report was based only

on the first three survey months of the data collection period.

In November 1995, a special report from the NHIES titled The distribution of economic

resources in the population of Namibia was published as a background document for the

Namibian round-table conference in Geneva, Switzerland. This report was based on the full

survey year.

The present report is the main report from the NHIES. The main report provides a basic

description of the living conditions in Namibia concerning economic activity, housing and

infrastructure, possession of capital goods and property, economic standard as well as

consumption and expenditure patterns. The statistics are disaggregated by important domains of

study like the 13 regions, rural and urban areas, sex of head of household, main language,

household composition, educational level, economic activity and main source of income.

Separate chapters deal with Windhoek, Walvis Bay, domestic workers and farm workers.

The Central Statistics Office will also publish a table report which provides statistics on

household consumption and expenditure on the most detailed level collected in the NHIES. This

report will only be published in the form of a diskette.

There is also an administrative and technical report of the NHIES. The administrative and

technical report and its annexes provide a detailed description of the administrative and

technical details of the NHIES.

The report is produced by the Survey and Cartographic Unit of the Central Statistics Office. The

preparation and production of this report was supported by technical assistance from the United

Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and from the Swedish International Development

Agency under the executing agency of Statistics Sweden.

The NHIES has been supported by various donors through bilateral and multilateral

arrangements. On behalf of the Government of Namibia, I take this opportunity to thank the

UNDP and the Government of Sweden for their valuable technical and financial support

towards this project. I would also like to express my deep appreciation to our Government for

its financial and material support.

Finally, I wish to thank all those who contributed to the success of the NHIES project, and in

particular, the user/producer reference group of the NHIES, the CSO staff who were involved in

the NHIES activities as well as the households of the NHIES sample living all over Namibia

without whose support and co-operation the NHIES would never have been possible.

Sarah Kuugongelwa

Director General

National Planning Commission

May 1996

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

This report is divided into 12 chapters as described in the table of contents. This summary only

deals with the first 9 chapters. The reader who is especially interested in statistics on the living

conditions in Windhoek or Walvis Bay or the living conditions of domestic workers and farm

workers are referred directly to chapter 10 - 12.

THE NAMIBIAN ECONOMY

Namibia faces the same legacy of apartheid as South Africa with an economy of extreme

contrasts. Some of its main characteristics are

· A dualistic economy with a sophisticated modern sector that employs only a minority of the

population.

· The economy is depending on a few natural resource based sectors, to a large extent capital

intensive with little contribution towards increasing employment and reducing income

inequality.

· Regarding the distribution of resources, there are vast disparities between a small, wealthy

minority and a big majority of which many live below the poverty line.

The Gross National Income (GNI) per capita amounted to N$ 6 958 (US$ 1 960) in 1994. This

classifies Namibia as a middle income country. However, in a ranking by the so called Human

Development Index, Namibia ranks much lower than by its GNI per capita and trails many

countries with a lower GNI per capita.

Although subsistence agriculture only contributes about 3-4 percent to the Gross Domestic

Product (GDP) an estimated 35-40 percent of the employed population work there. Commercial

agriculture by comparison contributes about 7 percent to the GDP and employs about 10

percent of all employed persons. It involves mainly livestock production, to a large extent

exported to South Africa.

The fishing industry has been rapidly expanding since Independence. The fish catches are to an

increasing extent further processed in Namibia. Thus, the combined contribution to the GDP by

fishing and fish processing has grown from 4.5 percent in 1990 to 8.6 percent in 1994.

The purpose of this report is to highlight the living conditions of the Namibian people

with the emphasis on the distribution of the economic resources among the Namibian

households.

In Namibia a lot of exchange of goods and services is done by bartering without money

involved. The pure income concept used in developed countries is therefore less relevant.

The living conditions of the households are heavily dependent on the volume of work

performed by the household members. The socio-demographic characteristics of the

households provide the basic background for welfare and consumer behaviour. Yield of

work and dependence are influenced by education and health. Consumption and welfare

are also dependent on infrastructure, housing and possession of durable goods.

Namibia is well endorsed with a variety of important minerals. The mining industry, although

decreasing in relative importance, still contributes 10-15 percent to the GDP. However, the

industry has had a minor effect on employment creation outside the mining itself.

Manufacturing, except meat and fish processing, contributes only about 3.5 percent to the GDP.

A striking feature of the structure of Namibias economy is that the total expenditure by

government amounts to almost 40 percent of the GDP. Among the reasons behind the relatively

high percentages of government is the need to establish and organise government in accordance

with the new and democratic constitution. This had to be achieved in context with the

constitutional agreement to keep all public sector personnel from the previous administration.

Namibias economy has performed better since Independence than at any time since 1980. The

average annual growth of the GDP since 1990 has been 4 percent. However, growth has been

erratic with a substantial growth in 1991 and 1992 and a decline in GDP in 1993.

Gross fixed capital formation has been on the average 21 percent of the GDP since

Independence which is above the levels of the years prior to 1990. Although the colonial period

left Namibia with a relatively well developed physical infrastructure it also left a large deficit in

human capital (well educated and healthy people).

More than 95 percent of the merchandise exports of goods are made up of products of

Namibias primary industries and its related secondary industries, meat and fish processing.

Most of the consumption goods and capital goods are imported, mainly from South Africa.

Namibia has been a protected market for the manufacturing industry of South Africa. Since

Independence, with the exception of 1994, Namibias terms of trade have been declining.

THE POPULATION AND ITS ECONOMIC ACTIVITY

Population

The number of private households in Namibia is about 245 000 and the number of persons in

these households is about 1.4 million. According to the 1991 Population and Housing Census

about 100 000 persons live in institutional households like hospitals, hostels, barracks and

prisons. Thus the total population in Namibia is about 1.5 million. Most of the population live

in the rural areas and in the northern regions of the country. The Khomas region where the

capital Windhoek is situated has the largest population of the central/southern regions - about

35 000 private households and 160 000 persons in these households.

The household population by northern and central/southern

regions and rural/urban areas

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

800

900

1000

Northern Central/Southern Namibia

P
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Rural

Urban

The average household size by northern and central/southern

regions and rural/urban areas

Northern Central/Southern Namibia

Rural

Urban

Age

The Namibian population is young. 43 percent of the household population are below 15 years

of age. About 70 percent are below 30 years of age. About half of the Namibian population are

in working ages i.e. in the age group 15 - 64. The rate is somewhat lower in rural areas and

evidently higher in urban areas. Only 5 percent of the Namibian population is 65 years or older.

Main language

There are many languages spoken in Namibia and many Namibians are multilingual.

The most common main language is Oshiwambo, which is the main language for half of the

Namibian population.

Afrikaans, Damara/Nama, Rukavango and Otjiherero are main languages for about 9 - 12

percent of the Namibian population respectively.

The San language is the main language of somewhat more than 1 percent of the Namibian

population.

The official language - English - is the main language of only 1 percent of the Namibian

population.

As a result of the language policy of the pre-independence regime in Namibia, Afrikaans has

become the main language of households from different ethnic groups and also a main language

for communication between different ethnic groups.

The household population by main language spoken in the

household

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

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Average household size by main language spoken in the

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Education

There are about 1 125 000 inhabitants in Namibia who are 6 years or above. 16 percent or about

175 000 have never attended school. About 135 000 or 75 percent of this group are 20 years or

older. In the age group 65 and above, 55 percent have never attended school.

About 55 percent of the Nambian population 20 years and above have no secondary education.

In the rural areas the corresponding percentage is about 65 percent.

In several of the northern regions the percentage of the population 20 years and above having no

secondary education is still higher. For example in the Ohangwena region about 75 percent of

the population 20 years and above have no secondary education.

Educational attainment on tertiary level is rare in Namibia. 4 percent of the population 20 years

and above or 25 000 persons have some kind of tertiary education. 50 percent of these persons

are females and 50 percent are males.

Economic activity

The labour force

57 percent or about 800 000 of the Namibian population are 15 years and above. Among this

part of the population 55 percent or about 435 000 are economically active i.e. belong to the

Namibian labour force. In the age group 10 to 14 years, to which 13 percent of the Namibian

population belong, about 7 percent are economically active and the majority of them are unpaid

family workers.

The labour force participation rate is lower for females than for males. The labour force

participation in the rural areas is low compared to the urban areas. The labour force

participation rate is highest in the Khomas region while Ohangwena has the lowest labour force

participation rate of the 13 regions in Namibia.

The labour force participation rate by northern and

central/southern regions and rural/urban areas. Percent.

Northern Central/Southern Namibia

Rural

Urban

The employed

Out of the economically active population, 81 percent or 350 280 persons are employed i.e have

some work.

Income earners constitute about three fourths of the employed population while unpaid family

workers constitute somewhat less than one fourth .

About three fourths of the income earners are paid employees and one forth are own-account

workers or employers.

The unemployed

19 percent of the economically active population or about 85 000 persons are unemployed i.e.

have no work in spite of the fact that they are available for work and looking for work.

Females have a somewhat higher unemployment rate than males. Generally the unemployment

rate is high in the younger age groups. The unemployment rate in the rural areas (16%) is low

compared to the urban areas (25 %). The reason for this difference might be lack of jobs in the

rural areas which discourage people from looking for work.

The underemployed

A person is underemployed if he/she has some employment but is available for more work.

About half of the employed population is underemployed in Namibia.

The underemployment in the rural areas is higher than in the urban areas. The underemployment

of females is slightly higher than for males.

The combined unemployment and underemployment

The percentage of the combined unemployed and underemployed out of the labour force shows

the proportion of all persons in the labour force who are available and looking for work. This

ratio can be used as an indicator for the demand for work from those who are available and

looking for work. This demand is made up of two groups: One group with total lack of work

(the unemployed) and one group with partial lack of work (the underemployed).

The combined unemployment and underemployment by

northern and central/southern regions and rural/urban areas.

Percent.

Northern Central/Southern Namibia

Rural

Urban

The combined rate of unemployment and underemployment is about 60 percent in Namibia

which is a very high figure. This means that about 60 percent of the Namibian labour force are

available and looking for (more) work. About one third of this group is unemployed i.e.

without any work while the other two thirds have some employment but they are

underemployed and want more work.

The difference in the combined unemployment and underemployment between the rural and

urban areas is not significant. The combined rate of unemployment and underemployment is

higher for females than for males in rural as well as in urban areas. In all regions of Namibia the

combined unemployment and underemployment is about 50 percent or higher.

The economic activity of the household

As an indicator of the total economic activity of a household the concept of full-time

employment equivalent is used. One full-time employment equivalent corresponds to one full-

time employed person but this employment does not necessary fall on one household member

but might be distributed on two or more part-time employed household members. ( One full-

time employment equivalent corresponds to 40 hours of employment by one or more than one

of the household members during a period of one week).

In 24 percent of the Namibian households no economic activity at all took place during the

week before the NHIES interview. In 55 percent of the households the economic activity

corresponded to one or more than one full-time employment equivalent. In 22 percent of the

households the economic activity even corresponded to two or more than two full-time

employment equivalents.

The economic activity in the households is significantly higher in the urban areas than in the

rural areas. The economic activity in the households is also significantly higher in the

central/southern regions of Namibia than in the northern regions.

Main source of income

Wages in cash is the most common main source of income for the Namibian households. 44

percent of the households report this main source of income. The second most common main

source of income is subsistence farming. 35 percent of the households report subsistence

farming as the main source of income. Among the remaining 21 percent of the households, 11

percent have pensions, 6 percent have business and 4 percent have cash remittances as

the main source of income.

Households with wages in cash as the main source of

income by northern and central/southern regions and

rural/urban areas

Northern Central/Southern Namibia

In
t
h

o
u

s
a

n
d

Rural

Urban

About 14 000 households have business as main source of income and about 4000 of these

households are commercial farmers.

Households with subsistence farming as the main source of

income by northern and central/southern regions and

rural/urban areas

Northern Central/Southern Namibia

In
t
h

o
u

s
a

n
d

Rural

Urban

In urban areas as expected, wages in cash is the predominant main source of income. Almost

80 percent of the households report wages in cash as the main source of income in urban

areas. On the other hand, subsistence farming is the predominant main source of income in rural

areas. But wages in cash is also common as the main source of income in rural areas.

Subsistence farming is the most common main source of income for female headed

households while wages in cash is the most common main source of income for male headed

households. More female headed households than male headed households report pensions

and cash remittances as the main source of income in rural areas as well as in urban areas.

With the exception of the Kunene region, subsistence farming is the predominant main

source of income in the northern regions, while wages in cash is predominant in the

central/southern regions.

DISTRIBUTION OF ECONOMIC RESOURCES

Background

The main purpose of this report is to highlight the living conditions in Namibia with the

emphasis on the distribution of the economic resourses in the Namibian population. Before the

NHIES it has not been possible to produce a proper statistical description of the distribution of

economic resources for lack of relevant data sources.

An early attempt to illustrate the skewed distribution of economic resources among the

population in Namibia was conducted by a UN mission in 1989. In this study the population

was divided into three groups: Whites, Non-whites supported by modern economy and

Non-whites supported by traditional economy. By means of rough statistical judgements

based on available population figures the number of the Namibian population belonging to the

three groups was estimated. In the same way the Namibian Gross Domestic Product (GDP) was

also distributed among the three groups. Based on these calculations the following figures were

presented for 1988 (the same information was also presented for the earlier years of the

eighties):

Table A. Population and GDP disaggregated by three population groups.
Whites Non-whites supported

by modern economy

Non-whites supported by

traditional economy

All groups

Percentage of population, percent 5.1 40.0 54.9 100

Distribution of GDP, percent 71.2 25.4 3.4 100

Per Capita GDP, Rand 32919 1500 145 2360

Though the estimates of per capita GDP are provisional they show the general trend of income

distribution among the population groups.

The overall per capita GDP in a developing country like Namibia is greatly affected by the

dualistic nature of the economy. This dualistic nature is very apparent in the economy of

Namibia and it is the most distinguishing characteristic of that economy. In Namibia, two

separate economies exist. On one hand, there is a modern sector which employs highly

advanced technologies, techniques and methods in the production process and ways of life. On

the other hand, there is a traditional sector which depends on subsistence production and has not

reached a level of sophistication and development. Therefore, the overall per capita GDP

combining the economies of these two sectors is misleading and conceals great differences in

the income accruing to groups of population associated to or supported by these sectors.

(Report on mission to Windhoek, Namibia 13 October - 3 November, 1989 by

Adel Al-Akel, Technical Advisor, UNSO/UNDTCD, National Accounts Consultant and

Donald Heiser, Assistant Director, Population Division, Demographic Consultant)

By means of statistics from the 1993/94 Namibia Household Income and Expenditure Survey

(NHIES) it is for the first time possible to describe by a relevant statistical source the economic

living conditions indicated in the UN-report from the late eighties. The NHIES data base is

created from information on consumption, expenditure and income collected directly from a

representative sample of the Namibian private households.

Basic indicators

As experienced internationally the consumption is better recorded than income in household

income and expenditure surveys. This means that the most reliable way to estimate (total

available) household income in a household income and expenditure survey is to add

household savings and investments and some other non-consumption disbursements (e.g.

income tax) to the total private consumption of the household. The total private household

consumption is defined as the cash expenditures and the consumption in kind (own produce,

bartering, payments/gifts in kind). Household income and private household consumption

defined in this way are the main indicators of economic standard in this report.

In order to pay attention to differences in household size and household composition when

comparing economic standard between households, private household consumption per

capita (i.e. per household member) as well as private income per capita and adjusted

private income per capita are compiled. Unlike the unadjusted per capita income the

adjusted per capita income pays attention to the fact that the consumption needs of children are

less than the consumption needs of adults. This means that the weight attached to each child is

less than 1 when compiling the per capita income (see chapter 8, table 8.1.2 for details). When

compiling the unadjusted per capita income all members of the households are given the

weight 1.

National totals and means.

The total annual private household consumption in Namibia is estimated to about 3.1 billion

Namibian dollars (N$). The average annual private household consumption in Namibia is about

N$ 12 800 and the average annual per capita consumption is about N$ 2 300.

The total annual income of private households in Namibia is estimated to about 4.2 billion

Namibian dollars (N$). This means that almost 75 percent of this income is used for private

consumption while the rest is used for investments and savings and other non-consumption

purposes.

The average annual household income in Namibia is about N$ 17 200 and the average annual

per capita income is about N$ 3 000. The average adjusted per capita income is about N$ 3 600.

The average per capita income can be compared with the Gross National Income (GNI) per

capita for 1994 which is about N$ 7 000. The first figure - N$ 3 000 - illustrates the per capita

income in private households while the second figure- N$ 7 000 - is based on the National

Accounts and illustrates the income of all income earners in Namibia (besides private

households also corporations, government units and other institutions) divided by the size of the

Namibian population.

By means of the NHIES the distribution of income in private households can be analysed in an

accurate way based on the data collection directly from the private households. A similar

approach is not possible to apply for the GNI or the GDP.

The skewed distribution

The distribution of economic standard measured as household consumption and household

income is very skewed in the Namibian population.

An indication of the skewed distribution of economic standard in Namibia is the great

differences between national arithmetical means and medians (annual values):

INDICATOR Arithmetical mean
N$

Median
N$

Private household
consumption

12 783

5 743

Private household
consumption per capita

2 253

863

Household income 17 198 6 161
Household income per
capita

3 031

933

Adjusted household
income per capita

3 608

1 140

The arithmetical means are relatively high because by definition they are influenced by the high

consumption and income levels of certain private households in Namibia. The medians on the

other hand only reflect the consumption and income levels below which 50 percent of the

households/individuals in Namibia have to survive.

The Lorenz curve and the Gini coefficient presented in chapter 8 is another clear evidence of

the skewness of the income distribution. A Gini coefficient of about 0.7 is an indication of a

very skewed distribution of economic standard.

Percentile groups are frequently used to illustrate the skewness of the distribution of economic

standard in the population. The percentile groups in this report are defined from the (adjusted)

per capita income of the private households ( see chapter 8 for a detailed definition of percentile

groups).

From studying percentile groups the skewness of the distribution of economic standard in

Namibia becomes still more evident.

Household consumption

The 10 percent of the households (5.3 percent of the population) having the highest economic

standard i.e. the highest (adjusted) per capita income are consuming about 44 percent of the

total private consumption in households. The other 90 percent of the households ( 94.7 percent

of the population) are consuming about 56 percent of the total private consumption in

households.

The annual per capita consumption is about N$ 18 700 in the better off group while it is about

N$ 1 300 in the rest of the population.

The 5 percent of the households who have the highest economic standard have a total

consumption which is almost twice the consumption of the 50 percent of the households who

have the lowest economic standard. The smaller group of 5 percent of the households includes

only 2.5 percent of the population but has a total annual consumption of about Million N$ 900.

The larger group of 50 percent of the households includes about 60 percent of the population

and the total annual consumption in this group is about Million N$ 490.

Household income

The skewness of the income distribution is still more pronounced than the skewness of the

distribution of private consumption.

The 10 percent of the households or 5.3 percent of the population who have the highest

(adjusted) per capita income have more than 50 percent of the total income of the private

households. The other 90 percent of the households or 94.7 percent of the population have only

about 48 percent of the total income of the private households.

The average per capita income is about N$ 29 500 in the better off group while it is about

N$ 1 500 in the rest of the population. The corresponding figures for the average adjusted per

capita income is N$ 33 000 and N$ 1 800.

The 5 percent of the households who have the highest economic standard have a total

household income which is about three times the household income of the 50 percent of the

households which have the lowest economic standard. The smaller group of 5 percent of the

households includes only 2.5 percent of the population but has a total annual household income

of about Million N$ 1 500. The larger group of 50 percent of the households includes about 60

percent of the population and the total annual household income in this group is about Million

N$ 520.

Differences between population groups

The skewed distribution of economic resources illustrated above is reflected in often

dramatic differences in living conditions between population groups in Namibia. In this

report such differences in living conditions are systematically described for populations groups

defined from the following variables:

- region and rural/urban areas

- sex of head of household

- main language of household

- household composition

- highest formal education of head of household

- main source of income

- the economic activity of the household

The reader should keep in mind that there is an interrelation between the variables which

means that certain differences between population groups defined by one variable might be

explained by differences in some other variable. For example, differences in economic standard

between regions might to a certain extent be explained by differences in educational level

between regions.

The reader is referred to chapter 6 - 8 in this report for a thorough going-through of differences

and similarities in living conditions between the defined population groups. In this summary a

few important observations are highlighted.

Regions and rural/urban areas

The Khomas region has the highest level of private income in Namibia. The average annual per

capita income in the Khomas region is about N$ 10 000 and the average adjusted per capita

income is about N$ 11 400. The corresponding figures for the northern regions are between

N$ 900 and N$ 2 000.

A general observation is that rural areas and the northern regions of Namibia are worse off

concerning economic standard.

The average per capita income (N$) by northern and

central/southern regions and rural/urban areas

1000

2000

3000

4000

5000

6000

7000

8000

Northern Central/Southern Namibia

Rural

Urban

The differences in economic standard are reflected when studying indicators on housing

conditions and possession of household durable/capital goods.

In the rural areas almost three quarters of the households live in traditional houses and only

about 15 percent in modern housing i.e. in a detached or semi-detached house or in a flat. In

urban areas the frequencies are the opposite - about 80 percent of the households live in modern

housing and only 3 percent in traditional houses. The frequency of improvised housing is about

the same in rural and urban areas - about 10 percent.

The majority of the households live in traditional houses in the Caprivi, Kunene (49 %),

Ohangwena, Okavango, Omusati, Oshana and Oshikoto regions i.e. in the northern regions of

Namibia. In Caprivi, Ohangwena, Okavango and Omusati the frequencies are 85 percent or

higher.

In the central/southern regions - with the exception of the Omaheke region - the majority of the

households live in modern housing.

In the Karas, Omaheke and Otjozondjupa regions more than 20 percent of the households live in

improvised housing.

There is no straightforward relation between the type of house of a household and the housing

standard. Also households living in modern housing might have a low housing standard.

About three quarters of the Namibian households have no electricity or gas for cooking. The

same frequency of households have no electricity for lighting. Almost 60 percent of the

households use the bush or a bucket as toilet. About 45 percent have no pipe or well for

drinking water within 5 minutes one-way walking distance from the house.

There are great differences in housing standard between rural and urban areas. The housing

standard is much worse in rural areas. As an example, about 80 percent of the households are

using bush or bucket as toilet in rural areas while less than 10 percent in urban areas.

Percent of households using bush or bucket as toilet by

northern and central/southern regions and rural/urban areas

Northern Central/Southern Namibia

Rural

Urban

There are also great differences in housing standard between the regions of Namibia. The

Khomas region where the capital Windhoek is situated has, on the average, a significantly better

housing standard than the rest of the regions. And among the rest of the regions the housing

standard is clearly worst in the seven northern regions of Namibia.

Ownership of or access to household durable/capital goods like radio, TV, telephone,

refrigerator, sewing machine, motor vehicle, donkey/ox cart and bicycle is important for the

daily life of the household.

About 70 percent of the Namibian households own or have access free of charge to a radio.

Less than 30 percent own or have access to respectively TV, telephone, refrigerator, sewing

machine, motor vehicle, donkey/ox cart and bicycle.

There are great differences between households in rural and urban areas. Except for donkey/ox

cart, ownership of or access to household durable/capital goods is much more common in urban

than in rural areas.

Ownership of or access to household durable/capital goods is for most goods significantly more

common in the central/southern regions than in the northern regions. For example, 2 - 6 percent

of the households own or have access to a TV, a telephone or a refrigerator in the Caprivi

region. The corresponding percentages in the Khomas region are 60 - 70.

But ownership of or access to a radio is common in the households of all regions in Namibia.

Percent of households without a TV by northern and

central/southern regions and rural/urban areas

100

Northern Central/southern Namibia

Rural

Urban

Sex of head of household

About 40 percent of the Namibian private households are headed by females. The average

economic standard of female headed households is about half of the average economic standard

in male headed households. This picture is the same independently of whether the households

private consumption or income is used as an indicator of economic standard.

The distribution of the households on different types of houses is basically the same for female

headed and male headed households.

Female headed households have, on the average, a worse housing standard than male headed

households. This is valid for all the studied standard indicators and for rural as well as urban

areas.

The male headed households in Namibia own or have access to household durable/capital goods

to a greater extent than the female headed households. This is the case in rural as well as in

urban areas.

For example, 30 percent of the male headed households in Namibia own or have access to a

motor vehicle. The corresponding percentage for female headed households is 14. In rural areas

the percentage for male headed households is 19 and for female headed households 10 and in

urban areas the percentages are 48 and 23 respectively.

The average per capita income (N$) by rural/urban areas and

sex of head of household

2000

4000

6000

8000

Rural Urban Namibia

Female

Male

Main language

The average economic standard of households is much higher in population groups where

German, English and Afrikaans are the main languages of the household. For example, the

German speaking population, who has the highest private consumption level, has an average

consumption level which is 20 times the level of the worst off group in Namibia - the San

people. The difference in economic standard is still more pronounced if household income is

used as an indicator of economic standard.

The average per capita income (N$) by the main language

spoken in the household

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There are great differences in type of house between language groups.

In households where English, Afrikaans and German are the main languges almost all

households live in modern housing i.e. in detached or semi-detached houses or in flats. Modern

housing is also dominating among households where Damara/Nama is the main language.

Traditional houses are dominating among households where Caprivi (languages), Oshiwambo,

Rukavango and San are the main languages.

Among households where Otjiherero is the main language the types of houses are more

differentiated. Almost 50 percent of the households live in modern housing while about 25

percent of the households live in traditional houses and another 25 percent live in improvised

housing.

About 25 percent of the households where Damara/Nama, Otjiherero and San are the main

languages live in improvised housing.

There are great differences in housing standard between language groups.

Households where English, Afrikaans or German is the main language have, on the average, a

good housing standard in comparison with households where Caprivi, Damara/Nama,

Oshiwambo, Otjiherero, Rukavango or San is the main language.

Households where English or German is the main language have, on the average, the best

housing standard according to the studied standard indicators like availability of electricity,

toilet facilities and distance to drinking water. The worst housing standard is to be found in

households where Caprivi, Oshiwambo, Rukavango and San are the main languages.

Percent of households without electricity for lighting by main

language spoken in the household

100

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Except for donkey/ox cart, the households where German, English or Afrikaans is the main

language have a higher or much higher frequency of ownership of or access to household

durable/capital goods than the other language groups in Namibia.

Households where the San language is the main language are worst off concerning ownership of

or access to household durable/capital goods.

Percent of households without a motor vehicle by main

language spoken in the household

100

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For example, among German speaking households about 70 percent own or have access to a

sewing machine. The corresponding percentage among the San speaking households is 2.

Almost 100 percent of the German speaking households own or have access to a telephone and

a refrigerator. The situation for the San speaking households is that hardly any household owns

a telephone or a refrigerator.

Education of head of household

There is a strong relationship between the level of educational attainment of the head of

household and the economic standard of the household. The average per capita consumption is

about 12 times higher in households where the head has finished some tertiary education

compared to households where the head has no formal education.

The differences in average income level are still more pronounced. The average per capita

income is about 15 times higher in households where the head has finished some tertiary

education compared to households where the head has no formal education.

There is a clear correlation between the level of education of the head of household and the type

of house of the household. The higher the education, the more frequent the households live in

modern housing i.e. in detached or semi-detached houses or in flats. The lower the education,

the more frequent the households live in traditional houses or in improvised housing.

The average per capita income (N$) by educational attainment

of the head of household

No formal

education

Primary

education

Secondary

education

Tertiary

education

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There is a clear correlation between the level of education of the head of household and the

housing standard of the household. For example, in households where the head of household

has no formal education about 95 percent of the households have no electricity for cooking or

for lighting. The same percentage in households where the head of household has a tertiary

education is about 20 percent.

There is a strong correlation between ownership/access to household durable/capital goods and

the formal education of the head of household. The higher education, the more households own

or have access to durable/capital goods. The main difference is between, on one hand,

households where the head of household has only primary education or no formal education at

all and, on the other hand, households where the head of household has some secondary or

tertiary education.

Percent of households without a TV by the educational

attainment of the head of household

0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90

100

No formal

education

Primary

education

Secondary

education

Tertiary

education

For example, among households where the head of household has some secondary or tertiary

education 46 and 70 percent respectively own or have access to TV. The corresponding

percentage for households where the head of household has no formal education or only some

primary education is 5 and 11 percent.

CONSUMPTION AND EXPENDITURE PATTERN

Basic indicators

The total private household consumption consists of cash expenditures for consumption

purposes and consumption in kind.

The cash expenditures for consumption purposes - the consumption in cash - consist of all

cash purchases of food, clothing, housing, furniture, household utensils, goods and services for

household operation, medical care and health services,transport and communication , education,

culture, entertainment, recreation services, personal care, certain insurances etc.

The consumption in kind includes consumption of own produce and consumption of items

received by bartering, free of charge such as gifts and as payments in kind etc.

The housing consumption in kind is defined as the market value of living in a house owned by

the household or provided free of charge to the household. Also households living in a house

provided at subsidized rent have a housing consumption in kind.

There are also cash expenditures which are not consumption. For example, paying of income

tax, paying of fees for life/pension insurances, household savings and investments.

In order to describe important aspects of the household consumption, the private household

consumption is presented in four different ways in this report:

1. The consumption of Food, Housing, Clothing and Other consumption is shown as a

percentage of the Total Private Household Consumption in chapter 9, table 9.1 - 9.8 for

different groups of households.

Other consumption includes furniture and utensils, goods and services for household operation,

medical care, transport and communication, education, personal care, recreation etc.

To satisfy their consumption needs the households will generally start with the basic needs

such as food, housing and clothing. If the resources of the households are either inadequate or

just good enough to satisfy these basic needs, then the total consumption of the households will

mainly consist of these consumption groups - with priority for food - and the other

consumption will be very small.

In such a situation the percentage of food consumption out of the total household consumption

will be high.

If the resources of the households are quite adequate then in addition to their basic needs the

households will satisfy their other needs also. This will be reflected by an increase of the

percentage of other consumption compared to food consumption.

2. The rate of food consumption of the total private household consumption is the indicator

presented in chapter 9, table 9.9 - 9.16. If a high proportion of the total consumption of a

household is made up of food then it indicates that the household has no means of satisfying

other needs.

The food consumption rate is (internationally often) used as a poverty indicator and

households having a food consumption rate of 60 percent or more are defined as poor. If the

food consumption rate is 80 percent or more the poverty is severe.

It must be remembered, however, that the presented figures in this report are affected by

the fact that the food consumption is only recorded for one month and therefore the

estimated food consumption rate as a measure of the longterm food consumption rate

might be misleading.

3. Consumption in kind as part of the total consumption is an indicator which shows the

importance of economic transactions without money involved. In chapter 9, table 9.17 - 24 the

consumption in kind of different household groups in Namibia is highlighted.

4. Chapter 9, table 9.25 - 32 provides a more detailed description of the consumption pattern of

different household groups in Namibia. Also investments, savings, income tax payments etc. are

highlighted in these tables.

The reader is referred to chapter 9 in this report for a thorough going-through of differences and

similarities in consumption and expenditure pattern between population groups. In this

summary a few important observations are highlighted.

Namibia as a whole

The average rate of food consumption in Namibia is about one third of the total private

household consumption while the average rate of housing consumption is about one fourth. The

average rate of clothing consumption is about 5 percent and the rate of consumption of other

goods and services is about 35 percent.

As an average for Namibia the consumption in kind is about 30 percent of the total private

household consumption.

The consumption in kind is dominated by food and housing. On the national level the housing

consumption in kind is higher than the food consumption in kind. The food consumption in

kind is 10 percent of the total private consumption while the housing consumption is 20 percent

of the total private consumption.

As the total food consumption - including cash and kind consumption - is somewhat above 30

percent of the total private consumption it means that about one third of the total food

consumption in the Namibian households is consumption in kind i.e. without money

transactions involved. The total housing consumption is about 25 percent of the total private

consumption and almost four fifths of this consumption are consumption in kind i.e. housing in

owned houses, in houses provided free of charge or in houses provided at a subsidized rent.

About 38 percent of the households in Namibia have a food consumption rate of 60 percent or

more and about 9 percent of the households have a food consumption rate of 80 percent or

more.

If the food consumption rate in the households (as estimated in this survey) is used as a poverty

indicator it means that 38 percent of the Namibian households are poor or severely poor and 9

percent are severely poor. The percentage of poor or severely poor individuals is somewhat

higher. 41 percent of the Namibian household population are poor, of whom 9 percent are

severely poor.

Regions and rural/urban areas

In the rural areas, the rate of food consumption is significantly higher - 47 percent - than in the

urban areas - 23 percent. This difference between rural and urban areas can be understood from

the low average household consumption in the rural areas - N$ 7600 - compared to the average

household consumption in the urban areas - N$ 23 000.

The rate of food consumption in rural areas is almost half of the total consumption while in

urban areas it is close to one fourth of the total consumption.

The rate of housing consumption is relatively high in the urban areas compared to the rural

areas as is also the rate of other consumption.

The rate of food consumption is in all the northern regions higher than 40 percent - with

Okavango region reporting the highest rate of 60 percent - while in the central/southern regions

it is lower than 40 percent - with Khomas region reporting the lowest rate of 18 percent. The

reverse pattern can be observed for other consumption i.e other consumption is higher in

the central/southern regions than in the northern regions.

Also the housing consumption in the central/southern regions is high compared to the northern

regions with the exception of the Omaheke and the Otjozondjupa regions.

The consumption in kind is dramatically different in the rural and the urban areas.

In the rural areas the consumption in kind is about 38 percent of the total private consumption.

Also in the rural areas the consumption in kind is dominated of food and housing. But in the

rural areas the food consumption in kind is higher than the housing consumption in kind. The

food consumption in kind is about 22 percent of the total private consumption in rural areas

while the housing consumption in kind is about 13 percent of the total private consumption.

As the total food consumption is about 47 percent of the total private consumption in rural

areas it means that almost half of the total food consumption is consumption in kind. The total

housing consumption is about 15 percent of the total private consumption in rural areas and

most of this consumption is consumption in kind.

In the urban areas the consumption in kind is only about 24 percent of the total private

consumption. And in the urban areas almost all consumption in kind is housing consumption.

The housing consumption in kind is about 23 percent of the total private consumption and the

food consumption in kind is about 1 percent of the total private consumption.

As the total food consumption is 23 percent of the total private consumption in urban areas it

means that more than 95 percent of the food consumption in urban areas is consumption in

cash. The total housing consumption is 32 percent of the total private consumption in urban

areas which means that about two thirds of the housing consumption in urban areas are

consumption in kind and one third is rent payments in cash.

There are also great differences between the 13 regions. Most of the northern regions but also

the Omaheke region are relying on consumption in kind in a similar way as described for the

rural areas above i.e. food consumption is the greater part of the consumption in kind. The

Erongo, Hardap, Karas and Khomas regions are relying on consumption in kind in a similar way

as described for the urban areas above i.e. housing consumption is the dominating part of the

consumption in kind.

The cash/kind consumption patterns are somewhat different for the Caprivi, Oshana and

Otjozondjupa regions.

In the rural areas the percentage of households having a food consumption rate of 60 percent or

more is 49 percent and of 80 percent or more 12 percent . In the urban areas the figures are

fairly low - 17 percent and 3 percent. This indicates that poverty is much more common in rural

areas than in urban areas.

About 40 percent or more of the households in the northern regions have a food consumption

rate of 60 percent or more. The Okavango region is reporting the highest percentage of

households in this category - 71 percent.

Households having a food consumption rate of 60 percent or

more by northern and central/southern regions and rural/urban

areas

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

Northern Central/Southern Namibia

Rural

Urban

In the central/southern regions the pattern is not very evident. The Erongo, Hardap and Karas

regions look similar with about 30 percent of the households having a food consumption rate of

60 percent or more. The Khomas region where the capital Windhoek is situated is quite well off

compared to the other regions with only 9 percent of the households above the 60 percent food

consumption rate and only 1 percent of the households above the 80 percent food consumption

rate. In the Omaheke and Otjozondjupa regions 40 - 55 percent of the households have a food

consumption rate of 60 percent or more. And in the Omaheke region 25 percent of the

households have a food consumption rate of 80 percent or more which is a higher frequency

than any other region.

This indicates that poverty is common in the northern regions of Namibia as well as in the

central/southern regions except for the Khomas region.

Sex of head of household

In Namibia, the female headed households have a higher rate of food consumption than the

male headed households. Especially in the rural areas the difference is great - 56 and 42 percent

respectively.

There are no remarkable differences between the rates of housing and clothing consumption

between female headed and male headed households.

This means that male headed households have a higher rate of other consumption than

female headed households. The average rate of other consumption in Namibia is close to 40

percent for male headed households while it is less than 30 percent for female headed

households.

Both female and male headed households in the urban areas have lower rates of food

consumption and higher rates of housing and other consumption compared to the rural areas.

This indicates higher standards of living in the urban areas than in the rural areas for female

headed as well as male headed households.

Female headed households are somewhat more dependent on consumption in kind than male

headed households. About 35 percent of the total private consumption in female headed

households is consumption in kind. The corresponding percentage for male headed households

is 27 percent. The difference is explained by the fact that a greater part of the total consumption

of female headed households is food consumption in kind. This part is 14 percent for female

headed households and only 7 percent for male headed households.

The differences between female headed and male headed households concerning food

consumption in kind emanate from the rural areas where food consumption in kind is of great

importance for female headed as well as male headed households. Almost 30 percent of the

total private consumption among female headed households in rural areas is food consumption

in kind. The corresponding percentage for male headed households is about 20.

On the national level the percentage of female headed households having a food consumption

rate of 60 percent or more is 41 percent while it is 36 percent for male headed households. This

indicates that poverty is somewhat more common in female headed households than in male

headed households.

The percentage of households who have a food consumption rate of 60 percent or more is much

higher in rural areas than in urban areas for female headed as well as for male headed

households. The percentages are close to 50 percent in rural areas and 16 - 20 percent in urban

areas. The percentage is somewhat higher for female headed households in rural as well as in

urban areas.

Main language of household

There are dramatic differences between language groups concerning the consumption pattern.

The rate of food consumption is lowest in the population groups where German, English and

Afrikaans are the main languages of the households - 14 -19 percent. On the other hand, these

households have high rates of housing and other consumption - 30 - 38 percent and 42 - 48

percent respectively.

The population groups where San and Rukavango are the main languages of the households are

the groups with the highest rates of food consumption - about 60 percent. On the other hand, the

rates of housing and other consumption are low - around 12-15 percent and 20 percent

respectively.

These differences in consumption patterns must be seen in the view of the great differences in

average annual household consumption levels between German, English and Afrikaans

speaking households on one hand - N$ 34 000 - 56 000 - and San and Rukavango speaking

households on the other hand - N$ 5000 - 7000.

The food consumption in kind is a very small part of the total private consumption in

households where English, Afrikaans, German or Tswana is the main language. The percentage

is less than two percent. In the rest of the language groups, food consumption in kind is 10

percent or more of the total private consumption. The San people have the highest rate of food

consumption in kind of the total private consumption - 35 percent. The San people belong to the

only language group where food consumption in kind is a greater part of the total consumption

than food consumption in cash.

On the other hand, the housing consumption in kind is a great part of the total private

consumption for households where English, Afrikaans, German or Tswana is the main

language. The percentage is 22 or higher with the highest percentage 31 for German speaking

households. For the rest of the language groups, the rate of housing consumption in kind of the

total private consumption is less than 18 percent and only about 10 percent for Rukavango and

San speaking households.

The population groups where German, English and Afrikaans are the main languages of the

households have the lowest frequency of households with a food consumption rate 60 percent or

higher - 2 - 12 percent. The corresponding percentage for the Tswana speaking group is about

15 percent.

The rest of the language groups have a much higher percentage of households having a food

consumption rate of 60 percent or more. The frequency is 38 percent or above. The highest

percentages are reported for the San and Rukavango language groups where the frequency of

households having a consumption rate of 60 percent or more is 70 - 75 percent.

This indicates that while poverty is very rare in some language groups in Namibia it is very

common in other language groups. For example, only about 2 percent of the German

households in Namibia can be classified as poor according to the poverty indicator used in this

report while about 75 percent of the San households can be classified as poor using the same

indicator.

Households having a food consumption rate of 60 percent or

more by main language spoken in the household

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

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Education of head of household

The correlation between the formal education of the head of the household and the consumption

pattern is very strong. As the educational attainment of the head increases from no formal

education to some tertiary education, the rate of food consumption decreases from 57 percent to

17 percent while the rate of other consumption increases from about 17 percent to 50 percent.

The rate of housing consumption increases from 18 percent to 31 percent.

These differences in consumption pattern must be seen in the view of the great differences in

average annual household consumption between different educational levels. When the head of

household has no formal education the average annual consumption of the household is about

N$ 5 500 and when the head of household has some tertiary education the annual household

consumption is N$ 47 000.

The food consumption in kind is about 30 percent of the total private consumption in

households where the head of household has no formal education. This percentage decreases

gradually with higher formal education of the head of household and is only 1 percent for

households where the head of household has some tertiary education.

There is a strong negative correlation between the educational attainment of the head of the

household and the percentage of households who have a high food consumption rate i.e. the

higher the formal education of the head of household, the lower the percentage of households

having a high food consumption rate.

For example, among the households where the head of household has no formal education or

only some primary education the frequency of households who have a food consumption rate of

60 percent or more is about 45 - 50 percent. The corresponding percentage for households

where the head of households have some secondary or tertiary education is 10 - 23 percent.

This indicates that poverty is much more common in households where the head of household

has no formal education or only some primary education than in households where the head of

household has some secondary or tertiary education.

Households having a food consumption rate of 60 percent or

more by educational attainment of the head of household

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

No formal

education

Primary

education

Secondary

education

Tertiary

education

Chapter 1. INTRODUCTION

The Namibia Household Survey Programme

There is an acute need of policy oriented information concerning the level and change in the living

standard of the Namibian population. The lack of accurate and timely information is especially

disturbing concerning the people living in communal areas. Such quantitative information is

needed for a multitude of purposes related to policy formulation, monitoring and reviewing of

national policies, for macro economic analysis as well as for more research oriented studies. One

of the major operational demands of improved statistical information is as an appropriate basis for

the First National Development Plan and for the follow-up of the same plan. This calls for

integrated and representative household based information in addition to data from mainly

administrative sources.

The National Household Survey Programme of Namibia, which is endorsed by the Government,

was discussed on a user-producer workshop held during the week of 30 August - 3 September

1993 in Windhoek. During the workshop a set of general recommendations for the development of

statistics in Namibia was adopted. The need for cooperation and coordination between different

producers and between users and producers as well as the central role of the CSO was

emphasized.

The National Household Survey Programme is a natural follow-up of the 1991 Population and

Housing Census and represents one more step in providing useful statistics for charting and

assessing the socio-economic development of the Namibian society.

The 1993/94 Namibia Household Income and Expenditure Survey (NHIES) is the first

module of the National Household Survey Programme. In 1995, the first Agricultural Census

was carried out which is planned to be followed by Annual Agricultural Surveys. For 1996 the

Intercensal Demographic Survey is planned. The Labour Force Survey will take place in

1997 and finally in 1998, the Level of Living Survey/Health and Nutrition Survey/ Equal

Opportunity Survey (the subject-matter contents of the 1998 national survey will be further

specified). These national surveys constitute the first round of a National Household Survey

Programme of Namibia. A second round should start from 1999 and should be decided on not

later than 1997 in connection with the planning of the next Population and Housing Census.

The National Household Survey Programme will generate statistical information for:

i. Overall national planning and monitoring.

ii. Sector planning, follow-up and evaluation.

iii. Design of development projects and programs

iv. As a basis for research and analytical studies relating to the Namibian society and

economy at large.

The National Household Survey Programme will generate competence and capability

for country-wide survey operations and set up standards of comparison between

surveys.

One important aspect of the National Household Survey Programme is to make sure not to

duplicate efforts, while at the same time allow for comparison between surveys.

Chapter 2. FACTS ABOUT THE SURVEY

The main aim of the NHIES is to get information from private households (institutions are not

included) on their income, expenditure and consumption. The survey provides important

information for many different purposes like:

· National account compilations
· Providing weights for the Consumer Price Index
· Welfare and poverty studies
· Market studies
· Nutrition studies

The survey also includes modules on demographic characteristics, employment and housing.

The survey will contribute to overall national economic and social planning, research and policy

formulation.

· The survey is nationwide with altogether 4752 sampled households spread over the survey
period November 1993 to October 1994. From May 1994 Walvis Bay is included in the

survey. The household response rate was 92.5 % and therefore the statistical estimates in

this report are based on a sample of 4 397 households. The statistical estimates are adjusted

for the household non-response by assuming that the household non-response is random.

· There is also some non-response from the responding households to different items in the
questionnaires. Normally this non-response is negligible.

Note: When the item non-response is not explicitly presented in a table, rows and columns for

totals may not be exactly consistent with the sum of corresponding rows and columns

in the table.

· The sampling variation (measured as half the 95 % confidence interval ) normally is less
than 10 percent for national estimates and less than 15 percent for rural/urban estimates. For

regional estimates the sampling variation might be much higher - even over 50 %.

· The households were asked to keep daily records during the participating month. Weekly
the interviewer transferred the records into a questionnaire. Durable goods like furniture,

transport equipment etc are bought very seldom and the one-month approach does not give

reliable information. Those expenditures are easier to remember and were captured by recall

for the last 12 months.

· All interviewers were carefully trained. The main survey was preceded by a pilot survey.
The survey is an important part of a capability programme to build up a permanent survey

unit and field organisation at the Namibian Central Statistics Office.

· The survey plan mainly follows the UN/ILO recommendations for Household Budget
Surveys and has been practised in many countries since the second world war. The

recommendations follow the concepts of the System of National Accounts (SNA).

Definitions

Definition of private household

A private household consists of one or more persons, related or unrelated, who live together in

one or part of one or more than one housing unit/dwelling and have common catering

arrangements.

In general, a household consists of husband and wife , their children with or without other

relatives, domestic servants, boarders and lodgers.

A person who lives alone and caters for himself/herself forms a one person household.

Definition of household member

A household member is a person who slept in the household during the last 24 hours before an

interview which took place just before or during the survey month and who had common

catering arrangements with the household during these 24 hours.

Definition of northern regions

Caprivi, Kunene, Ohangwena, Okavango, Omusati, Oshana, Oshikoto

Definition of central/southern regions

Erongo, Hardap, Karas, Khomas, Omaheke, Otjozondjupa

Definition of rural/urban areas

Two definition of rural/urban areas have been used in the NHIES. When designing the sample

of the NHIES Namibia was classified in rural and urban areas using the classification adopted

during the time of the 1991 Population and Housing Census. In the presentation of the NHIES

statistics the following slightly different defintion is used (this definition was also used in the

presentation of the statistics from the 1991 Population and Housing Census):

The Local Authorities Act No:23, 1992 has proclaimed 15 municipalities and 12 towns in

Namibia. These areas are defined as Urban. Also the Walvis Bay area is defined as Urban

except the area of the Topnaars which is defined as Rural. The rest of the country is defined

as Rural.

Municipalities: Swakopmund, Windhoek, Gobabis, Grootfontein, Karibib, Karasburg,

Keetmanshoop, Mariental, Okahandja, Omaruru, Otavi, Otjiwarongo, Outjo, Tsumeb, Usakos,

Walvis Bay

Towns: Hentiesbaai, Lüderitz, Okakarara, Ondangwa, Ongwediva, Opuwo, Oshakati, Rehoboth,

Rundu, Katima Mulilo, Khorixas, Arandis

Definition of variables

When the definition is not self-evident, the definition of a variable is presented the first time the

variable is used in a table.

See the Administrative and Technical Report for extensive information about data

collection, data processing, data sets, definitions, quality, costs and other administrative

and technical aspects of the NHIES.

Chapter 3. SOCIO - DEMOGRAGPHIC CHARACTERISTICS

The total number of private households in Namibia is about 245 000 and about

1.4 million persons live in these households.

Most of the population lives in the rural areas - about 1 million persons - and in the 7 northern

regions of the country - about 900 000 persons. The Khomas region - where the capital

Windhoek is situated - has the largest population of the central/southern regions.

The average household size in Namibia is 5.7 persons. The average household size is higher in

most of the northern regions and in the rural areas.

The Namibian population is young. 30 percent of the household population are below 10 years

of age, 43 percent are below 15 years of age, 55 percent are below 20 years of age and 71

percent are below 30 years of age. About half of the Namibian population are in working ages

i.e. in the age group 15 - 64. The rate is somewhat lower in rural areas and evidently higher in

urban areas. Only 5 percent of the Namibian population is 65 years or older.

About 60 percent of the Namibian households are headed by males.

Males are in the majority as heads of household in most regions. But females are in the majority

in certain regions such as Ohangwena, Omusati and Oshana.

The percentage of male headed households in urban areas is about 70.

There are many languages spoken in the Namibian private households and many Namibians are

multilingual.

The most common main language is Oshiwambo, which is the main language for half of the

Namibian population.

Afrikaans, Damara/Nama, Rukavango and Otjiherero are main languages for about 9 - 12

percent of the Namibian population respectively.

The San language is the main language of somewhat more than 1 percent of the Namibian

population.

The official language - English - is the main language of only 1 percent of the Namibian

population.

As a result of the language policy of the pre-independence regime in Namibia Afrikaans has

become the main language of households from different ethnic groups and also a main language

for communication between different etnic groups.

Less than 10 percent of the Namibian households have non-relatives as household members.

About 50 percent of the Namibian household are extended families (without any non-relatives)

i.e. there are other family members than a single person/couple with or without their children .

About 40 percent of the households are nuclear families i.e. they consist only of a single

person/couple with or without their children .

About 9 percent or 21 000 of the Namibian households are single person households. 70 percent

of these households are headed by males.

About 8 percent or 20 000 of the Namibian households only include a single parent with one or

more children. 90 percent of these households are headed by females.

Namibia

244 827

1 389 017

Karas

11 545

54 114

Hardap

12 521

54 206

Erongo

16 611

74 395 Khomas

34 101

161 754

Omaheke

9 157

47 101

Otjozondjupa

22 827

100 438

Oshikoto

18 795

116 134

Okavango

20 394

125 033

Caprivi

16 884

91 434

Kunene

10 398

59 029

Oshana

24 198

161 491

Ohangwena

25 574

190 858

Omusati

21 822

153 030

6.1 to 7.5

5.4 to 6.0

4.3 to 5.3

Households 244 827

Population 1 389 017

Average Household Size

The private household population by region

Table 3.1 The private households and their population by region,

rural and urban.

REGION Households Population Average
Household

Number % Number % Size

Caprivi 16 884 7 91 434 7 5.4
Erongo 16 611 7 74 395 5 4.5
Hardap 12 521 5 54 206 4 4.3
Karas 11 545 5 54 114 4 4.7
Khomas 34 101 14 161 754 12 4.7
Kunene 10 398 4 59 029 4 5.7
Ohangwena 25 574 10 190 858 14 7.5
Okavango 20 394 8 125 033 9 6.1
Omaheke 9 157 4 47 101 3 5.1
Omusati 21 822 9 153 030 11 7.0
Oshana 24 198 10 161 491 12 6.7
Oshikoto 18 795 8 116 134 8 6.2
Otjozondjupa 22 827 9 100 438 7 4.4

NAMIBIA 244 827 100 1 389 017 100 5.7

Rural 161 962 66 987 691 71 6.1
Urban 82 864 34 401 325 29 4.8

Note:The population in institutions - about 100 000 - is excluded from the NHIES.
Definitions

Region: These are the 13 political regions as proclaimed by the Delimitation Commission, Acts 22, 23, 24 and 27 of 1992. The Walvis Bay

area is a part of the Erongo region.

Rural/Urban: The Local Authorities Act No 23, 1992 has proclaimed 15 municipalities and 12 towns in Namibia. These areas are defined as

Urban. Also the Walvis Bay area is defined as Urban except the area of the Topnaars which is defined as Rural. The rest of the

country is defined as Rural.

The total number of private households in Namibia is about 245 000 and about 1.4 million

persons live in these households.

Most of the population lives in the rural areas - about 1 million persons - and in the 7

northern regions of the country - about 900 000 persons. The Khomas region - where the

capital Windhoek is situated - has the largest population of the central/southern regions.

The average household size in Namibia is 5.7 persons. The average household size is

higher in most of the northern regions and in the rural areas.

Table 3.2.1. The Namibian population in private households by age and sex.

AGE GROUP Female Male Total
Number % Number % Number %

0-4 109 312 15 111 738 17 221 050 16
5-9 98 302 13 98 358 15 196 660 14
10-14 93 105 13 82 538 13 175 643 13

15-19 84 105 11 78 781 12 162 886 12
20-24 72 099 10 59 795 9 131 893 9
25-29 56 488 8 45 913 7 102 401 7
30-34 48 242 7 36 264 6 84 506 6
35-39 35 449 5 28 152 4 63 601 5
40-44 27 944 4 25 466 4 53 410 4
45-49 19 987 3 19 388 3 39 374 3
50-54 18 851 3 16 380 2 35 231 3
55-59 12 623 2 11 751 2 24 375 2
60-64 15 771 2 11 552 2 27 323 2
65+ 36 299 5 27 874 4 64 173 5

ALL AGES 731 562 100 657 454 100 1 389 017 100

0-14 300 719 41 292 634 45 593 353 43
15-64 391 558 54 333 442 51 725 000 52
65+ 36 299 5 27 874 4 64 173 5
Note: There is an item non-response of 0.5 % in the age variable which is not presented in the table.

The Namibian population is young. 30 percent of the household population are below 10

years of age, 43 percent are below 15 years of age, 55 percent are below 20 years of age

and 71 percent are below 30 years of age.

About half of the Namibian population are in working ages i.e. in the age group 15 - 64.

Only 5 percent of the Namibian population is 65 years or older.

Table 3.2.2. The rural population in private households by age and sex .

AGE GROUP Female Male Total
Number % Number % Number %

0-4 84 318 16 86 403 19 170 722 17
5-9 76 732 15 76 146 17 152 878 15
10-14 69 814 13 62 717 14 132 532 13
15-19 62 344 12 59 705 13 122 049 12
20-24 48 472 9 39 754 9 88 226 9
25-29 32 767 6 25 829 6 58 596 6
30-34 29 501 6 17 588 4 47 089 5
35-39 21 799 4 13 890 3 35 689 4
40-44 18 048 3 14 659 3 32 707 3
45-49 13 875 3 11 317 2 25 192 3
50-54 13 882 3 9 816 2 23 698 2
55-59 9 377 2 8 226 2 17 603 2
60-64 13 344 3 9 416 2 22 760 2
65+ 30 627 6 23 509 5 54 136 5

ALL AGES 527 048 100 460 643 100 987 691 100

0-14 230 864 44 225 267 49 456 131 46
15-64 263 409 50 210 201 46 473 610 48
65+ 30 627 6 23 509 5 54 136 5
Note: There is an item non-response of 0.4 % in the age variable which is not presented in the table.

The rate of the private household population in working ages is somewhat smaller in rural

areas than the average for Namibia.

Table 3.2.3. The urban population in private households by age and sex.

AGE GROUP Female Male Total

Number % Number % Number %

0-4 24 994 12 25 335 13 50 329 13
5-9 21 570 11 22 212 11 43 782 11
10-14 23 291 11 19 820 10 43 111 11
15-19 21 761 11 19 076 10 40 836 10
20-24 23 627 12 20 041 10 43 668 11
25-29 23 721 12 20 084 10 43 805 11
30-34 18 740 9 18 677 9 37 417 9
35-39 13 650 7 14 262 7 27 912 7
40-44 9 896 5 10 807 5 20 703 5
45-49 6 111 3 8 070 4 14 182 4
50-54 4 969 2 6 564 3 11 533 3
55-59 3 246 2 3 526 2 6 772 2
60-64 2 428 1 2 135 1 4 563 1
65+ 5 673 3 4 365 2 10 038 3

ALL AGES 204 514 100 196 812 100 401 325 100

0-14 69 855 34 67 367 34 137 222 34
15-64 128 149 63 123 240 63 251 390 63
65+ 5 673 3 4 365 2 10 038 3
Note: There is an item non-response of 0.7 % in the age variable which is not presented in the table.

The rate of the private household population in working ages is evidently higher in urban

areas than the average for Namibia.

Table 3.3. Private households by sex of head of household, region, rural

and urban areas.

REGION Female Male Total

Number % Number % Number %

Caprivi 7 162 42 9 722 58 16 884 100
Erongo 5 358 32 11 253 68 16 611 100
Hardap 3 198 26 9 324 74 12 521 100
Karas 2 644 23 8 901 77 11 545 100
Khomas 9 824 29 24 277 71 34 101 100
Kunene 3 894 37 6 504 63 10 398 100
Ohangwena 14 114 55 11 460 45 25 574 100
Okavango 7 361 36 13 033 64 20 394 100
Omaheke 2 205 24 6 952 76 9 157 100
Omusati 11 621 53 10 201 47 21 822 100
Oshana 12 496 52 11 702 48 24 198 100
Oshikoto 7 541 40 11 254 60 18 795 100
Otjozondjupa 5 604 25 17 223 75 22 827 100

NAMIBIA 93 022 38 151 805 62 244 827 100

Rural 66 108 41 95 855 59 161 962 100
Urban 26 914 32 55 950 68 82 864 100
Definitions

Region and Rural/Urban: See table 3.1.

Head of household: The head of household is the person of either sex who generally runs the affairs of the household and is looked upon by

the other members of the household as the main decision maker.The head of household has to be a member of the household.

About 60 percent of the Namibian households are headed by males.

Males are in the majority as heads of household in most regions. But females are in the

majority in certain regions such as Ohangwena, Omusati and Oshana.

The percentage of male headed households in urban areas is about 70.

Namibia

Kunene

Omusati

Karas

Hardap

Khomas

OmahekeErongo

Otjozondjupa

Okavango Caprivi

Oshikoto

Oshana

Ohangwena

100 %

Male

Female

The private households by sex of head of household

Table 3.4 Private households and their population

by main language spoken.

MAIN Households Population

LANGUAGE Number % Number %

English 3 842 2 13 678 1
Afrikaans 31 207 13 131 857 9
Caprivi 15 401 6 86 628 6
Damara/Nama 34 154 14 173 274 12
German 3 837 2 10 443 1
Oshiwambo 106 987 44 697 964 50
Otjiherero 22 375 9 123 676 9
Rukavango 21 233 9 125 532 9
San 3 551 1 18 235 1
Tswana 1 020 0 3816 0
Other 951 0 2 936 0

All languages 244 827 100 1 389 017 100
Note: There is an item non-response of 0.1 % in the household main language
variable which is not presented in the table.
Definition

The main language classification is based on the answer to the question What is the

main language of the household ?. Households who answered Lozi as well as households

who answered Other and stayed in the Caprivi region are classified as Caprivi language.

Households who answered Kwangali as well as households who answered Other and stayed in

the Okavango region are classified as Rukavango language.

There are many languages spoken in the Namibian private households and many

Namibians are multilingual.

The most common main language is Oshiwambo, which is the main language for half of

the Namibian population

Afrikaans, Damara/Nama, Rukavango and Otjiherero are main languages for about 9 -

12 percent of the Namibian population respectively.

The San language is the main language of somewhat more than 1 percent of the Namibian

population.

The official language - English - is the main language of only 1 percent of the Namibian

population.

As a result of the language policy of the pre-independence regime in Namibia, Afrikaans

has become the main language of households from different ethnic groups and also a main

language for communication between different etnic groups.

Table 3.5 Households by household composition in rural and urban areas.

HOUSEHOLD Rural Urban NAMIBIA

COMPOSITION Number % Number % Number %

Single person

- alone 9 691 12 11 493 7 21 183 9
- with 1 own child 1 550 2 2 606 2 4 156 2
- with more than 1 own child 3 537 4 11 736 7 15 273 6
- with extended family 18 681 23 49 795 31 68 476 28
- with non-relatives 4 952 6 6 272 4 11 224 5

Couple

- alone 5 398 7 7 299 5 12 698 5
- with 1 own child 4 554 5 6 003 4 10 557 4
- with more than 1 own child 13 394 16 20 659 13 34 053 14
- with extended family 17 500 21 39 188 24 56 689 23
- with non-relatives 3 562 4 6 647 4 10 209 4

Total 82 864 100 161 962 100 244 827 100
Note: There is an item non-response of 0.1 % in the household composition variable which is not presented in the table.
Definition

The relationship of household members to the head of the household is used to determine the composition of a household. Domes tic

employees were not considered in the classification which means that any given composition may or may not include domestic employees.

The table distinguishes between two major groups of households: those with a head without a spouse (single) and those with a head who has

a spouse (couple).

Extended family is a household which includes at least one of the following categories: own childrens spouse, childrens children, parents

(including spouses parents) or other relatives. It may or may not include own children. However, there are no non-relatives.

Less than 10 percent of the Namibian households have non-relatives as household

members.

About 50 percent of the Namibian household are extended families (without any non-

relatives) i.e. there are other family members than a single person/couple with or without

their children .

About 40 percent of the households are nuclear families i.e. they consist only of a single

person/couple with or without their children .

About 9 percent or 21 000 of the Namibian households are single person households. 70

percent of these households are headed by males.

About 8 percent or 20 000 of the Namibian households only include a single parent with

one or more children. 90 percent of these households are headed by females.

Chapter 4. EDUCATION

School attendance

There are about 1 125 000 inhabitants in Namibia who are 6 years or above.

16 percent or about 175 000 have never attended school. About 135 000 or 75 percent of this

group is 20 years or older.

41 percent or about 460 000 are still in school. About 90 percent of this group are below 20

years of age.

43 percent or about 485 000 have left school. About 92 percent of this group are 20 years or

older.

Excluding the age group 6 - 9 the percentage of persons who have never attended school is

increasing with age. In the age group 65 and above, 55 percent have never attended school.

The rate of persons aged 6 years and above who have never attended school is clearly higher in

rural than in urban areas - 19 and 7 percent respectively.

59 percent in the age group 65 and above have never attended school in the rural areas. The

corresponding percentage in urban areas is 33.

Highest level of educational attainment of the household

The highest level of educational attainment of a household is defined as the highest level of

educational attainment of the head of household.

In 30 percent of the Namibian private households the head of household has no formal

education and in about 60 percent of the households the head of household has less than

secondary education.

These percentages are significantly higher in rural areas and in most of the northern regions. For

example in Ohangwena region 48 percent of the households have a head without any formal

education and in about 85 percent of the households the head has less than secondary education.

The percentages are also higher in households where the head is a female.

Highest level of educational attainment in the population

About 65 percent of the Nambian population 6 years and above have no secondary education.

This percentage decreases to about 55 percent for the population 20 years and above.

In the rural areas the corresponding percentages are about 75 and 65 percent.

In several of the northern regions the percentages having no secondary education are still higher.

For example in the Ohangwena region 85 percent of the population 6 years and above have no

secondary education. For the population 20 years and above the percentage is 76.

Educational attainment on tertiary level is rare in Namibia. 2 percent of the population 6 years

and above or 25 000 persons have some kind of tertiary education. 50 percent of these persons

are females and 50 percent are males.

Namibia

Karas

Hardap

Khomas

Erongo
Omaheke

Otjozondjupa

Kunene

Oshana

Oshikoto Okavango
Caprivi

Omusati Ohangwena

No formal education %

30 to 49

20 to 29

06 to 19

The population 6 years and above without any formal

education by region

Table 4.1.1. The population aged 6 years and above by school

attendance and sex in Namiba.

NAMIBIA SCHOOL ATTENDANCE TOTAL

SEX Never Still Left

attended at school school

Female
Number 95 816 237 444 266 684 602 134
% 16 39 44 100

Male
Number 80 450 221 512 217 641 523 068
% 15 42 42 100

Total

Number 176 266 458 957 484 325 1 125 202
% 16 41 43 100
Note: There is an item non-response of 0.5 % in the school attendance variable
which is not presented in the table.

There are about 1 125 000 inhabitants in Namibia who are 6 years or above.

16 percent or about 175 000 have never attended school. About 135 000 or 75 percent of

this group are 20 years or older.

41 percent or about 460 000 are still in school. About 90 percent of this group are below

20 years of age.

43 percent or about 485 000 have left school. About 92 percent of this group are 20 years

or older.

Table 4.1.2. The population aged 6 years and above by school

attendance and sex in rural areas.

RURAL SCHOOL ATTENDANCE TOTAL

SEX Never Still Left

attended at school school

Female
Number 83 587 180 304 161 763 427 012
% 20 42 38 100

Male
Number 68 192 169 326 117 556 356 770
% 19 47 33 100

Total

Number 151 779 349 631 279 319 783 782
% 19 45 36 100
Note: There is an item non-response of 0.4 % in the school attendance variable
which is not presented in the table.

Table 4.1.3.The population aged 6 years and above by school

attendance and sex in urban areas.

URBAN SCHOOL ATTENDANCE TOTAL

SEX Never Still Left

attended at school school

Female
Number 12 229 57 140 104 922 175 122
% 7 33 60 100

Male
Number 12 258 52 186 100 085 166 298
% 7 31 60 100

Total

Number 24 487 109 326 205 007 341 420
% 7 32 60 100
Note: There is an item non-response of 0.8 % in the school attendance variable
which is not presented in the table.

The rate of persons aged 6 years and above who have never attended school is clearly

higher in rural than in urban areas - 19 and 7 percent respectively.

Table 4.2.1. The population 6 years and above by school attendance and age

in Namibia.

AGE GROUP SCHOOL ATTENDANCE TOTAL

Still at School Left School Never Attended

Number % Number % Number % Number %

6-9 124 358 81 1 256 1 26 050 17 153 896 100
10-14 164 816 94 3 573 2 6 955 4 175 643 100
15-19 118 891 73 34 666 21 9 205 6 162 886 100
20-24 42 118 32 78 467 59 10 994 8 131 893 100
25-34 7 653 4 157 204 84 21 760 12 186 907 100
35-44 552 0 92 858 79 23 136 20 117 011 100
45-54 272 0 52 637 71 21 232 28 74 605 100
55-64 42 0 31 289 61 20 139 39 51 697 100
65+ 99 0 28 757 45 35 014 55 64 173 100

All ages 458 957 41 484 325 43 176 266 16 1 125 202 100

Excluding the age group 6-9, the percentage of persons who have never attended school is

increasing with age. In the age group 65 and above 55 percent have never attended school.

Table 4.2.2. The population 6 years and above by school attendance and age in rural

areas.

AGE GROUP SCHOOL ATTENDANCE TOTAL

Still at School Left School Never Attended

Number % Number % Number % Number %

6-9 94 194 79 868 1 23 115 19 119 690 100
10-14 122 969 93 2 889 2 6 479 5 132 532 100
15-19 90 645 74 22 750 19 8 589 7 122 049 100
20-24 34 279 39 44 942 51 8 876 10 88 226 100
25-34 6 829 6 81 349 77 17 508 17 105 685 100
35-44 205 0 49 820 73 18 064 26 68 397 100
45-54 213 0 30 961 63 17 625 36 48 890 100
55-64 42 0 21 956 54 18 263 45 40 363 100
65+ 99 0 22 048 41 31 686 59 54 136 100

All ages 349 631 45 279 319 36 151 779 19 783 782 100

Table 4.2.3 The population 6 years and above by school attendance and age

in urban areas

AGE GROUP SCHOOL ATTENDANCE TOTAL

Still at School Left School Never Attended

Number % Number % Number % Number %

6-9 30 165 88 388 1 2 935 9 34 206 100
10-14 41 847 97 684 2 476 1 43 111 100
15-19 28 246 69 11 915 29 616 2 40 836 100
20-24 7 839 18 33 525 77 2 118 5 43 668 100
25-34 824 1 75 855 93 4 252 5 81 222 100
35-44 347 1 43 038 89 5 071 10 48 614 100
45-54 59 0 21 676 84 3 607 14 25 715 100
55-64 0 0 9 333 82 1 876 17 11 335 100
65+ 0 0 6 709 67 3 328 33 10 038 100

All ages 109 326 32 205 007 60 24 487 7 341 420 100

59 percent in the age group 65 and above have never attended school in the rural areas.

The corresponding percentage in urban areas is 33.

Table 4.3.1. Private households by highest level of educational attainment , region, rural

and urban areas.

REGION No formal Primary Secondary Tertiary TOTAL

education education education education

Number % Number % Number % Number % Number %

Caprivi 4 321 26 4 890 29 6 441 38 1 120 7 16 884 100

Erongo 2 052 12 5 144 31 8 157 49 1 258 8 16 611 100

Hardap 3 254 26 3 745 30 4 560 36 858 7 12 521 100

Karas 1 697 15 3 560 31 4 940 43 1 147 10 11 545 100

Khomas 3 216 9 5 743 17 18 844 55 5 313 16 34 101 100

Kunene 5 824 56 1 811 17 2 449 24 314 3 10 398 100

Ohangwena 12 251 48 9 147 36 3 951 15 109 0 25 574 100

Okavango 7 586 37 8 123 40 3 880 19 399 2 20 394 100

Omaheke 4 522 49 2 115 23 2 305 25 178 2 9 157 100

Omusati 7 601 35 9 674 44 3 450 16 640 3 21 822 100

Oshana 5 722 24 10 909 45 6 225 26 838 3 24 198 100

Oshikoto 6 608 35 7 973 42 3 751 20 418 2 18 795 100

Otjozondjupa 8 088 35 5 872 26 7 573 33 936 4 22 827 100

NAMIBIA 72 742 30 78 708 32 76 524 31 13 529 6 244 827 100

Rural 63 662 39 60 171 37 32 187 20 4 369 3 161 962 100

Urban 9 080 11 18 537 22 44 337 54 9 160 11 82 864 100

Table 4.3.2. Private households by highest level of educational attainment and

sex of head of household.

SEX OF HEAD
OF HOUSEHOLD

Highest Level of Educational Attainment TOTAL

No formal Primary Secondary Tertiary

education education education education

Number % Number % Number % Number % Number %

Female 31 115 33 31 307 34 26 320 28 3 309 4 93 022 100

Male 41 626 27 47 401 31 50 205 33 10 219 7 151 805 100

Both Sexes 72 742 30 78 708 32 76 524 31 13 529 6 244 827 100

Note: There is a non-response in the variable highest educational attainment of the household corresponding to 1 percent of the
households which is not presented in the table.
Definitions

Region and Rural/Urban: See table 3.1.

Head of household: See table 3.3.
The highest level of educational attainment of the household is defined by the highest level of educational

attainment of the head of the household.

The classification in primary, secondary and tertiary education is defined in detail in section 8.5 of the NHIES administrative and technical

report.

The highest level of educational attainment of a household is defined as the highest level of

educational attainment of the head of household.

In 30 percent of the Namibian private households the head of household has no formal

education and in about 60 percent of the households the head of household has less than

secondary education.

These percentages are significantly higher in rural areas and in most of the northern

regions.

The percentages are also higher in households where the head is a female.

Table 4.4.1. The population 6 years and above by highest level of educational attainment,

region, rural and urban areas.
REGION No formal Primary Secondary Tertiary TOTAL

education education education education

Number % Number % Number % Number % Number %

Caprivi 12 781 17 33 922 45 25 987 34 1 383 2 75 838 100

Erongo 8 968 14 24 471 39 27 391 44 1 929 3 62 923 100

Hardap 8 424 19 17 698 39 17 130 38 1 465 3 45 294 100

Karas 5 508 12 16 284 37 19 926 45 1 968 4 44 381 100

Khomas 14 594 10 40 207 29 69 753 50 9 905 7 139 380 100

Kunene 23 384 49 14 309 30 9 254 19 655 1 47 754 100

Ohangwena 50 366 34 74 611 51 18 782 13 858 1 146 153 100

Okavango 30 003 30 50 728 51 16 646 17 452 0 99 450 100

Omaheke 15 538 41 11 711 31 9 425 25 307 1 37 687 100

Omusati 24 915 20 60 376 49 33 234 27 1 892 2 122 215 100

Oshana 25 607 20 63 351 50 33 914 27 1 610 1 126 938 100

Oshikoto 26 828 28 45 644 48 20 665 22 924 1 94 484 100

Otjozondjupa 27 140 33 27 439 33 23 798 29 1 859 2 82 594 100

NAMIBIA 274 057 24 480 751 43 325 906 29 25 207 2 1 125
090

100

Rural 235 807 30 364 286 46 164 918 21 8 832 1 783 708 100

Urban 38 250 11 116 465 34 160 987 47 16 375 5 341 381 100

Table 4.4.2. The population 6 years and above by highest level of educational attainment

and sex of head of household.
SEX OF HEAD Highest Level of Educational Attainment TOTAL

OF HOUSEHOLD No formal Primary Secondary Tertiary

education education education education

Number % Number % Number % Number % Number %

Female 100 186 24 193 361 46 113 903 27 5 444 1 418 929 100

Male 173 871 25 287 390 41 212 003 30 19 763 3 706 161 100

Both Sexes 274 057 24 480 751 43 325 906 29 25 207 2 1 125 090 100

Definitions

Region and Rural/Urban: See table 3.1.

Head of household: See table 3.3.
The classification in primary, secondary and tertiary education is defined in detail in section 8.5 of the NHIES administrative and technical

report.
Note: There is a non-response in the variable highest educational attainment corresponding to 2 percent of the population which
is not presented in the tables.

About 65 percent of the Nambian population 6 years and above have no secondary

education. This percentage decreases to about 55 percent for the population 20 years and

above.

In the rural areas the corresponding percentages are about 75 and 65 percent.

In several of the northern regions the percentages having no secondary education are still

higher. For example in the Ohangwena region 85 percent of the population 6 years and

above have no secondary education. For the population 20 years and above the

percentage is 76.

Educational attainment on tertiary level is rare in Namibia. 2 percent of the population 6

years and above or 25 000 persons have some kind of tertiary education. 50 percent of

these persons are females and 50 percent are males.

Chapter 5. ECONOMIC ACTIVITY

CONCEPTS AND DEFINITIONS

1. Employed: All persons who worked for pay, profit or family gain for at least one hour

during a seven-day period before the interview or who did not work during

that period but had a job/business to go back to.

2. Unemployed: All persons who did not work during the seven-day period before the interview

or had no job/business to go back to during that period but who were available

and looking for work during that period..

3. Underemployed: All employed persons who were available for more hours work during

the seven-day period.

4. Economically active population = Labour force = Employed + Unemployed

5. Economically inactive = (All persons of age 15 years and above) - (Economically active)

6. Labour force participation rate (economic activity rate):The percentage of labour force

(economic active) out of all persons of age 15 years and above.

7.Unemployment rate:The percentage of unemployed out of the labour force.

8.Underemployment rate:The percentage of underemployed out of the employed

9. Combined unemployed and underemployed = Unemployed + Underemployed

10. Combined unemployment and underemployment rate:The percentage of the combined

unemployment and underemployment out of the labour force.

11. One full time employment equivalent:

40 hours of employment (by one or more than one of the household members) during a period of

seven days before the interview.

See the NHIES administrative and technical report , chapter 8 for further details on the concepts
and definitions in this chapter. See also chapter 6 of the Interviewers Instruction Manual in annex

2 of the NHIES administrative and technical report.

Namibia

262 527

Caprivi

25 312

Okavango

28 942

Karas

14 564

Hardap

15 455

Khomas

40 544

Erongo

22 119

Otjozondjupa

18 960

Kunene

12 484

Omusati Ohangwena

Oshikoto

16 663

Oshana

20 223

Labour force participation rate %

66 to 70

56 to 65

34 to 55

20 343
17 510

Omaheke

9 409

Labour force participation rate and number of

unemployed / underemployed by region

Introduction

In this chapter the economic activity as well as the lack of economic activity among the

Namibian population 15 years and above are presented.

The population below 15 years are excluded because they are not looked upon as a part of the

Namibian labour force. There is some economic activity also among the population below 15

years of age but only to a rather small extent. In the age group 10 to 14 years, to which 13

percent of the Namibian population belong, about 7 percent are economically active and the

majority of them are unpaid family workers.

The main source of income of the Namibian households is also statistically described.

Finally, the activities of the part of the population 15 years and above who are not economically

active are also presented.

How many are economically active ?

A person is defined as economically active i.e. as belonging to the labour force if he/she is

employed or is available for work and actively looking for work.

57 percent or about 800 000 of the Namibian population are 15 years and above. Among this

part of the population 55 percent or about 435 000 are economically active i.e. belong to the

Namibian labour force.

About 45 percent of the population 15 years and above or about 360 000 are not economically

active i.e. they do not belong to the labour force.

The labour force participation rate is lower for females than for males.

This pattern prevails over all the age groups but the difference between females and males in the

labour force participation rate is lower in the younger age groups. The labour force participation

increases up to the age group 35-39, where it reaches the peak value for both females and males.

The labour force participation in the rural areas is low compared to the urban areas.

The labour force participation of females is less than the labour force participation of males in

both rural and urban areas. The female and male participation rates show a greater difference in

the urban areas than in the rural areas.

The labour force participation of females in the older age groups is much higher in the rural

areas compared to the urban areas.

(table 5.3.1-3)

The labour force participation rate is highest in the Khomas region while Ohangwena has the

lowest labour force participation rate.

On the average, the percentage of economically active is significantly higher in the six

central/southern regions (Erongo, Hardap, Karas, Khomas, Omaheke, Otjozondjupa) than in the

seven northern regions (Caprivi, Kunene, Ohangwena, Okavango, Omusati, Oshana, Oshikoto).

(table 5.7)

How many are employed ?

Out of the economically active population, 81 percent or about 350 000 persons are employed

i.e have some work.

Income earners constitute about three fourths (76%) of the employed population while unpaid

family workers constitute somewhat less than one fourth (22%).

About three fourths of the income earners are paid employees and one forth are own-account

workers or employers.

Unemployment

19 percent of the economically active population or about 84 000 persons are unemployed i.e.

have no work in spite of the fact that they are available for work and looking for work.

Females have a somewhat higher unemployment rate than males.

Generally the unemployment rate is high in the younger age groups. The unemployment is

highest in the age group 20-24 for both females and males (more than 30 percent). Females in

the younger age groups are more unemployed than the males. From the age group 35-39, the

unemployment rate is more equal or even higher for males.

The unemployment rate in the rural areas (16%) is low compared to the urban areas (25 %). The

unemployment rate for females and males is almost the same in rural areas but in the urban

areas, the unemployment rate for females is significantly higher than for males.

(table 5.4.1-3)

(table 5.8)

Underemployment

A person is underemployed if he/she has some employment (at least one hour during a week)

but is available for more work. About half of the employed population is underemployed in

Namibia.

The underemployment in the rural areas is higher than in the urban areas.

The underemployment of females is slightly higher than for males.

The female underemployment is significantly higher than the male underemployment in the

rural areas but this is not the case in the urban areas where the male underemployment is

somewhat higher.

(table 5.5.1-3)

(table 5.9)

The combined unemployment and underemployment

The percentage of the combined unemployed and underemployed out of the labour force shows

the proportion of all persons in the labour force who are available and looking for work. This

ratio can be used as an indicator for the demand for work from those who are available and

looking for work. This demand is made up of two groups: One group with total lack of work

(the unemployed) and one group with partial lack of work (the underemployed).

The combined rate of unemployment and underemployment is about 60 percent in Namibia

which is a very high figure. This means that about 60 percent of the Namibian labour force are

available and looking for (more) work. About one third of this group is unemployed i.e.

without any work while the other two thirds have some employment but they are

underemployed and want more work.

The difference in the combined unemployment and underemployment between the rural and

urban areas is not significant.

The combined rate of unemployment and underemployment is higher for females than for males

in rural as well as in urban areas. The difference in the combined rate of unemployment and

underemployment between females and males is higher in rural areas than in urban areas.

(table 5.6.1-3)

The combined unemployment and underemployment is highest in the Caprivi region - 80

percent - and lowest in the Oshana region - 47 percent i.e. in all regions of Namibia the

combined unemployment and underemployment is about 50 percent or higher.

Out of the central/southern regions, Hardap records the highest combined unemployment and

underemployment (73 %) while Khomas records the lowest (53 %).

The combined unemployment and underemployment for females is highest in the Caprivi region

- 88 percent - and lowest in the Khomas region - 53 percent - while for males, the highest rate is

in the Hardap region - 74 percent - and the lowest is in the Okavango and Khomas regions - 52

percent.

(table 5.9)

Full time employment equivalents

As an indicator of the total economic activity of a household the concept of full-time

employment equivalent is used. One full-time employment equivalent corresponds to one full-

time employed person but this employment does not necessary fall on one household member

but might be distributed on two or more part-time employed household members. ( One full

time employment equivalent corresponds to 40 hours of employment by one or more than one

of the household members during a period of one week).

In 24 percent of the Namibian households no economic activity at all took place during the

week before the NHIES interview. In 55 percent of the households the economic activity

corresponded to one or more than one full-time employment equivalent. In 22 percent of the

households the economic activity even corresponded to two or more than two full-time

employment equivalents.

The economic activity in the households is significantly higher in the urban areas than in the

rural areas. 70 percent of the households have an economic activity corresponding to one or

more than one full-time employment equivalent in the urban areas. In the rural areas this

percentage is 47. The percentage of households with no economic activity is 30 percent in the

rural areas and 13 percent in the urban areas.

The economic activity in the households is significantly higher in the central/southern regions

of Namibia than in the northern regions. In the central/southern regions more than 70 percent of

the households have an economic activity corresponding to one or more than one full-time

employment equivalent. Also in the Kunene region the economic activity is relatively high. But

in the rest of the northern regions less than 50 percent of the households have an economic

activity corresponding to one or more than one full-time employment equivalent.

(5.11)

Main source of income

The classification of the households in main source of income is based on the answer to the

question What is the main source of income of this household i.e. what is most important for

the wellbeing of the entire household ?.

Wages in cash is the most common main source of income for the Namibian households. 44

percent of the households report this main source of income. The second most common main

source of income is subsistence farming. 35 percent of the households report subsistence

farming as the main source of income. Among the remaining 21 percent of the households, 11

percent have pensions, 6 percent have business and 4 percent have cash remittances as

the main source of income.

About 14 000 households have business as main source of income and about 4000 of these

households are commercial farmers.

In urban areas as expected, wages in cash is the predominant main source of income. Almost

80 percent of the households report wages in cash as the main source of income in urban

areas. On the other hand, subsistence farming is the predominant main source of income in rural

areas. But wages in cash is also common as the main source of income in rural areas.

With the exception of the Kunene region, subsistence farming is the predominant main

source of income in the northern regions, while wages in cash is predominant in the

central/southern regions.

( table 5.12)

In Namibia, subsistence farming is the most common main source of income for female

headed households while wages in cash is the most common main source of income for male

headed households.

Subsistence farming is the major main source of income for both female and male headed

households in rural areas. But wages in cash is much more common as the main source of

income among male headed households in rural areas.

In urban areas wages in cash is much more common as the main source of income for male

headed households than for female headed households.

More female headed households report pensions and cash remittances as the main source

of income in rural areas as well as in urban areas.

The percentage of female and male headed households who report business as the main

source of income is almost the same in Namibia, in rural areas as well as in urban areas.

(table 5.13)

The economically inactive

The economically inactive population were asked about their activities. If they were engaged in

more than one activity they were classified as belonging to one of these activities according to a

precedence order e.g. people who were at the same time retired and homemakers were

classified as retired and people who were at the same time students and homemakers were

classified as students.

The majority of the economically inactive are homemakers (41%) and students (39%). The

remaining 20 percent are old, retired or disabled.

Caprivi has the highest percentage of students while the lowest is observed in the Omaheke

region.

Generally, the frequency of students is significantly higher in the northern regions compared to

central southern/regions. On the other hand, more homemakers and retired and old people are

reported in the central/southern regions.

(5.10)

Table 5.1. The population by activity status.

Total household population

1 389 017
100 %

ß ß
Children under
15 years of age

593 545

43 %

Adults 15 years of age and above

795 471
57 %

ß ß ß
Economically inactive

353 802
44 %

Activity not
stated

6 991
1 %

Economically active
Labour force

434 678

55 %

ß ß ß ß ß ß

Students

138 219
39 %

Home-
makers

143 454

41 %

Income
Recipient

887
0 %

Disabled, Old,
Retired, Others

70 456
20 %

Employed

350 280
81 %

Unemployed

84 398
19 %

.
Note: There is a non-response of 0.2 % concerning the activity of the economically inactive which is not included in the table.
Definitions

See Concepts and definitions in the beginning of this chapter.

The adults of age 15 years and above are about 57 percent of the total population and

somewhat more than half of them are economically active.

Out of this economically active population, 81 percent or about 350 000 persons are

employed while 19 percent or about 85 000 persons are unemployed.

The economically inactive population were asked about their activities. If they were

engaged in more than one activity they were classified as belonging to one of these

activities according to a precedence order e.g. people who were at the same time retired

and homemakers were classified as retired and people who were at the same time students

and homemakers were classified as students.

The majority of the economically inactive are homemakers (41%) and students (39%).

The economic activity status was collected for all household members of age 10 years and

above. But the figures presented in this chapter are for the adults of age 15 years and

above.

The children in the age group 10 to 14 years are 13 percent of the total population. Out of

these children about 7 percent are economically active and the majority of them are

unpaid family workers.

Table 5.2. Employed persons by employment status.

Employed persons

350 280
100 %

ß ß ß
Income earners

265 149

76 %

Unpaid family worker

78 587
22 %

Not stated

6 544
2 %

ß ß ß

Employer

3 069

1 %

Own account

worker

69 289

26 %

Paid

employee

192 792

73 %

Definitions

See Concepts and definitions in the beginning of this chapter.

Income earners constitute about three fourths (76%) of the employed population while

unpaid family workers constitute somewhat less than one fourth (22%).

About three fourths of the income earners are paid employees and one forth are own-

account workers.

Table 5.3.1. Labour force participation by sex and age in Namibia.

AGE FEMALE MALE BOTH SEXES

GROUP All Labour Labour force All Labour Labour force All Labour Labour force

force participation force participation force participation

rate, percent rate, percent rate, percent

15-19 84 105 18 188 22 78 781 19 028 24 162 886 37 216 23

20-24 72 099 35 407 49 59 795 33 360 56 131 893 68 767 52

25-29 56 488 36 634 65 45 913 37 135 81 102 401 73 769 72

30-34 48 242 32 532 67 36 264 32 595 90 84 506 65 126 77

35-39 35 449 25 338 71 28 152 25 314 90 63 601 50 651 80

40-44 27 944 17 853 64 25 466 22 304 88 53 410 40 157 75

45-49 19 987 11 826 59 19 388 16 517 85 39 374 28 342 72

50-54 18 851 9 533 51 16 380 13 557 83 35 231 23 090 66

55-59 12 623 5 522 44 11 751 8 671 74 24 375 14 193 58

60-64 15 771 4 510 29 11 552 6 834 59 27 323 11 344 42

65+ 36 299 8 798 24 27 874 9 160 33 64 173 17 958 28

All ages 430 741 207 299 48 364 731 227 379 62 795 471 434 678 55

Note: There is an item non-response of 0.8 % in the age variable which is not presented in the table.
There is a non-response of 1 % concerning labour force participation which is not presented in the table.

Definitions

See Concepts and definitions in the beginning of this chapter.
Labour force participation rate in any sex/age group is the number of the labour force divided by the number of all persons 15 years and

above within that sex age group

The labour force participation rate for the adult population in Namibia is 55 percent.

The labour force participation rate is lower for females than for males.

The same pattern prevails over all the age groups but the difference in labour force

participation rate between females and males is lower in the younger age groups.

The labour force participation increases up to the age group 35-39, where it reaches the

peak value for both females and males.

Table 5.3.2. Labour force participation by sex and age in rural areas.

AGE FEMALE MALE BOTH SEXES

GROUP All Labour Labour force All Labour Labour force All Labour Labour force

force participation force participation force participation

rate, percent rate, percent rate, percent

15-19 62 344 13 243 21 59 705 14 422 24 122 049 27 664 23

20-24 48 472 21 282 44 39 754 18 531 47 88 226 39 813 45

25-29 32 767 19 214 59 25 829 18 805 73 58 596 38 019 65

30-34 29 501 18 168 62 17 588 15 053 86 47 089 33 221 71

35-39 21 799 14 484 66 13 890 11 768 85 35 689 26 252 74

40-44 18 048 10 070 56 14 659 12 510 85 32 707 22 580 69

45-49 13 875 7 815 56 11 317 8 863 78 25 192 16 678 66

50-54 13 882 6 613 48 9 816 7 568 77 23 698 14 181 60

55-59 9 377 4 324 46 8 226 5 679 69 17 603 10 003 57

60-64 13 344 4 288 32 9 416 5 728 61 22 760 10 016 44

65+ 30 627 8 213 27 23 509 7 690 33 54 136 15 903 29

All ages 296 082 128 331 43 235 286 127 694 54 531 368 256 024 48

Note: There is an item non-response of 0.7 % in the age variable which is not presented in the table.
There is a non-response of 1 % concerning labour force participation which is not presented in the table.

Table 5.3.3. Labour force participation by sex and age in urban areas.

AGE FEMALE MALE BOTH SEXES

GROUPS All Labour Labour force All Labour Labour force All Labour Labour force

force participation force participation force participation

rate, percent rate, percent rate, percent

15-19 21 761 4 946 23 19 076 4 606 24 40 836 9 552 23

20-24 23 627 14 125 60 20 041 14 829 74 43 668 28 954 66

25-29 23 721 17 420 73 20 084 18 330 91 43 805 35 750 82

30-34 18 740 14 364 77 18 677 17 542 94 37 417 31 905 85

35-39 13 650 10 853 80 14 262 13 546 95 27 912 24 399 87

40-44 9 896 7 783 79 10 807 9 794 91 20 703 17 577 85

45-49 6 111 4 011 66 8 070 7 654 95 14 182 11 664 82

50-54 4 969 2 920 59 6 564 5 989 91 11 533 8 908 77

55-59 3 246 1 199 37 3 526 2 992 85 6 772 4 191 62

60-64 2 428 222 9 2 135 1 106 52 4 563 1 328 29

65+ 5 673 585 10 4 365 1 470 34 10 038 2 055 20

All ages 134 659 78 969 59 129 444 99 685 77 264 103 178 654 68

Note: There is an item non-response of 1.0 % in the age variable which is not presented in the table.
There is a non-response of 1 % concerning labour force participation which is not presented in the table.
Definitions

See Concepts and definitions in the beginning of this chapter and table 5.3.1 .

Rural/Urban: See table 3.1.

The labour force participation in the rural areas is low (48%) compared to the urban

areas (68%).

The labour force participation of females is less than the labour force participation of

males in both rural and urban areas. Female and male participation rates show a greater

difference in the urban areas than in the rural areas.

The labour force participation of females in the older age groups is much higher in the

rural areas compared to the urban areas.

Table 5.4.1. Unemployment by sex and age in Namibia.

AGE FEMALE MALE BOTH SEXES

GROUP Labour Unem- Unem- Labour Unem- Unem- Labour Unem- Unem-

force ployed ployment force ployed ployment force ployed ployment

rate, percent rate, percent rate, percent

15-19 18 188 5 760 32 19 028 5 116 27 37 216 10 876 29

20-24 35 407 12 331 35 33 360 10 396 31 68 767 22 727 33

25-29 36 634 9 942 27 37 135 8 454 23 73 769 18 396 25

30-34 32 532 7 193 22 32 595 5 269 16 65 126 12 461 19

35-39 25 338 3 466 14 25 314 3 359 13 50 651 6 825 13

40-44 17 853 1 986 11 22 304 3 047 14 40 157 5 033 13

45-49 11 826 1 134 10 16 517 1 460 9 28 342 2 594 9

50-54 9 533 1 044 11 13 557 1 452 11 23 090 2 496 11

55-59 5 522 305 6 8 671 674 8 14 193 980 7

60-64 4 510 176 4 6 834 414 6 11 344 591 5

65+ 8 798 188 2 9 160 471 5 17 958 659 4

All ages 207 299 43 752 21 227 379 40 646 18 434 678 84 398 19

Note: There is an item non-response of 0.9 % in the age variable which is not presented in the table.
There is a non-response of 1 % concerning labour force participation which is not presented in the table.
Definitions

SeeConcepts and definitions in the beginning of this chapter.

Unemployment rate in any sex/age group is the number of unemployed divided by the number in labour force within that sex/age group.

The unemployment rate in Namibia is 19 percent.

Females have a somewhat higher unemployment rate than males.

Generally the unemployment rate is high in the younger age groups. The unemployment is

highest in the age group 20-24 for both females and males. Females in the younger age

groups are more unemployed than the males. From the age group 35-39, the

unemployment rate is more equal or even higher for males.

Table 5.4.2. Unemployment by sex and age in rural areas.

AGE FEMALE MALE BOTH SEXES

GROUP Labour Unem- Unem- Labour Unem- Unem- Labour Unem- Unem-

force ployed ployment force ployed ployment force ployed ployment

rate, percent rate, percent rate, percent

15-19 13 243 2 830 21 14 422 2 651 18 27 664 5 481 20

20-24 21 282 5 558 26 18 531 3 739 20 39 813 9 297 23

25-29 19 214 4 322 22 18 805 3 636 19 38 019 7 958 21

30-34 18 168 4 074 22 15 053 2 591 17 33 221 6 666 20

35-39 14 484 1 568 11 11 768 1 956 17 26 252 3 524 13

40-44 10 070 855 8 12 510 1 676 13 22 580 2 530 11

45-49 7 815 579 7 8 863 817 9 16 678 1 397 8

50-54 6 613 572 9 7 568 1 121 15 14 181 1 693 12

55-59 4 324 105 2 5 679 394 7 10 003 499 5

60-64 4 288 144 3 5 728 414 7 10 016 558 6

65+ 8 213 127 2 7 690 293 4 15 903 420 3

All ages 128 331 20 784 16 127 694 19 367 15 256 024 40 151 16

Note: There is an item non-response of 0.7 % in the age variable for Labour force which is not presented in the table.
There is a non-response of 1 % concerning labour force participation which is not presented in the table.

Table 5.4.3. Unemployment by sex and age in urban areas.

AGE FEMALE MALE BOTH SEXES

GROUP Labour Unem- Unem- Labour Unem- Unem- Labour Unem- Unem-

force ployed ployment force ployed ployment force ployed ployment

rate, percent rate, percent rate, percent

15-19 4 946 2 930 59 4 606 2 466 54 9 552 5 395 56

20-24 14 125 6 773 48 14 829 6 657 45 28 954 13 430 46

25-29 17 420 5 621 32 18 330 4 818 26 35 750 10 439 29

30-34 14 364 3 118 22 17 542 2 677 15 31 905 5 796 18

35-39 10 853 1 898 17 13 546 1 402 10 24 399 3 301 14

40-44 7 783 1 131 15 9 794 1 371 14 17 577 2 503 14

45-49 4 011 555 14 7 654 642 8 11 664 1 197 10

50-54 2 920 472 16 5 989 331 6 8 908 803 9

55-59 1 199 201 17 2 992 280 9 4 191 481 11

60-64 222 32 14 1 106 0 0 1 328 32 2

65+ 585 61 10 1 470 179 12 2 055 239 12

All ages 78 969 22 968 29 99 685 21 279 21 178 654 44 247 25

Note: There is an item non-response of 1.3 % in the age variable for Labour force which is not presented in the table.
There is a non-response of 1 % concerning labour force participation which is not presented in the table.
Definitions

See Concepts and definitions in the beginning of this chapter and table 5.4.1 .

Rural/Urban: See table 3.1.

The unemployment rate in the rural areas (16%) is low compared to the urban areas (25

%). The unemployment rate for females and males is almost the same in rural areas but in

urban areas the unemployment rate for females is significantly higher than for males.

The unemployment is highest in the age group 20-24 in the rural areas and in the age

group 15-19 in the urban areas. Up to the age group 30-34 more females are unemployed

in rural areas.

In urban areas more females are unemployed throughout the age groups except for the

age group 65+.

Table 5.5.1. Underemployment by sex and age in Namibia.

AGE FEMALE MALE BOTH SEXES

GROUP Employed Under- Underem- Employed Under- Underem- Employed Under- Underem-
employed ployment employed ployment employed ployment

rate, percent rate, percent rate, percent

15-19 12 429 7 487 60 13 911 5 925 43 26 340 13 412 51

20-24 23 076 13 195 57 22 964 10 843 47 46 040 24 038 52

25-29 26 692 14 634 55 28 681 14 820 52 55 373 29 454 53

30-34 25 339 12 716 50 27 326 13 722 50 52 665 26 438 50

35-39 21 871 12 456 57 21 955 10 905 50 43 827 23 361 53

40-44 15 867 7 478 47 19 257 10 521 55 35 124 17 999 51

45-49 10 692 5 416 51 15 057 6 964 46 25 748 12 380 48

50-54 8 489 4 102 48 12 105 6 037 50 20 594 10 139 49

55-59 5 217 2 792 54 7 996 3 756 47 13 213 6 548 50

60-64 4 334 2 235 52 6 419 3 255 51 10 753 5 490 51

65+ 8 611 4 271 50 8 688 3 582 41 17 299 7 853 45

All ages 163 547 87 178 53 186 733 90 951 49 350 280 178 129 51

See Concepts and definitions in the beginning of this chapter.

The underemployment rate in any sex/age group is the number of underemployed divided by the number of employed within that sex/age

group.

About half of the employed population is underemployed in Namibia.

The underemployment of females is slightly higher than for males.

In the two youngest age groups and in the oldest age group the underemployment is

significantly higher for females than for males.

Table 5.5.2. Underemployment by sex and age in rural areas.

AGE FEMALE MALE BOTH SEXES

GROUP Employed Under- Underem- Employed Under- Underem- Employed Under- Underem-

employed ployment employed ployment employed ployment

rate, percent rate, percent rate, percent

15-19 10 413 6 583 63 11 771 5 052 43 22 184 11 636 52

20-24 15 724 9 311 59 14 792 7 236 49 30 516 16 548 54

25-29 14 892 9 047 61 15 169 7 670 51 30 062 16 717 56

30-34 14 093 7 624 54 12 462 6 918 56 26 555 14 542 55

35-39 12 917 8 276 64 9 811 4 590 47 22 728 12 866 57

40-44 9 215 4 441 48 10 834 6 093 56 20 049 10 535 53

45-49 7 236 4 223 58 8 046 3 997 50 15 281 8 220 54

50-54 6 041 3 124 52 6 447 3 580 56 12 488 6 704 54

55-59 4 219 2 538 60 5 285 2 569 49 9 503 5 107 54

60-64 4 145 2 191 53 5 313 2 874 54 9 458 5 065 54

65+ 8 087 4 166 52 7 397 3 175 43 15 483 7 341 47

All ages 107 546 61 883 58 108 327 53 913 50 215 873 115 797 54

Note: There is an item non-response of 0.7 % in the age variable for employed population which is not presented in the
table.
There is a non-response of 1 % concerning labour force participation which is not presented in the table.
There is a non-response of 3.9 % among the employed concerning underemployment which is not presented in the
table.

Table 5.5.3 Underemployment by sex and age in urban areas.

AGE FEMALE MALE BOTH SEXES

GROUP Employed Under- Underem- Employed Under- Underem- Employed Under- Underem-
employed ployment employed ployment employed ployment

rate, percent rate, percent rate, percent

15-19 2 016 904 45 2 140 873 41 4 156 1 776 43

20-24 7 352 3 883 53 8 172 3 607 44 15 524 7 490 48

25-29 11 799 5 587 47 13 512 7 150 53 25 311 12 737 50

30-34 11 246 5 092 45 14 864 6 804 46 26 110 11 896 46

35-39 8 955 4 180 47 12 144 6 315 52 21 099 10 495 50

40-44 6 651 3 037 46 8 423 4 428 53 15 074 7 465 50

45-49 3 456 1 192 34 7 011 2 967 42 10 467 4 160 40

50-54 2 448 978 40 5 658 2 457 43 8 106 3 435 42

55-59 998 254 25 2 712 1 187 44 3 710 1 441 39

60-64 189 44 23 1 106 381 34 1 295 425 33

65+ 524 105 20 1 291 406 31 1 816 512 28

All ages 56 001 25 295 45 78 406 37 037 47 134 407 62 332 46

Note: There is an item non-response of 1.3 % in the age variable for employed population which is not presented in the
table.
There is a non-response of 1 % concerning labour force participation which is not presented in the table.
There is a non-response of 6.7 % among the employed concerning underemployment which is not presented in the table.
Definitions

SeeConcepts and definitions in the beginning of this chapter and table 5.5.1 .
Rural/Urban: See table 3.1.

The underemployment in the rural areas (54%) is higher than in the urban areas (46%).

The female underemployment is significantly higher than the male underemployment in

the rural areas but this is not the case in the urban areas where the male

underemployment is somewhat higher.

The female underemployment is higher than the male underemployment in most age

groups in the rural areas while the opposite is the case in urban areas.

Table 5.6.1. Combined unemployment and underemployment by sex and age in Namibia.

AGE FEMALE MALE BOTH SEXES

GROUP Labour Combined Combined Labour Combined Combined Labour Combined Combined

force total rate, percent force total rate, percent force total rate, percent

15-19 18 188 13 246 73 19 028 11 041 58 37 216 24 288 65

20-24 35 407 25 526 72 33 360 21 239 64 68 767 46 765 68

25-29 36 634 24 576 67 37 135 23 274 63 73 769 47 850 65

30-34 32 532 19 908 61 32 595 18 991 58 65 126 38 899 60

35-39 25 338 15 922 63 25 314 14 263 56 50 651 30 186 60

40-44 17 853 9 464 53 22 304 13 569 61 40 157 23 032 57

45-49 11 826 6 550 55 16 517 8 424 51 28 342 14 974 53

50-54 9 533 5 146 54 13 557 7 489 55 23 090 12 635 55

55-59 5 522 3 098 56 8 671 4 431 51 14 193 7 528 53

60-64 4 510 2 411 53 6 834 3 669 54 11 344 6 081 54

65+ 8 798 4 459 51 9 160 4 053 44 17 958 8 512 47

NAMIBIA 207 299 130 930 63 227 379 131 597 58 434 678 262 527 60

Note: There is an item non-esponse of 0.9 % in the age variable for employed population which is not presented in the table.
There is a non-response of 1 % concerning labour force participation which is not presented in the table.
There is a non-response of 5.0 % among the employed concerning underemployment which is not presented in the table.
Definitions
See Concepts and definitions in the beginning of this chapter.
Combined total = Combined unemployed and underemployed.
Combined rate in any sex/age group is the combined total of unemployed and underemployed divided by the number in

labour force within that sex/age group.

The percentage of combined unemployed and underemployed out of the labour force

shows the proportion of all persons in the labour force who are available and looking for

work. This ratio can be used as an indicator for demand for work from those who are

available and looking for work. This demand is made up of two groups: One group with

total lack of work (the unemployed) and one group with partial lack of work (the

underemployed).

The combined rate of unemployment and underemployment is about 60 percent in

Namibia which is a very high figure. This means that about 60 percent of the Namibian

labour force are available and looking for (more) work. About one third of this group is

unemployed i.e. without any work while the other two thirds have some employment but

they are underemployed and want more work.

The combined rate of unemployment and underemployment is higher for females than for

males.

The highest combined rates of unemployment and underemployment are observed for

females in the age group 15-29. In this age group the combined unemployment and

underemployment is about 70 percent.

Table 5.6.2. Combined unemployment and underemployment by sex and age in rural

areas.
AGE FEMALE MALE BOTH SEXES

GROUP Labour Combined Combined Labour Combined Combined Labour Combined Combined

force total rate, percent force total rate, percent force total rate, percent

15-19 13 243 9 413 71 14 422 7 703 53 27 664 17 116 62

20-24 21 282 14 869 70 18 531 10 976 59 39 813 25 845 65

25-29 19 214 13 369 70 18 805 11 306 60 38 019 24 674 65

30-34 18 168 11 698 64 15 053 9 510 63 33 221 21 208 64

35-39 14 484 9 844 68 11 768 6 546 56 26 252 16 390 62

40-44 10 070 5 296 53 12 510 7 769 62 22 580 13 065 58

45-49 7 815 4 803 61 8 863 4 814 54 16 678 9 617 58

50-54 6 613 3 696 56 7 568 4 701 62 14 181 8 397 59

55-59 4 324 2 643 61 5 679 2 963 52 10 003 5 606 56

60-64 4 288 2 335 54 5 728 3 288 57 10 016 5 623 56

65+ 8 213 4 293 52 7 690 3 468 45 15 903 7 761 49

All ages 128 331 82 667 64 127 694 73 281 57 256 024 155 948 61

Note: There is an item non-response of 0.7 % in the age variable for labour force which is not presented in the table.
There is a non-response of 1 % concerning labour force participation which is not presented in the table.
There is a non-response of 3.9 % among the employed concerning underemployment which is not presented in the table.

Table 5.6.3. Combined unemployment and underemployment by sex and age in

urban areas.
AGE FEMALE MALE BOTH SEXES

GROUP Labour Combined Combined Labour Combined Combined Labour Combined Combined

force total rate, percent force total rate, percent force total rate, percent

15-19 4 946 3 833 77 4 606 3 338 72 9 552 7 171 75

20-24 14 125 10 656 75 14 829 10 263 69 28 954 20 920 72

25-29 17 420 11 207 64 18 330 11 968 65 35 750 23 176 65

30-34 14 364 8 210 57 17 542 9 481 54 31 905 17 691 55

35-39 10 853 6 079 56 13 546 7 717 57 24 399 13 796 57

40-44 7 783 4 168 54 9 794 5 799 59 17 577 9 967 57

45-49 4 011 1 747 44 7 654 3 610 47 11 664 5 357 46

50-54 2 920 1 450 50 5 989 2 788 47 8 908 4 238 48

55-59 1 199 455 38 2 992 1 467 49 4 191 1 922 46

60-64 222 76 34 1 106 381 34 1 328 458 34

65+ 585 166 28 1 470 585 40 2 055 751 37

All ages 78 969 48 263 61 99 685 58 317 59 178 654 106 579 60

Note: There is an item non -esponse of 1.3 % in the age variable for labour force which is not presented in the table.
There is a non-response of 1 % concerning labour force participation which is not presented in the table.
There is a non-response of 6.7 % among the employed concerning underemployment which is not presented in the table.
Definitions
See Concepts and definitions in the beginning of this chapter and table 5.6.1 .

Rural/Urban: See table 3.1.

The difference in combined unemployment and underemployment between rural and

urban areas is not significant.

The difference in combined rate of unemployment and underemployment between

females and males is higher in rural areas than in urban areas.

Table 5.7. The population by economic activity status, sex, region and

rural/urban areas.

REGION Population Economically active Economically inactive
15 years and

above
population population

Number % Number % Number %

Caprivi 49 960 100 31 568 63 18 039 36

Female 27 995 100 18 056 64 9 878 35

Male 21 965 100 13 511 62 8 161 37

Erongo 47 732 100 33 083 69 14 586 31

Female 23 412 100 13 074 56 10 276 44

Male 24 319 100 20 009 82 4 311 18

Hardap 34 880 100 21 134 61 13 608 39

Female 18 007 100 8 581 48 9 386 52

Male 16 873 100 12 553 74 4 222 25

Karas 35 489 100 21 894 62 13 553 38

Female 17 666 100 7 994 45 9 631 55

Male 17 823 100 13 900 78 3 923 22

Khomas 109 378 100 76 818 70 30 976 28

Female 53 409 100 32 573 61 19 876 37

Male 55 969 100 44 245 79 11 100 20

Kunene 34 916 100 18 957 54 15 919 46

Female 18 725 100 8 610 46 10 074 54

Male 16 191 100 10 347 64 5 845 36

Ohangwena 92 979 100 32 047 34 60 684 65

Female 55 582 100 19 223 35 36 360 65

Male 37 397 100 12 825 34 24 325 65

Okavango 67 379 100 44 613 66 22 287 33

Female 36 082 100 22 973 64 12 748 35

Male 31 298 100 21 639 69 9 539 30

Omaheke 28 514 100 16 662 58 11 618 41

Female 14 715 100 6 418 44 8 106 55

Male 13 799 100 10 245 74 3 512 25

Omusati 82 924 100 31 346 38 50 705 61

Female 50 497 100 18 616 37 31 376 62

Male 32 427 100 12 731 39 19 329 60

Oshana 85 289 100 42 754 50 41 322 48

Female 49 324 100 24 372 49 24 541 50

Male 35 965 100 18 382 51 16 781 47

Oshikoto 64 665 100 28 741 44 35 107 54

Female 35 144 100 14 871 42 19 960 57

Male 29 522 100 13 870 47 15 147 51

Otjozondjupa 61 367 100 35 061 57 25 398 41

Female 30 184 100 11 938 40 17 852 59

Male 31 183 100 23 123 74 7 546 24

NAMIBIA 795 471 100 434 678 55 353 802 44

Female 430 741 100 207 299 48 220 063 51

Male 364 731 100 227 379 62 133 740 37

Rural 531 368 100 256 024 48 271 191 51

Female 296 082 100 128 331 43 166 009 56

Male 235 286 100 127 694 54 105 183 45

Urban 264 103 100 178 654 68 82 611 31

Female 134 659 100 78 969 59 54 054 40

Male 129 444 100 99 685 77 28 557 22

Note: There is a non-response of 1 % concerning labour force participation which is not presented in the table.

Definitions
See Concepts and definitions in the beginning of this chapter.
Region and rural/urban: See table 3.1.

The rural population 15 years and above is about twice the urban population 15 years and

above.

The percentage of economically active persons is significantly lower in rural areas.

Khomas region has the highest and Omaheke region the lowest populations 15 years and

above.

The labour force participation rate is highest in the Khomas region (70%) while

Ohangwena has the lowest labour force participation rate (34%).

Out of the seven regions in the north of Namibia* , Okavango (66%) and Caprivi (63%)

have the highest proportion of economically active. The Kunene, Oshana, Oshikoto,

Omusati and Ohangwena regions have the lowest participation rates out of all regions.

Omusati and Ohangwena regions which are almost completely rural lie at the bottom level

concerning economic activity .

In the six central/southern regions**, Khomas (70%) and Erongo (69%) have the highest

proportion of economically active while the lowest participation rate (57%) is reported for

the Otjozondjupa region.

On the average, the percentage of economically active is significantly higher in the six

central/southern regions than in the seven northern regions.

The female participation in economic activities is significantly lower than the male

participation in economic activities in the six central/southern regions. In the seven

northern regions, on the average, the female participation is still low compared to the

male participation but the difference is not so pronounced. In the Caprivi, Ohangwena,

Omusati and Oshana regions the female participation in economic activities is about the

same as the male participation.

Female participation in economic activities is less than the male participation in both

rural and urban areas.

Female participation in economic activities is highest in the Okavango and Caprivi

regions and lowest in the Ohangwena region. Male participation is highest in the Erongo

region and lowest in the Ohangwena region. Out of the six central/southern regions,

Khomas has the highest female participation.

* Northern regions - Caprivi, Kunene, Ohangwena, Okavango, Omusati, Oshana,

Oshikoto

** Central/southern regions -Erongo, Hardap, Karas, Khomas, Omaheke, Otjozondjupa

Table 5.8. The employed and unemployed by sex, region and

rural/urban areas.

REGION ECONOMICALLY ACTIVE

Labour force Employed Unemployed

Number % Number % Number %

Caprivi 31 568 100 28 350 90 3 218 10

Female 18 056 100 15 941 88 2 115 12

Male 13 511 100 12 409 92 1 103 8

Erongo 33 083 100 24 490 74 8 593 26

Female 13 074 100 8 421 64 4 653 36

Male 20 009 100 16 069 80 3 939 20

Hardap 21 134 100 16 686 79 4 447 21

Female 8 581 100 5 925 69 2 656 31

Male 12 553 100 10 761 86 1 792 14

Karas 21 894 100 17 363 79 4 531 21

Female 7 994 100 6 168 77 1 826 23

Male 13 900 100 11 194 81 2 706 19

Khomas 76 818 100 58 618 76 18 200 24

Female 32 573 100 23 825 73 8 747 27

Male 44 245 100 34 793 79 9 452 21

Kunene 18 957 100 12 469 66 6 487 34

Female 8 610 100 5 098 59 3 512 41

Male 10 347 100 7 371 71 2 975 29

Ohangwena 32 047 100 27 069 84 4 978 16

Female 19 223 100 16 559 86 2 664 14

Male 12 825 100 10 510 82 2 314 18

Okavango 44 613 100 41 833 94 2 780 6

Female 22 973 100 21 547 94 1 427 6

Male 21 639 100 20 287 94 1 353 6

Omaheke 16 662 100 13 583 82 3 079 18

Female 6 418 100 4 763 74 1 654 26

Male 10 245 100 8 820 86 1 425 14

Omusati 31 346 100 22 647 72 8 700 28

Female 18 616 100 14 249 77 4 366 23

Male 12 731 100 8 397 66 4 333 34

Oshana 42 754 100 33 452 78 9 301 22

Female 24 372 100 19 967 82 4 405 18

Male 18 382 100 13 485 73 4 897 27

Oshikoto 28 741 100 24 269 84 4 472 16

Female 14 871 100 12 926 87 1 946 13

Male 13 870 100 11 344 82 2 527 18

Otjozondjupa 35 061 100 29 450 84 5 611 16

Female 11 938 100 8 157 68 3 781 32

Male 23 123 100 21 292 92 1 831 8

NAMIBIA 434 678 100 350 280 81 84 398 19

Female 207 299 100 163 547 79 43 752 21

Male 227 379 100 186 733 82 40 646 18

Rural 256 024 100 215 873 84 40 151 16

Female 128 331 100 107 546 84 20 784 16

Male 127 694 100 108 327 85 19 367 15

Urban 178 654 100 134 407 75 44 247 25

Female 78 969 100 56 001 71 22 968 29

Male 99 685 100 78 406 79 21 279 21

Note: There is a non-response of 1 % concerning labour force participation which is not presented in the table.
Definitions
See Concepts and definitions in the beginning of this chapter.
Region and rural/urban: See table 3.1.

The unemployment in the rural areas (16%) is less than in the urban areas (25%).

The unnemployment is highest in Kunene region (34%) and lowest in the Okavango

region (6%).

Out of the northern regions*, Kunene has the highest unemployment followed by Omusati

and Oshana . The Okavango and Caprivi regions have the lowest unemployment.

Out of the central/southern regions**, Erongo, Hardap, Karas and Khomas have fairly

similar unemployment rates - around 20-25 percent.

The unemployment rate for females and males is almost the same in rural areas but in

urban areas, the unemployment rate for females is significantly higher than for males.

The female unemployment is highest in the Kunene region followed by the Erongo region

while the male unemployment is highest in the Omusati region. The lowest unemployment

is observed in the Okavango region for both females and males.

In all the central southern regions the female unemployment is higher than the male

unemployment. In the northern regions the female unemployment is higher only in

Caprivi and Kunene while the male unemployment is higher in Ohangwena, Omusati,

Oshana and Oshikoto.

* Northern regions - Caprivi, Kunene, Ohangwena, Okavango, Omusati, Oshana,

Oshikoto

** Central/southern regions -Erongo, Hardap, Karas, Khomas, Omaheke, Otjozondjupa

Table 5.9. The underemployed and the combined unemployed and

underemployed by sex, region and rural/urban areas.

REGION Employed Underemployed Labour force Combined unemployed
and underemployed

Number % Number %

Caprivi 28 350 22 094 78 31 568 25 312 80

Female 15 941 13 717 86 18 056 15 832 88

Male 12 409 8 377 68 13 511 9 480 70

Erongo 24 490 13 526 55 33 083 22 119 67

Female 8 421 4 304 51 13 074 8 958 69

Male 16 069 9 222 57 20 009 13 161 66

Hardap 16 686 11 007 66 21 134 15 455 73

Female 5 925 3 503 59 8 581 6 159 72

Male 10 761 7 504 70 12 553 9 296 74

Karas 17 363 10 032 58 21 894 14 564 67

Female 6 168 3 190 52 7 994 5 015 63

Male 11 194 6 842 61 13 900 9 548 69

Khomas 58 618 22 344 38 76 818 40 544 53

Female 23 825 8 578 36 32 573 17 325 53

Male 34 793 13 766 40 44 245 23 218 52

Kunene 12 469 5 997 48 18 957 12 484 66

Female 5 098 2 264 44 8 610 5 776 67

Male 7 371 3 733 51 10 347 6 708 65

Ohangwena 27 069 15 365 57 32 047 20 343 63

Female 16 559 10 071 61 19 223 12 736 66

Male 10 510 5 293 50 12 825 7 607 59

Okavango 41 833 26 163 63 44 613 28 942 65

Female 21 547 16 350 76 22 973 17 777 77

Male 20 287 9 813 48 21 639 11 166 52

Omaheke 13 583 6 330 47 16 662 9 409 56

Female 4 763 2 322 49 6 418 3 977 62

Male 8 820 4 008 45 10 245 5 432 53

Omusati 22 647 8 810 39 31 346 17 510 56

Female 14 249 5 813 41 18 616 10 180 55

Male 8 397 2 997 36 12 731 7 330 58

Oshana 33 452 10 922 33 42 754 20 223 47

Female 19 967 7 187 36 24 372 11 592 48

Male 13 485 3 734 28 18 382 8 631 47

Oshikoto 24 269 12 191 50 28 741 16 663 58

Female 12 926 6 433 50 14 871 8 379 56

Male 11 344 5 758 51 13 870 8 284 60

Otjozondjupa 29 450 13 349 45 35 061 18 960 54

Female 8 157 3 444 42 11 938 7 225 61

Male 21 292 9 905 47 23 123 11 736 51

NAMIBIA 350 280 178 129 51 434 678 262 527 60

Female 163 547 87 178 53 207 299 130 930 63

Male 186 733 90 951 49 227 379 131 597 58

Rural 215 873 115 797 54 256 024 155 948 61

Female 107 546 61 883 58 128 331 82 667 64

Male 108 327 53 913 50 127 694 73 281 57

Urban 134 407 62 332 46 178 654 106 579 60

Female 56 001 25 295 45 78 969 48 263 61

Male 78 406 37 037 47 99 685 58 317 59

Note:There is a non-response of 1 % concerning labour force participation which is not presented in the table.
There is a non-response of 5.0 % among the employed concerning underemployment which is not presented in the
table.
Definitions
See Concepts and definitions in the beginning of this chapter.
Region and rural/urban: See table 3.1.

Underemployment

About half of the employed population is underemployed.

The underemployment is higher in the rural areas (54%) than in the urban areas (46%).

The highest underemployment is observed in the Caprivi region followed by the

Okavango region. The lowest underemployment is in the Oshana region.

Out of the central/southern regions** the highest underemployment is reported from the

Hardap region while the lowest underemployment is in the Khomas region.

More females than males are underemployed in the rural areas while the opposite is the

case in urban areas.

In most cases, the female underemployment rate is high in the northern regions*and low

in the central/southern regions** compared to the male underemployment rate.

The female underemployment is highest in the Caprivi region and lowest in the Oshana

and Khomas regions. The male underemployment is highest in the Hardap region and

lowest in the Oshana region.

Combined unemployment and underemployment

The combined unemployment and underemployment shows the proportion of all persons

in the labour force who are available and looking for work. It can be used as an indicator

for demand for (more) work from those who belong to the Namibian labour force . This

demand is made up of two groups: One group with total lack of work (the unemployed)

and one group with partial lack of work (the underemployed).

The combined unemployment and underemployment in Namibia is about 60 percent. The

percentage is about the same in rural and urban areas.

The combined unemployment and underemployment is highest in the Caprivi region - 80

percent - and lowest in the Oshana region - 47 percent.

Out of the central/southern regions, Hardap records the highest combined unemployment

and underemployment while Khomas records the lowest.

The combined unemployment and underemployment is higher for females than for males

in rural as well as in urban areas.

The combined unemployment and underemployment for females is highest in the Caprivi

region - 88 percent - and lowest in the Khomas region - 53 percent - while for males, the

highest rate is in the Hardap region - 74 percent - and the lowest is in the Okavango and

Khomas regions - 52 percent.

* Northern regions - Caprivi, Kunene, Ohangwena, Okavango, Omusati, Oshana,

Oshikoto

** Central/southern regions -Erongo, Hardap, Karas, Khomas, Omaheke, Otjozondjupa

Table 5.10. The economically inactive population by kind of activity,

sex, region and rural/urban areas.

REGION ECONOMICALLY INACTIVE

Total Student Homemakers Retired old
etc.

Number % Number % Number % Number %
Caprivi 18039 100 10988 61 5155 29 1896 11

Female 9878 100 4386 44 4077 41 1415 14

Male 8161 100 6602 81 1077 13 482 6

Erongo 14586 100 4233 29 5791 40 4562 31

Female 10276 100 2345 23 5348 52 2583 25

Male 4311 100 1888 44 444 10 1979 46

Hardap 13608 100 2298 17 6825 50 4441 33

Female 9386 100 1262 13 5817 62 2308 25

Male 4222 100 1036 25 1008 24 2133 51

Karas 13553 100 1939 14 6918 51 4696 35

Female 9631 100 1026 11 5830 61 2775 29

Male 3923 100 913 23 1089 28 1921 49

Khomas 30976 100 11816 38 11252 36 7907 26

Female 19876 100 6250 31 9382 47 4244 21

Male 11100 100 5566 50 1870 17 3664 33

Kunene 15919 100 3770 24 8964 56 3184 20

Female 10074 100 1765 18 6851 68 1459 14

Male 5845 100 2005 34 2114 36 1726 30

Ohangwena 60684 100 25581 42 27091 45 7956 13

Female 36360 100 13459 37 18395 51 4450 12

Male 24325 100 12122 50 8696 36 3506 14

Okavango 22287 100 7991 36 7367 33 6851 31

Female 12748 100 2935 23 6401 50 3335 26

Male 9539 100 5056 53 966 10 3516 37

Omaheke 11618 100 1022 9 5384 46 5056 44

Female 8106 100 460 6 4621 57 2905 36

Male 3512 100 562 16 763 22 2151 61

Omusati 50705 100 24870 49 17744 35 7980 16

Female 31376 100 13269 42 13211 42 4841 15

Male 19329 100 11601 60 4533 23 3140 16

Oshana 41322 100 20290 49 14748 36 6284 15

Female 24541 100 9960 41 11142 45 3439 14

Male 16781 100 10330 62 3606 21 2845 17

Oshikoto 35107 100 17796 51 12268 35 4827 14

Female 19960 100 8163 41 9091 46 2620 13

Male 15147 100 9633 64 3177 21 2207 15

Otjozondjupa 25398 100 5626 22 13945 55 5702 22

Female 17852 100 3097 17 11618 65 3011 17

Male 7546 100 2529 34 2326 31 2691 36

NAMIBIA 353802 100 138219 39 143454 41 71343 20

Female 220063 100 68376 31 111784 51 39383 18

Male 133740 100 69843 52 31670 24 31960 24

Rural 271191 100 106802 39 110871 41 53011 20

Female 166009 100 52208 31 83949 51 29530 18

Male 105183 100 54594 52 26922 26 23482 22

Urban 82611 100 31417 38 32583 39 18332 22

Female 54054 100 16167 30 27835 51 9854 18

Male 28557 100 15250 53 4748 17 8478 30

Note: There is an item non-response of 0.2 % for the variable activity of the economically inactive
which is not presented in the table.
Definitions
See Concepts and definitions in the beginning of this chapter.
Region and rural/urban: See table 3.1.

The economically inactive population were asked about their activities. If they were

engaged in more than one activity they were classified as belonging to one of these

activities according to a precedence order e.g people who were at the same time retired

and homemakers were classified as retired and people who were at the same time students

and homemakers were classified as students.

About 80 percent of the economically inactive population in Namibia, in rural as well as in

urban areas, are homemakers and students. The rest are retired, old and disabled people.

Caprivi has the highest percentage of students while the lowest is observed in the

Omaheke region.

Generally, the frequency of students is higher in the northern regions* compared to

central southern/regions**. On the other hand, more homemakers and retired and old

people are reported in the central/southern regions.

In all regions a significantly higher frequency of the females are classified as homemakers

while a higher frequency of the males are classified as students. Especially in the

central/southern regions, a higher frequency of the males than the females are classified as

retired and old people.

* Northern regions - Caprivi, Kunene, Ohangwena, Okavango, Omusati, Oshana,

Oshikoto

** Central/southern regions -Erongo, Hardap, Karas, Khomas, Omaheke, Otjozondjupa

Table 5.11. Households by full-time employment equivalents (FEEs), region and rural/urban

areas.

REGION FULL-TIME EMPLOYMENT EQUIVALENTS (FEEs) TOTAL

No economic 0< FEEs <0.5 0.5<= FEEs <1.0 1.0<= FEEs <1.5 1.5<= FEEs <2.0 FEEs
>=2.0

activity

Caprivi Number 1 381 3 473 4 795 2 279 2 051 2 238 16 884

% 8 21 28 14 12 13 100

Erongo Number 2 501 280 1 535 6 649 1 347 4 070 16 611

% 15 2 9 40 8 25 100

Hardap Number 2 316 142 543 4 740 587 3 807 12 521

% 18 1 4 38 5 30 100

Karas Number 1 700 54 545 4 787 449 3 885 11 545

% 15 0 5 41 4 34 100

Khomas Number 3 662 1 235 2 156 10 701 1 883 12 004 34 101

% 11 4 6 31 6 35 100

Kunene Number 3 245 122 305 3 688 386 2 446 10 398

% 31 1 3 35 4 24 100

Ohangwena Number 12 520 1 860 2 817 3 220 1 021 3 208 25 574

% 49 7 11 13 4 13 100

Okavango Number 2 187 4 585 3 312 3 797 2 331 3 707 20 394

% 11 22 16 19 11 18 100

Omaheke Number 1 587 342 381 3 222 224 2 638 9 157

% 17 4 4 35 2 29 100

Omusati Number 10 640 1 004 1 909 3 377 667 3 127 21 822

% 49 5 9 15 3 14 100

Oshana Number 8 136 1 946 2 602 4 765 880 4 307 24 198

% 34 8 11 20 4 18 100

Oshikoto Number 4 942 1 730 2 271 4 751 1 050 3 079 18 795

% 26 9 12 25 6 16 100

Otjozondjupa Number 3 741 559 1 165 9 860 690 5 963 22 827

% 16 2 5 43 3 26 100

NAMIBIA Number 58 557 17 333 24 336 65 837 13 566 54 477 244 827

% 24 7 10 27 6 22 100

Rural Number 48 078 14 097 17 521 38 489 8 430 28 829 161 962

% 30 9 11 24 5 18 100

Urban Number 10 478 3 236 6 815 27 348 5 136 25 648 82 864

% 13 4 8 33 6 31 100

Note: There is an item non-response of 4 % for the variable full-time employment equivalents which is not presented in the
table. Definitions

See Concepts and definitions in the beginning of this chapter.

Full time employment equivalent: 40 hours of employment (by one or more than one of the household members) during a period of seven

days before the interview..
Add the number of hours worked for all employed persons in a household. Divide this total number of hours worked by 40 . If the
total hours are 60 then the full-time employment equivalents are 1.5 (60/40).
Region and rural/urban: See table 3.1.

In 24 percent of the Namibian households no economic activity took place during the week

before the NHIES interview. In 55 percent of the households the economic activity

corresponded to one or more than one full-time employment equivalent. In 22 percent of

the households the economic activity corresponded to two or more than two full-time

employment equivalents.

The economic activity in the households is significantly higher in the urban areas than in

the rural areas. 70 percent of the households have an economic activity corresponding to

one or more than one full-time employment equivalent in the urban areas. In the rural

areas this percentage is 47. The percentage of households with no economic activity is 30

percent in rural areas and 13 percent in urban areas.

The economic activity in the private households is significantly higher in the

central/southern regions** of Namibia than in the northern regions*. In the

central/southern regions more than 70 percent of the households have an economic

activity corresponding to one or more than one full-time employment equivalent. Also in

the Kunene region the economic activity is relatively high. But in the rest of the northern

regions less than 50 percent of the households have an economic activity corresponding to

one or more than one full-time employment equivalent.

* Northern regions - Caprivi, Kunene, Ohangwena, Okavango, Omusati, Oshana,

Oshikoto

** Central/southern regions -Erongo, Hardap, Karas, Khomas, Omaheke, Otjozondjupa

Table 5.12. Households by main source of income, region and rural/urban areas.

REGION MAIN SOURCE OF INCOME TOTAL

Subsistence Wages in Business Pensions Cash

farming cash Remittances

Caprivi Number 7 580 5 506 870 2 022 906 16 884

% 45 33 5 12 5 100

Erongo Number 418 12 092 462 1 885 1 690 16 611

% 3 73 3 11 10 100

Hardap Number 228 8 573 851 1 980 889 12 521

% 2 68 7 16 7 100

Karas Number 268 7 885 810 2 010 474 11 545

% 2 68 7 17 4 100

Khomas Number 87 28 049 2 921 1 907 1 137 34 101

% 0 82 9 6 3 100

Kunene Number 2 350 4 510 1 476 1 341 670 10 398

% 23 43 14 13 6 100

Ohangwena Number 18 209 1 544 587 3 796 1 437 25 574

% 71 6 2 15 6 100

Okavango Number 13 099 4 737 737 1 308 514 20 394

% 64 23 4 6 3 100

Omaheke Number 1 724 4 761 631 1 717 324 9 157

% 19 52 7 19 4 100

Omusati Number 17 071 2 156 507 1 942 84 21 822

% 78 10 2 9 0 100

Oshana Number 13 364 6 169 1 739 2 141 774 24 198

% 55 25 7 9 3 100

Oshikoto Number 9 788 4 427 531 3 483 503 18 795

% 52 24 3 19 3 100

Otjozondjupa Number 863 16 953 1 785 2 071 1 155 22 827

% 4 74 8 9 5 100

NAMIBIA Number 85 050 107 362 13 909 27 602 10 556 244 827

% 35 44 6 11 4 100

Rural Number 83 382 43 474 7 357 21 990 5 421 161 962

% 51 27 5 14 3 100

Urban Number 1 668 63 889 6 551 5 612 5 135 82 864

% 2 77 8 7 6 100

Note: There is a small group Other of the variable Main source of income representing 0.1% of the households. This group
is not presented in the table.
Definition

Region and rural/urban: See table 3.1.

Main source of income: The classification of the households in main source of income is based on the answer to the question What is the

main source of income of this household i.e. what is most important for the wellbeing of the entire household ?.

Wages in cash is the most common main source of income for the Namibian

households. 44 percent of the households report this main source of income. The second

most common main source of income is subsistence farming. 35 percent of the

households report subsistence farming as the main source of income. Among the

remaining 21 percent of the households, 11 percent have pensions, 6 percent have

business and 4 percent have cash remittances as the main source of income.

About 14 000 households have business as main source of income and about 4000 of

these households are commercial farmers.

In urban areas as expected, wages in cash is the predominant main source of income.

Almost 80 percent of the households report wages in cash is the main source of income

in urban areas. On the other hand, subsistence farming is the predominant main source of

income in rural areas. But wages in cash is also common as the main source of income

in rural areas.

With the exception of the Kunene region, subsistence farming is the predominant main

source of income in the northern regions*, while wages in cash is predominant in the

central/southern regions**.

* Northern regions - Caprivi, Kunene, Ohangwena, Okavango, Omusati, Oshana,

Oshikoto

** Central/southern regions -Erongo, Hardap, Karas, Khomas, Omaheke, Otjozondjupa

Table 5.13 Households by main source of income distributed by rural/urban areas

and sex of head of household

RURAL/URBAN MAIN SOURCE OF INCOME TOTAL

Subsistence Wages in Business Pensions Cash

SEX OF HEAD OF farming Cash remittances

HOUSEHOLD

RURAL Number 83 382 43 474 7 357 21 990 5 421 161 962

% 51 27 5 14 3 100

Female Number 40 215 8 760 2 334 11 166 3 463 66 108

% 61 13 4 17 5 100

Male Number 43 167 34 713 5 023 10 824 1 959 95 855

% 45 36 5 11 2 100

URBAN Number 1 668 63 889 6 551 5 612 5 135 82 864

% 2 77 8 7 6 100

Female Number 926 17 519 2 001 2 841 3 617 26 914

% 3 65 7 11 13 100

Male Number 742 46 370 4 550 2 771 1 518 55 950

% 1 83 8 5 3 100

NAMIBIA Number 85 050 107 362 13 909 27 602 10 556 244 827

% 35 44 6 11 4 100

Female Number 41 141 26 279 4 336 14 007 7 080 93 022

% 44 28 5 15 8 100

Male Number 43 909 81 083 9 573 13 595 3 477 151 805

% 29 53 6 9 2 100

Note: There is a small group Other of the variable Main source of income representing 0.1% of the households. This group
is not presented in the table.
Definitions

Rural/Urban: See table 3.1.

Head of household: See table 3.3.

Main source of income: See table 5.12.

In Namibia, subsistence farming is the most common main source of income for female

headed households while wages in cash is the most common main source of income for

male headed households.

Subsistence farming is the major main source of income for both female and male

headed households in rural areas. But wages in cash is much more common as the main

source of income among male headed households in rural areas.

In urban areas wages in cash is predominant as the main source of income for both

female and male headed households. Again, wages in cash is much more common as the

main source of income for male headed households than for female headed households.

More female headed households report pensions and cash remittances as the main

source of income in rural areas as well as in urban areas.

The percentage of female and male headed households who report business as the main

source of income is almost the same in Namibia, in rural areas as well as in urban areas.

Chapter 6. HOUSING AND INFRASTRUCTURE

The housing conditions is an important part of the living conditions of the population. In this

chapter statistics are presented describing in which types of house the Namibian popoulation is

living. The standard of the housing is measured by means of a number of housing standard

indicators like availability of electricity or gas for cooking, of electricity for lighting, the type of

toilet facilities and the distance to drinking water. And, finally, the availability of infrastructure

is presented in the form of distances to clinic/hospital, public transport, local shop and primary

school.

It is important to keep in mind that the opinions of what constitutes good housing conditions

might differ between households and individuals because of differences in habits and taste.

Namibia as a whole

Type of house

The most common type of house of the households in Namibia is the traditional house with

hut(s) and kraal(s). About 50 percent of the Namibian households live in such houses. More

than 35 percent live in modern housing i.e. in detached or semi-detached houses or in flats.

Such houses have a typical high-quality basic construction. Simple dwellings - so called

improvised housing frequently in squatter camps - are the home of 10 percent of the

Namibian households.

(table 6.1)

Housing standard

There is no straightforward relation between the type of house of a household and the housing

standard. Also households living in modern housing might have a low housing standard

according to the used standard indicators.

About three quarters of the Namibian households have no electricity or gas for cooking. The

same frequency of households have no electricity for lighting. Almost 60 percent of the

households use the bush or a bucket as toilet. About 45 percent have no pipe or well for

drinking water within 5 minutes one-way walking distance from the house.

(table 6.9)

Infrastructure

45 percent of the Namibian households have more than 60 minutes one-way walking time to

the nearest clinic/hospital while 40 percent have 30 minutes or less.

28 percent of the Namibian households have more than 60 minutes one-way walking time to

the nearest public transport (for pay) while 60 percent have 30 minutes or less.

Namibia

Lighting without electricity

61 to 94

21 to 60

Bush or bucket as toilet 25%

Karas

Hardap

Khomas

Omaheke

51Erongo

Kunene

Otjozondjupa

Okavango

Caprivi

Oshikoto

Oshana

Ohangwena

Omusati

Under 21

Households without electricity for lighting and with only

bucket or bush as toilet by region. Percent

28 percent of the Namibian households have more than 60 minutes one-way walking time to

the nearest local shop while 62 percent have 30 minutes or less.

23 percent of the Namibian households have more than 60 minutes one-way walking time to

the nearest primary school while 61 percent have 30 minutes or less.

(table 6.17)

Regions and rural/urban areas

Type of house

There are great differences between rural and urban areas. In the rural areas almost three

quarters of the households live in traditional houses and only about 15 percent in modern

housing. In urban areas the frequencies are the opposite in a still more extreme way - about 80

percent of the households live in modern housing and only 3 percent in traditional houses. The

frequency of improvised housing is about the same in rural and urban areas - about 10 percent.

The majority of the households live in traditional houses in the Caprivi, Kunene (only 49 %),

Ohangwena, Okavango, Omusati, Oshana and Oshikoto regions i.e. in the northern regions of

Namibia. In Caprivi, Ohangwena, Okavango and Omusati the frequencies are 85 percent or

higher.

In the central/southern regions - with the exception of the Omaheke region - the majority of the

households live in modern housing.

In the Karas, Omaheke and Otjozondjupa regions more than 20 percent of the households live in

improvised housing.

(table 6.1)

Housing standard

There are great differences in housing standard between rural and urban areas. The housing

standard is much worse in rural areas. As an example, about 80 percent of the households are

using bush or bucket as toilet in rural areas while less than 10 percent in urban areas.

There are also great differences in housing standard between the regions of Namibia. The

Khomas region where the capital Windhoek is situated has, on the average, a significantly better

housing standard than the rest of the regions. And among the rest of the regions the housing

standard is clearly worst in the seven northern regions of Namibia.

(table 6.9)

Infrastructure

As mentioned above 45 percent of the Namibian households have more than 60 minutes one-

way walking time to the nearest clinic/hospital while 40 percent have 30 minutes or less.

The corresponding percentages for rural areas are 65 and 20 and for urban areas 7 and 78

percent.

There are huge differences between regions. In the worst-off region - the Omaheke region - 89

percent of the households have more than 60 minutes one-way walking time to the nearest

clinic/hospital while in the best-off region - the Khomas region - where the capital Windhoek is

situated - the corresponding percentage is 17.

As mentioned above 28 percent of the Namibian households have more than 60 minutes one-

way walking time to the nearest public transport (for pay) while 60 percent have 30 minutes or

less.

The corresponding percentages for rural areas are 39 and 46 and for urban areas 5 and 90

percent.

There are huge differences between regions. In the worst-off region - the Omaheke region - 69

percent of the households have more than 60 minutes one-way walking time to the nearest

public transport (for pay) while in the best-off region - the Khomas region - the corresponding

percentage is 10.

As mentioned above 28 percent of the Namibian households have more than 60 minutes one-

way walking time to the nearest local shop while 62 percent have 30 minutes or less.

The corresponding percentages for rural areas are 43 and 44 and for urban areas 1 and 97

percent.

There are huge differences between regions. In the worst-off regions - the Ohangwena and

Omaheke regions - 55 percent of the households have more than 60 minutes one-way walking

time to the nearest local shop while in the best-off region - the Khomas region - the

corresponding percentage is 3.

As mentioned above 23 percent of the Namibian households have more than 60 minutes one-

way walking time to the nearest primary school while 61 percent have 30 minutes or less.

The corresponding percentages for rural areas are 33 and 49 and for urban areas 3 and 87

percent.

There are huge differences between regions. In the worst-off region - the Omaheke region - 61

percent of the households have more than 60 minutes one-way walking time to the nearest

primary school while in the best-off regions - the Caprivi and Khomas regions the

corresponding percentages are 7 and 9.

(table 6.17)

Sex of head of household

Type of house

The distribution of the households on different types of house are basically the same for female-

headed and male-headed households.

But in rural areas, modern housing - i.e detached and semi-detached houses and flats - are more

common among male-headed households while the female-headed households more often live

in traditional houses.

It is somewhat more common for male-headed households to live in single quarters or

improvised housing.

(table 6.2)

Housing standard

Female headed households have, on the average, a worse housing standard than male headed

households. This is valid for all the studied standard indicators and for rural as well as urban

areas.

(table 6.10)

Infrastructure

There are, on the average, certain differences in the distance from the dwelling of the

household to selected infrastructure facilities like clinic/hospital, public transport, local shop

and primary school depending on the sex of the head of household.

In urban areas the differences are small. But in the rural areas a greater proportion of the male-

headed households than the female-headed households have more than 60 minutes one-way

walking distance to the selected infrastructure facilities. And a greater proportion of the female-

headed households than the male-headed households have 30 minutes or less one-way walking

distance to the same facilities.

Main language of household

Type of house

There are great differences in type of house between language groups.

In households where English, Afrikaans and German are the main languges almost all

households live in modern housing i.e. in detached or semi-detached houses or in flats. Modern

housing is also dominating among households where Damara/Nama is the main language.

Traditional houses are dominating among households where Caprivi (languages), Oshiwambo,

Rukavango and San are the main languages.

Among households where Otjiherero is the main language the types of house are more

differentiated. Almost 50 percent of the households live in modern housing while about 25

percent of the households live in traditional houses and another 25 percent live in improvised

housing.

About 25 percent of the households where Damara/Nama, Otjiherero and San are the main

languages live in improvised housing.

(table 6.3)

Housing standard

There are great differences in housing standard between language groups.

Households where English, Afrikaans or German is the main language have, on the average, a

good housing standard in comparison with households where Caprivi, Damara/Nama,

Oshiwambo, Otjiherero, Rukavango or San is the main language.

Households where English or German is the main language have,on the average, the best

housing standard according to the studied standard indicators like availability of electricity,

toilet facilities and distance to drinking water. The worst housing standard is to be found in

households where Caprivi, Oshiwambo, Rukavango and San are the main languages.

(table 6.11)

Infrastructure

Households where English is the main language are, on the average, best-off concerning

distance to selected infrastructure facilities like clinic/hospital, public transport, local shop and

primary school. Only 10 percent or less of the English speaking households have more than 60

minutes one-way walking distance to the selected facilities. Also households where Africaans

and German are the main languages are in a relatively good position.

On the average, the San people are worst-off. 86 percent of the households have a one-way

walking distance of 60 minutes or more to the nearest clinic/hospital and 40 - 50 percent of the

households have a one-way walking distance of 60 minutes or more to public transport, local

shop and primary school. Also the other language groups have large proportions of households

with long distances to one or more of the selected facilities. Among the households where

Caprivi, Damara/Nama, Oshiwambo or Otjiherero is the main language 45-55 percent of the

households have 60 or more minutes one-way walking distance to the nearest clinic/hospital.

(6.19)

Household composition

Household type

There is no very clear correlation between the composition (type) of the household and the type

of house of the household. But among single person households, modern housing - i.e. detached

or semi-detached houses or flats - are significantly more common if the single persons are

alone, with one child or with non-relatives. For the household types of couples a similar picture

is valid but it is not so pronounced.

As expected, settlement in single quarters is most common within single person households

who are alone.

(table 6.4)

Housing standard

There is no clear relation between household composition and housing standard. But single

persons and couples who are alone or with one child and single persons with non-relatives have,

on the average, a slightly better housing standard than the rest of the houshold types.

(table 6.12)

Infrastructure

The correlation between household composition and the distance to infrastructure facilities like

clinic/hospital, public transport, local shop and primary school seems to be small.

(table 6.20)

Highest level of educational attainment of the head of household

Type of house

There is a clear correlation between the level of education of the head of household and the type

of house of the household. The higher the education, the more frequent the households live in

modern housing i.e. in detached or semi-detached houses or in flats. The lower the education,

the more frequent the households live in traditional houses or in improvised housing.

(table 6.5)

Housing standard

There is a clear correlation between the level of education of the head of household and the

housing standard of the household. For example, in households where the head of household

has no formal education about 95 percent of the households have no electricity for cooking or

for lighting. The same percentage in households where the head of household has some tertiary

education is about 20 percent.

(table 6.13)

Infrastructure

There is a strong correlation between the education level of the head of household and the

distance to infrastructure facilities. The higher the education the shorter the distance to

infrastructure facilities like clinic/hospital, public transport, local shop and primary school.

(table 6.21)

Main source of income

Type of house

The dominating type of house for households where the main source of income is subsistence

farming is the traditional house. Also the majority of households where the main source of

income is pension live in traditional houses. Modern housing is dominating among households

where the main source of income is wages in cash or business. But more than 30 percent of the

households where business is the main source of income live in traditional houses.

(table 6.6)

Housing standard

Households where subsistence farming is the main source of income have the lowest housing

standard according to the studied housing indicators. For example, almost 100 percent of these

households have no electricity for cooking or lighting and about 90 percent are using bush or

bucket as toilet. On the average, the housing standard is highest in households where the main

source of income is wages in cash.

85 - 90 percent of the households where pension is the main source of income have no

electricity for cooking or lighting. And the only toilet facility is the bush or a bucket for 70

percent of these households. More than 50 percent of the households of pensioners have 5

minutes or more one-way walking distance to the nearest drinking water supply.

(table 6.14)

Infrastructure

Households where the main source of income is subsistence farming are, on the average, worst-

off concerning the distance to clinic/hospital, public transport and local shop. But concerning

the distance to primary school their situation is not worse than for other households.

Also among households where the main source of income is business and pensions a

relatively large percent of the households have more than 60 minutes one-way walking time to

the nearest clinic/hospital, public transport and local shop.

Households, where the main source of income is wages in cash and cash remittances, have,

on the average, a somewhat better situation concerning the distances to the studied

infrastructure facilities.

(table 6.22)

Number of full-time employment equivalents in the household

Type of house

Modern housing - i.e detached or semi-detached house or flat - is significantly more common if

the total economic activity of the household members corresponds to at least one full-time

employment equivalent (one full-time employment equivalent means that the employment

corresponds to one full-time employed person but the employment might be distributed on more

than one household member). If the total economic activity in the household is less than one

full-time employment equivalent then the dominating type of house is the traditional house.

The frequency of improvised housing does not seem to decrease in any significant way with

increasing economic activity in the household.

(table 6.7)

Housing standard

On the whole, there is a clear relation between the economic activity of the household and the

housing standard of the household. The lower the economic activity the lower the housing

standard.

(table 6.15)

Infrastructure

There is no very clear correlation between the economic activity of the household and the

distance to infrastructure facilities like clinic/hospital, public transport, local shop and primary

school.

But, on the average, it seems as if households without any economic activity are worse-off

concerning distances to the studied infrastructure facilities than households where there are

economically employed household members.

(table 6.23)

Economic standard

Percentile groups are frequently used to illustrate the skewness of the distribution of economic

standard in the population. The percentile groups are defined from the adjusted per capita

income of the private household (see the beginning of chapter 8 and table 8.1.2) . The adjusted

per capita income of the household is used as a basic indicator of economic standard in this

report.

Type of house

There is a strong correlation between the economic standard of a household and the type of

house of the household. The higher the economic standard - i.e the higher percentile group the

household belongs to - the more households live in modern housing - i.e. a detached or semi-

detached house or flat.

On the other hand, the lower the economic standard of the households the more households live

in traditional houses or in improvised housing.

(table 6.8)

Housing standard

There is a strong correlation between the economic standard of a household and the housing

standard of the household. The higher the economic standard - i.e the higher percentile group

the household belongs to - the higher the housing standard.

On the other hand, the lower the economic standard of the households the lower the housing

standard.

For example, among the 10 percent of the households who have the highest economic standard

only about 10 percent do not have electricity for cooking and lighting. But among the 25 percent

of the households having the lowest economic standard almost no household has electricity for

cooking or lighting.

(table 6.16)

Infrastructure

There is a clear correlation between economic standard and distance to infrastructure facilities

like clinic/hospital, public transport, local shop and primary school. The higher the economic

standard the shorter the distance.

For example, among the 10 percent of the households who have the highest economic standard

only about 10 percent have more than 60 minutes one-way walking distance to the nearest local

shop. But among the 25 percent of the households having the lowest economic standard 38

percent have more than 60 minutes one-way walking distance to the nearest local shop. .

(table 6.24)

Table 6.1. Households by type of house, region and rural/urban areas. Percent.

REGION TYPE OF HOUSE TOTAL Number

Detached Semi- Flat Mobile Traditional Single Improvised of

house detached home house, quarters housing Households

houses hut/kraal
Caprivi 9 0 1 1 87 2 0 100 16 884

Erongo 51 11 4 0 9 12 13 100 16 611

Hardap 82 1 0 2 2 0 12 100 12 521

Karas 73 0 3 0 0 2 21 100 11 545

Khomas 74 6 6 0 0 5 9 100 34 101

Kunene 37 1 5 0 49 0 9 100 10 398

Ohangwena 2 0 0 0 97 0 0 100 25 574

Okavango 6 0 0 0 92 0 2 100 20 394

Omaheke 34 6 3 2 11 5 38 100 9 157

Omusati 3 1 0 1 93 0 1 100 21 822

Oshana 15 1 1 0 70 4 7 100 24 198

Oshikoto 12 4 2 0 75 1 5 100 18 795

Otjozondjupa 38 8 2 3 8 12 29 100 22 827

NAMIBIA 32 3 2 1 49 3 10 100 244 827

Rural 12 2 0 1 72 1 10 100 161 962

Urban 70 5 6 0 3 8 8 100 82 864

Note: The column Number of households has been added to the table to facilitate the calculation of absolute number of each
type of house .
Definition

Region and Rural/Urban: See table 3.1.

Type of house: For definitional details see the NHIES administrative and technical report, annex 2, Interviewers Instruction Manual. See

also Form I in annex 1 of the same report.

One out of two households in Namibia lives in a traditional house. More than 35 percent

live in modern housing i.e. in detached or semi-detached houses or in flats. Simple

dwellings - so called improvised housing - are the homes of 10 percent of the Namibian

households.

There are great differences between rural and urban areas. In the rural areas almost

three quarters of the households live in traditional houses and only about 15 percent in

modern housing. In urban areas the frequencies are the opposite in a still more extreme

way - about 80 percent of the households live in modern housing and only 3 percent in

traditional houses. The frequency of improvised housing is about the same in rural and

urban areas - 10 percent.

The majority of the households live in traditional houses in the Caprivi, Kunene

(only 49 %) , Ohangwena, Okavango, Omusati, Oshana and Oshikoto regions i.e. in the

northern regions of Namibia. In Caprivi, Ohangwena, Okavango and Omusati the

frequencies are 85 percent or higher.

In the central/southern regions - with the exception of the Omaheke region - the majority

of the households live in modern housing.

In the Karas, Omaheke and Otjozondjupa regions more than 20 percent of the households

live in improvised housing.

Table 6.2. Households by type of house, urban, rural and sex of head of household.

Percent.

RURAL/URBAN TYPE OF HOUSE TOTAL Number

SEX OF HEAD OF Detached Semi- Flat Mobile Traditional Single Improvised of
HOUSEHOLD house detached home house, quarters housing Households

houses hut/kraal
Rural

Female 5 0 1 0 86 0 8 100 66 108

Male 18 4 0 1 63 2 12 100 95 855

Total 12 2 0 1 72 1 10 100 161 962

Urban

Female 66 7 8 1 3 5 10 100 26 914

Male 71 4 5 0 3 9 7 100 55 950

Total 70 5 6 0 3 8 8 100 82 864

NAMIBIA

Female 23 2 3 0 62 2 8 100 93 022

Male 38 4 2 1 41 5 11 100 151 805

Total 32 3 2 1 49 3 10 100 244 827

Note: The column Number of households has been added to the table to facilitate the calculation of absolute number of each
type of house .
Definitions

Rural/Urban: See table 3.1.

Head of household: See table 3.3.

Type of house: See table 6.1.

The distribution of the households on different types of houses are basically the same for

female-headed and male-headed households.

But in rural areas, modern housing - i.e detached and semi-detached houses and flats - are

more common among male-headed households while the female-headed households more

often live in traditional houses.

It is somewhat more common for male-headed households to live in single quarters or

improvised housing.

Table 6.3. Households by type of house and main language spoken. Percent.

MAIN TYPE OF HOUSE TOTAL Number

LANGUAGE Detached Semi- Flat Mobile Traditional Single Improvised of
house detached home house, quarters housing Households

houses hut/kraal

English 84 0 12 0 2 1 1 100 3 842

Afrikaans 85 2 7 1 1 1 4 100 31 207

Caprivi 10 0 2 1 85 2 0 100 15 401

Damara/Nama 55 10 1 1 5 2 26 100 34 154

German 82 7 12 0 0 0 0 100 3 837

Oshiwambo 12 2 1 0 73 6 6 100 106 987

Otjiherero 39 6 2 1 27 2 22 100 22 375

Rukavango 8 1 0 1 87 0 3 100 21 233

San 9 9 0 2 51 5 23 100 3 551

Tswana 62 4 4 0 11 8 11 100 1 020

Other 45 4 14 0 12 0 25 100 951

ALL LANGUAGES 32 3 2 1 49 3 10 100 244 827

Note: The column Number of households has been added to the table to facilitate the calculation of absolute number of each
type of house .
Note: There is an item non-response of 0.1 % in the household main language variable which is not presented in the table.
Definitions

Main language: See table 3.4.

Type of house: See table 6.1.

There are great differences in type of house between language groups.

In households where English, Afrikaans and German are the main languages almost all

households live in modern housing i.e. in detached or semi-detached houses or in flats.

Modern housing is also dominating among households where Damara/Nama is the main

language.

Traditional houses are dominating among households where Caprivi, Oshiwambo,

Rukavango and San are the main languages.

Among households where Otjiherero is the main language the types of house are more

differentiated. Almost 50 percent of the households live in modern housing while about 25

percent of the households live in traditional houses and another 25 percent live in

improvised housing.

About 25 percent of the households where Damara/Nama, Otjiherero and San are the

main languages live in improvised housing.

Table 6.4. Households by type of house and household composition. Percent.

HOUSEHOLD TYPE OF HOUSE TOTAL Number

COMPOSITION Detached Semi- Flat Mobile Traditional Single Improvised of

house detached home house, quarters housing Households

houses hut/kraal
Single person
- Alone 30 5 10 3 21 14 16 100 21 183

- With 1 own child 36 5 5 1 36 2 15 100 4 156

- With more than 1 own child 21 1 1 1 69 1 6 100 15 273

- With extended family 23 2 2 0 62 3 8 100 68 476

- With non-relatives 40 6 2 0 23 8 21 100 11 224

Couple

- Alone 43 8 5 2 22 3 17 100 12 698

- With 1 own child 55 4 2 0 26 3 11 100 10 557

- With more than 1 own child 43 3 1 1 45 2 5 100 34 053

- With extended family 30 2 1 0 58 1 8 100 56 689

- With non-relatives 37 5 0 0 37 2 18 100 10 209

NAMIBIA 32 3 2 1 49 3 10 100 244 827
Note: The column Number of households has been added to the table to facilitate the calculation of absolute number of each
type of house .
Note: There is an item non-response of 0.1 % in the household composition variable which is not presented in the table.
Definitions

Household composition: See table 3.5.

Type of house: See table 6.1.

There is no very clear correlation between the composition (type) of the household and the

type of house of the household.

But among single person households, modern housing - i.e. detached or semi-detached

houses or flats - are significantly more common if the single persons are alone, with one

child or with non-relatives. Of these household types 45 percent or more of the

households live in modern housing. On the other hand, if the single persons are with more

than one child or with extended family the corresponding percentages are about 25

percent. The other side of this picture is that traditional housing is much more common in

the last two household types.

For the household types of couples a similar picture is valid but it is not so pronounced.

As expected, settlement in single quarters are most common within single person

households who are alone.

Table 6.5 Households by type of house and highest level of educational attainment of head

of household. Percent.

EDUCATIONAL TYPE OF HOUSE TOTAL Number

ATTAINMENT OF Detached Semi- Flat Mobile Traditional Single Improvised of
HEAD OF house detached home house, quarters housing Households

HOUSEHOLD houses hut/kraal
No Formal Education 14 3 0 1 66 3 14 100 72 742

Primary Education 20 3 1 1 61 4 9 100 78 708

Secondary Education 54 3 5 1 26 4 7 100 76 524

Tertiary Education 72 3 8 0 14 1 1 100 13 529

NAMIBIA 32 3 2 1 49 3 10 100 244 827

Note: The column Number of households has been added to the table to facilitate the calculation of absolute number of each
type of house .
Note: There is a non-response in the variable highest educational attainment of the household corresponding to 1 percent of the
households which is not presented in the table.
Definitions

Highest level of educational attainment: See table 4.3.1.

Head of household: See table 3.3.

Type of house: See table 6.1.

There is a clear correlation between the level of education of the head of household and

the type of a house of the household. The higher the education, the more frequent the

households live in modern housing i.e. in detached or semi-detached houses or in flats.

The lower the education, the more frequent the households live in traditional houses or in

improvised housing

Table 6.6. Households by type of house and main source of income. Percent.

MAIN SOURCE OF TYPE OF HOUSE TOTAL Number

INCOME Detached Semi- Flat Mobile Traditional Single Improvised of
house detached home house, quarters housing Households

houses hut/kraal
Subsistence farming 2 0 0 0 94 0 3 100 85 050

Wages in cash 56 5 4 1 14 7 12 100 107 362

Business 44 3 3 0 33 3 15 100 13 909

Pension 22 2 1 0 59 1 14 100 27 602

Cash remittances 32 8 0 0 37 3 19 100 10 556

NAMIBIA 32 3 2 1 49 3 10 100 244 827

Note: The column Number of households has been added to the table to facilitate the calculation of absolute number of each
type of house .
Note : There is a small group Other of the variable Main source of income representing 0.1 % of the households. This group is
not presented in the table.
Definitions

Main source of income: See table5.12.

Type of house: See table 6.1.

The dominating type of house for households where the main source of income is

subsistence farming is the traditional house. Also the majority of households where the

main source of income is pension live in traditional houses. Modern housing is dominating

among households where the main source of income is wages in cash or business. But

more than 30 percent of the households where business is the main source of income live

in traditional houses.

100

Table 6.7. Households by type of house and number of full-time employment

equivalents (FEEs) .Percent.
FULL-TIME TYPE OF HOUSE TOTAL Number

EMPLOYMENT Detached Semi- Flat Mobile Traditional Single Improvised of
EQUIVALENTS house detached home house, quarters housing Households

(FEEs) houses hut/kraal

No economic activity 15 2 1 0 69 2 11 100 58 557

0<FEEs<0.5 12 0 1 0 81 2 4 100 17 333

0.5<=FEEs<1.0 21 2 3 0 63 3 8 100 24 336

1.0<=FEEs<1.5 41 6 5 2 29 6 12 100 65 837

1.5<=FEEs<2.0 34 3 0 0 52 2 10 100 13 566

FEEs>=2.0 51 3 1 1 32 3 9 100 54 477

Namibia 32 3 2 1 49 3 10 100 244 827

Note: The column Number of households has been added to the table to facilitate the calculation of absolute number of each
type of house .
Note : There is an item non-response of 4 % in the variable full-time employment equivalents which is not presented in the table.
Definitions

Full-time employment equivalents(FEEs): See the beginning of chapter 5 and table5.11.

Type of house: See table 6.1.

Modern housing - i.e detached or semi-detached house or flat - is significantly more

common if the total economic activity of the household members corresponds to at least

one full-time employed person (the employment might be distributed on more than one

household member). If the total economic activity in the household is less than one full-

time employment equivalent then the dominating type of house is the traditional house.

The frequency of improvised housing does not seem to decrease in any significant way

with increasing economic activity in the household.

101

Table 6.8. Households by type of house and household percentile groups. Percent.

PERCENTILE TYPE OF HOUSE TOTAL Number

GROUPS Detached Semi- Flat Mobile Traditional Single Improvised of
house detached home house, quarters housing Households

houses hut/kraal

APCI <P90 27 3 1 1 54 3 11 100 220 346

APCI >=P90 78 3 10 1 2 4 2 100 24 481

NAMIBIA 32 3 2 1 49 3 10 100 244 827

APCI <P25 8 2 0 1 73 1 15 100 61 257

P25<= APCI <P50 17 2 0 1 68 2 9 100 61 234

P50<= APCI <P75 34 5 1 1 43 5 11 100 61 168

P75<= APCI <P90 61 4 5 0 17 8 5 100 36 687

P90<= APCI <P95 75 2 11 2 2 5 2 100 12 286

P95<= APCI <P99 79 3 10 1 2 4 2 100 9 770

APCI >=P99 92 3 4 2 0 0 0 100 2 425

Note: The column Number of households has been added to the table to facilitate the calculation of absolute number of each
type of house .
Definitions

Percentile groups: The percentile groups are defined from the adjusted per capita income (APCI) . See the beginning of chapter 8 and

table 8.1.2.

Type of house: See table 6.1.

Percentile groups are frequently used to illustrate the skewness of the distribution of

economic standard in the population. The percentile groups in the table are defined from

the adjusted per capita income of the private household (see the beginning of chapter 8

and table 8.1.2) . The adjusted per capita income of the household is used as a basic

indicator of economic standard in this report.

There is a strong correlation between the economic standard of a household and the type

of house of the household. The higher the economic standard - i.e the higher percentile

group the household belongs to - the more households live in modern housing - i.e.

detached or semi-detached house or flat.

On the other hand, the lower the economic standard of the households the more

households live in traditional houses or in improvised housing.

102

Table 6.9. Households by selected housing indicators, region, rural and

urban areas. Percent.

REGION Cooking Lighting Bush or *No pipe Number
without without bucket or well of
electricity electricity as toilet within Households
or gas 5 minutes

Caprivi 94 96 90 60 16 884
Erongo 32 37 21 14 16 611
Hardap 57 59 31 15 12 521
Karas 47 54 25 10 11 545
Khomas 18 21 7 4 34 101
Kunene 83 82 64 46 10 398
Ohangwena 100 99 94 80 25 574
Okavango 96 95 88 75 20 394
Omaheke 84 85 51 23 9 157
Omusati 99 98 83 85 21 822
Oshana 88 90 65 62 24 198
Oshikoto 87 85 72 64 18 795
Otjozondjupa 78 63 41 18 22 827

Namibia 73 73 57 45 244 827

Rural 95 95 81 66 161 962
Urban 28 29 8 3 82 864
Note: The column Number of households has been added to the table to facilitate the calculation of absolute numbers.
Definitions

Region and Rural/Urban: See table 3.1.

Housing indicators: For definitional details see the NHIES administrative and technical report, annex 2, Interviewers Instruction Manual.

See also Form I in annex 1 of the same report.

* Within 5 minutes refers to one-way walking distance.

About three quarters of the Namibian households have no electricity or gas for cooking.

The same frequency of households have no electricity for lighting. Almost 60 percent of

the households use the bush or a bucket as toilet. About 45 percent have no pipe or well

for drinking water within 5 minutes one-way walking distance from the house.

There are great differences in housing standard between rural and urban areas. The

housing standard is much worse in rural areas.

There are also great differences in housing standard between the regions of Namibia. The

Khomas region where the capital Windhoek is situated has, on the average, a significantly

better housing standard than the rest of the regions. And among the rest of the regions the

housing standard is clearly worst in the seven northern regions of Namibia.

103

Table 6.10. Households by selected housing indicators, rural/urban areas and sex of head

of household. Percent.

RURAL/URBAN Cooking Lighting Bush or * No pipe Number
SEX OF HEAF OF without without bucket or well of
HOUSEHOLD electricity electricity as toilet within Households

or gas 5 minutes

Rural

Female 98 98 88 75 66 108
Male 94 93 77 59 95 855
Total 95 95 81 66 161 962

Urban

Female 31 36 9 4 26 914
Male 27 26 7 3 55 950
Total 28 29 8 3 82 864

NAMIBIA

Female 79 80 65 54 93 022
Male 69 68 51 39 151 805
Total 73 73 57 45 244 827
Note: The column Number of households has been added to the table to facilitate the calculation of absolute numbers.
Definitions

Rural/Urban: See table 3.1.

Head of household: See table 3.3.

Housing indicators: For definitional details see the NHIES administrative and technical report, annex 2, Interviewers Instruction Manual.

See also Form I in annex 1 of the same report.

* Within 5 minutes refers to one-way walking distance.

Female headed households have, on the average, a worse housing standard than male

headed households. This is valid for all the housing indicators in the table and for rural as

well as urban areas.

104

Table 6.11. Households by selected housing indicators and main language spoken in

household. Percent.

MAIN Cooking Lighting Bush or No pipe Number
LANGUAGE without without bucket or well of

electricity electricity as toilet within 5 Households
or gas minutes

English 3 5 2 0 3 842
Afrikaans 16 20 6 3 31 207
Caprivi 93 94 87 55 15 401
Damara/Nama 72 69 39 18 34 154
German 5 0 0 0 3 837
Oshiwambo 88 87 70 64 106 987
Otjiherero 68 69 57 36 22 375
Rukavango 95 93 86 72 21 233
San 97 97 79 53 3 551
Tswana 38 47 11 0 1 020
Other 42 46 37 20 951

NAMIBIA 73 73 57 45 244 827
Note: The column Number of households has been added to the table to facilitate the calculation of absolute numbers.
Note: There is an item non-response of 0.1 % in the household main language variable which is not presented in the table.
Definitions

Main language: See table 3.4.

Housing indicators: For definitional details see the NHIES administrative and technical report, annex 2, Interviewers Instruction Manual.

See also Form I in annex 1 of the same report.

* Within 5 minutes refers to one-way walking distance.

There are great differences in housing standard between different language groups.

Households where English, Afrikaans or German is the main language have, on the

average, a good housing standard in comparison with households where Caprivi,

Damara/Nama, Oshiwambo, Otjiherero, Rukavango or San is the main language.

Households where English or German is the main language have, on the average, the best

housing standard according to the indicators in the table. The worst housing standard is

to be found in households where Caprivi, Oshiwambo, Rukavango and San are the main

languages.

105

Table 6.12. Households by selected housing indicators and household composition.

Percent.

HOUSEHOLD Cooking Lighting Bush or *No pipe Number
COMPOSITION without without bucket or well of

electricity electricity as toilet within 5 Households
or gas minutes

Single person

- Alone 65 58 42 24 21 183
- With 1 own child 65 72 51 34 4 156
- With more than 1 own child 81 82 73 63 15 273
- With extended family 82 83 66 55 68 476
- With non-relatives 65 67 41 30 11 224

Couple

- Alone 55 58 39 21 12 698
- With 1 own child 57 55 40 22 10 557
- With more than 1 own child 61 62 51 38 34 053
- With extended family 78 77 61 51 56 689
- With non-relatives 74 76 49 45 10 209

NAMIBIA 73 73 57 45 244 827
Note: The column Number of households has been added to the table to facilitate the calculation of absolute numbers.
Definitions

Household composition: See table 3.5.

Housing indicators: For definitional details see the NHIES administrative and technical report, annex 2, Interviewers Instruct ion Manual.

See also Form I in annex 1 of the same report.

* Within 5 minutes refers to one-way walking distance.

There is no clear relation between household composition and housing standard. But

single persons and couples who are alone or with one child and single persons with non-

relatives have, on the average, a slightly better housing standard than the rest of the

houshold types.

106

Table 6.13. Households by selected housing indicators and highest level of educational

attainment of the head of household. Percent.

EDUCATIONAL Cooking Lighting Bush or *No pipe Number
ATTAINMENT OF without without bucket or well of
HEAD OF HOUSEHOLD electricity electricity as toilet within 5 Households

gas minutes

No Formal Education 96 95 81 61 72 742
Primary Education 88 85 67 56 78 708
Secondary Education 45 47 31 23 76 524
Tertiary Education 17 20 13 9 13 529

NAMIBIA 73 73 57 45 244 827
Note: The column Number of households has been added to the table to facilitate the calculation of absolute numbers.
Note: There is a non-response in the variable highest educational attainment of the household corresponding to 1 percent of the
households which is not presented in the table.
Definitions

Highest level of educational attainment: See table 4.3.1.

Head of household: See table 3.3.

Housing indicators: For definitional details see the NHIES administrative and technical report, annex 2, Interviewers Instruction Manual.

See also Form I in annex 1 of the same report.

* Within 5 minutes refers to one-way walking distance.

There is a clear correlation between the level of education of the head of household and

the housing standard of the household. For example, in households where the head of

household has no formal education about 95 percent of the households have no electricity

for cooking or for lighting. The same percentages in households where the head of

household has some tertiary education is about 20 percent.

107

Table 6.14. Households by selected housing indicators and main source of income.

Percent.

MAIN SOURCE OF Cooking Lighting Bush or *No pipe Number
INCOME without without bucket or well of

electricity electricity as toilet within 5 Households
or gas minutes

Subsistence farming 100 99 91 81 85 050
Wages in cash 49 49 29 16 107 362
Business 60 60 36 32 13 909
Pension 88 85 70 54 27 602
Cash remittances 76 77 48 36 10 556

NAMIBIA 73 73 57 45 244 827
Note: The column Number of households has been added to the table to facilitate the calculation of absolute numbers.
Note : There is a small group Other of the variable Main source of income representing 0.1 % of the households.
This group is not presented in the table.
Definitions

Main source of income: See table5.12.

Housing indicators: For definitional details see the NHIES administrative and technical report, annex 2, Interviewers Instruction Manual.

See also Form I in annex 1 of the same report.

* Within 5 minutes refers to one-way walking distance.

Households where subsistence farming is the main source of income have the lowest

housing standard according to the housing indicators presented in the table. On the

average , the housing standard is highest in households where the main source of income

is wages in cash.

85 - 90 percent of the households where pension is the main source of income have no

electricity for cooking or lighting. And the only toilet facility is the bush or a bucket for 70

percent of these households. More than 50 percent of the households of pensioners have 5

minutes or more one-way walking distance to the nearest drinking water supply.

108

Table 6.15. Households by selected housing indicators and number of full-time

employment equivalents (FEEs) in the household. Percent.

FULL-TIME Cooking Lighting Bush or *No pipe Number
EMPLOYMENT without without bucket or well of
EQUIVALENTS electricity electricity as toilet within 5 Households

(FEEs) gas minutes

No economic activity 89 89 74 64 58 557
0<FEEs<0.5 90 88 81 62 17 333
0.5<=FEEs<1.0 77 81 66 54 24 336
1.0<=FEEs<1.5 65 63 43 30 65 837
1.5<=FEEs<2.0 71 72 61 41 13 566
FEEs>=2.0 56 57 40 31 54 477

NAMIBIA 73 73 57 45 244 827
Note: The column Number of households has been added to the table to facilitate the calculation of absolute numbers.
Note : There is an item non-response of 4 % in the variable full-time employment equivalents which is not presented in the table.
Definitions

Full-time employment equivalents(FEEs): See the beginning of chapter 5 and table5.11.

Housing indicators: For definitional details see the NHIES administrative and technical report, annex 2, Interviewers Instruction Manual.

See also Form I in annex 1 of the same report.

* Within 5 minutes refers to one-way walking distance.

There is a clear relation between the economic activity of the household and the housing

standard of the household. The lower the economic activity, the lower the housing

standard. To a certain extent, the households where the economic activity corresponds to

between 1.5 - 2 full-time employed persons are breaking this pattern.

109

Table 6.16. Percent of households by selected housing indicators and household

percentile groups.

PERCENTILE Cooking Lighting Bush or No pipe Number
GROUPS without without bucket or well of

electricity electricity as toilet within 5 Households
or gas minutes

APCI<P90 80 79 62 49 220 346
APCI >=P90 11 11 4 2 24 481

NAMIBIA 73 73 57 45 244 827

APCI<P25 98 97 84 67 61 257
P25<= APCI <P50 92 93 75 61 61 234
P50<= APCI <P75 74 74 53 40 61 168
P75<= APCI <P90 36 37 21 16 36 687
P90<= APCI <P95 12 12 5 3 12 286
P95<= APCI <P99 9 9 4 2 9 770
APCI >=P99 11 14 0 0 2 425
Note: The column Number of households has been added to the table to facilitate the calculation of absolute numbers.
Definitions

Percentile groups: The percentile groups are defined from the adjusted per capita income (APCI) . See the beginning of chapter 8

and table 8.1.2.

Housing indicators: For definitional details see the NHIES administrative and technical report, annex 2, Interviewers Instruction Manual.

See also Form I in annex 1 of the same report.

* Within 5 minutes refers to one-way walking distance.

Percentile groups are frequently used to illustrate the skewness of the distribution of

economic standard in the population. The percentile groups in the table are defined from

the adjusted per capita income of the private household (see the beginning of chapter 8

and table 8.1.2) . The adjusted per capita income of the household is used as a basic

indicator of economic standard in this report.

There is a strong correlation between the economic standard of a household and the

housing standard of the household. The higher the economic standard - i.e the higher

percentile group the household belongs to - the higher the housing standard.

On the other hand, the lower the economic standard of the households, the lower the

housing standard.

For example, among the 10 percent of the households who have the highest economic

standard only about 10 percent do not have electricity for cooking and lighting. But

among the 25 percent of the households having the lowest economic standard almost no

household has electricity for cooking or lighting.

110

Table 6.17. Households by region, rural and urban areas and one-way walking time in

minutes to selected facilities. Percent.
REGION FACILITY MINUTES TOTAL

Number of
households

5 or
less

6 - 15 16 - 30 31 - 60 More than 60

Caprivi - clinic/hospital 9 21 14 14 42 100
16 884 - public transport for pay 28 25 14 18 15 100
- local shop 19 32 18 18 13 100
-primary school 20 32 25 16 7 100

Erongo - clinic/hospital 8 25 30 10 27 100
16 611 - public transport for pay 18 24 18 10 30 100
- local shop 23 36 20 5 16 100
-primary school 23 28 19 10 21 100

Hardap - clinic/hospital 6 25 16 10 43 100
12 521 - public transport for pay 7 34 16 4 40 100
- local shop 22 38 5 2 33 100
-primary school 11 43 8 3 35 100

Karas - clinic/hospital 4 27 17 9 43 100
11 545 - public transport for pay 13 19 23 11 35 100
- local shop 27 29 15 7 23 100
-primary school 11 31 23 8 27 100

Khomas - clinic/hospital 6 29 32 15 17 100
34 101 - public transport for pay 43 35 10 2 10 100
- local shop 33 49 13 2 3 100
-primary school 17 38 25 11 9 100

Kunene - clinic/hospital 6 23 15 9 47 100
10 398 - public transport for pay 12 17 21 17 33 100
- local shop 15 23 13 17 32 100
-primary school 13 28 15 6 38 100

Ohangwena - clinic/hospital 1 3 12 19 64 100
25 574 - public transport for pay 11 11 18 19 40 100
- local shop 4 13 16 12 55 100
-primary school 8 15 27 24 26 100

Okavango - clinic/hospital 0 8 28 25 38 100
20 394 - public transport for pay 60 18 6 4 12 100
- local shop 13 26 19 12 31 100
-primary school 13 25 32 21 10 100

Omaheke - clinic/hospital 0 5 3 3 89 100
9 157 - public transport for pay 10 12 5 4 69 100
- local shop 5 20 11 9 55 100
-primary school 7 18 10 4 61 100

Omusati - clinic/hospital 4 9 19 31 38 100
21 822 - public transport for pay 13 19 23 21 24 100
- local shop 8 20 25 22 25 100
-primary school 6 21 29 30 14 100

Oshana - clinic/hospital 4 14 13 15 54 100
24 198 - public transport for pay 20 24 19 18 19 100
- local shop 17 25 20 11 27 100
-primary school 8 26 31 25 10 100

Oshikoto - clinic/hospital 1 8 14 9 68 100
18 795 - public transport for pay 12 18 13 17 39 100
- local shop 8 14 15 11 52 100
-primary school 6 16 29 20 29 100

Otjozondjupa - clinic/hospital 6 20 15 7 52 100
22 827 - public transport for pay 24 24 10 4 38 100
- local shop 28 29 9 5 29 100
-primary school 14 23 11 3 49 100

NAMIBIA - clinic/hospital 4 17 19 15 45 100

244 827 - public transport for pay 23 22 15 11 28 100
- local shop 18 28 16 10 28 100
-primary school 12 26 23 15 23 100

Rural - clinic/hospital 3 7 10 15 65 100
161 962 - public transport for pay 18 14 14 14 39 100
- local shop 10 18 16 14 43 100
-primary school 9 18 22 18 33 100

Urban - clinic/hospital 7 35 36 14 7 100
82 864 - public transport for pay 35 38 17 5 5 100
- local shop 33 48 16 3 1 100
-primary school 18 43 26 10 3 100

111

The distance from the dwelling of the household to selected infrastructure facilities like

clinic/hospital, public transport, local shop and primary school varies a lot between

different areas of Namibia.

Clinic/hospital

45 percent of the Namibian households have more than 60 minutes one-way walking time

to the nearest clinic/hospital while 40 percent have 30 minutes or less.

The corresponding percentages for rural areas are 65 and 20 and for urban areas 7 and

78 percent.

There are huge differences between regions. In the worst-off region - the Omaheke region

- 89 percent of the households have more than 60 minutes one-way walking time to the

nearest clinic/hospital while in the best-off region - the Khomas region - where the capital

Windhoek is situated - the corresponding percentage is 17.

Public transport

28 percent of the Namibian households have more than 60 minutes one-way walking time

to the nearest public transport (for pay) while 60 percent have 30 minutes or less.

The corresponding percentages for rural areas are 39 and 46 and for urban areas 5 and

90 percent.

There are huge differences between regions. In the worst-off region - the Omaheke region

- 69 percent of the households have more than 60 minutes one-way walking time to the

nearest public transport (for pay) while in the best-off region - the Khomas region - the

corresponding percentage is 10.

Local shop

28 percent of the Namibian households have more than 60 minutes one-way walking time

to the nearest local shop while 62 percent have 30 minutes or less.

The corresponding percentages for rural areas are 43 and 44 and for urban areas 1 and

97 percent.

There are huge differences between regions. In the worst-off regions - the Ohangwena and

Omaheke regions - 55 percent of the households have more than 60 minutes one-way

walking time to the local shop while in the best-off region - the Khomas region - the

corresponding percentage is 3.

Primary school

23 percent of the Namibian households have more than 60 minutes one-way walking time

to the nearest primary school while 61 percent have 30 minutes or less.

The corresponding percentages for rural areas are 33 and 49 and for urban areas 3 and

87 percent.

There are huge differences between regions. In the worst-off region - the Omaheke region

- 61 percent of the households have more than 60 minutes one-way walking time to the

nearest primary school while in the best-off regions - the Caprivi and Khomas regions the

corresponding percentages are 7 and 9.

112

Table 6.18. Households by rural//urban areas, sex of head of household and one-way

walking time in minutes to selected facilities.

RURAL/URBAN
SEX

FACILITY MINUTES

TOTAL

Number of
households

5 or less 6 - 15 16 - 30 31 - 60 More than
60

Rural

Female - clinic/hospital 2 8 13 17 61 100
66 108 - public transport for pay 18 15 16 18 33 100
- local shop 8 19 19 15 39 100
-primary school 9 21 27 21 22 100

Male - clinic/hospital 3 6 9 14 68 100
95 855 - public transport for pay 17 14 12 12 44 100
- local shop 11 17 13 13 45 100
-primary school 9 16 19 16 40 100

Total - clinic/hospital 3 7 10 15 65 100
161 962 - public transport for pay 18 14 14 14 39 100
- local shop 10 18 16 14 43 100
-primary school 9 18 22 18 33 100

Urban

Female - clinic/hospital 7 33 36 16 7 100
26 914 - public transport for pay 32 36 22 5 6 100
- local shop 31 45 20 3 1 100
-primary school 18 43 28 8 3 100

Male - clinic/hospital 8 35 36 13 7 100
55 950 - public transport for pay 36 39 14 6 5 100
- local shop 33 50 14 3 1 100
-primary school 19 43 24 11 3 100

Total - clinic/hospital 7 35 36 14 7 100
82 864 - public transport for pay 35 38 17 5 5 100
- local shop 33 48 16 3 1 100
-primary school 18 43 26 10 3 100

NAMIBIA

Female - clinic/hospital 3 16 19 17 45 100
93 022 - public transport for pay 22 21 18 14 25 100
- local shop 15 26 19 11 28 100
-primary school 12 27 27 17 17 100

Male - clinic/hospital 5 17 19 14 45 100
151 805 - public transport for pay 24 23 13 10 30 100
- local shop 19 29 14 9 29 100
-primary school 13 26 21 14 26 100

Total - clinic/hospital 4 17 19 14 45 100
244 827 - public transport for pay 23 22 15 11 28 100
- local shop 18 28 16 10 28 100
-primary school 12 26 23 15 23 100

Note: The column Number of households has been added to the table to facilitate the calculation of absolute numbers.
Definitions

Rural/Urban: See table 3.1.
Head of household: See table 3.3.

Distance indicators: For definitional details see the NHIES administrative and technical report, annex 2, Interviewers Instruction Manual.

See also Form I in annex 1 of the same report.

There are, on the average, certain differences in the distance from the dwelling of the

household to selected infrastructure facilities like clinic/hospital, public transport, local

shop and primary school depending on the sex of the head of household.

In urban areas the differences are small. But in the rural areas a greater proportion of the

male-headed households than the female-headed households have more than 60 minutes

one-way walking distance to the selected infrastructure facilities. And a greater

proportion of the female-headed households than the male-headed households have 30

minutes or less one-way walking distance to the same facilities.

113

Table 6.19. Households by main language spoken and one-way walking time in minutes to

selected facilities. Percent.

MAIN
LANGUAGE

FACILITY MINUTES

TOTAL

Number of
household

5 or less 6 - 15 16 - 30 31 - 60 More than 60

English - clinic/hospital 12 32 31 15 10 100
3 842 - public transport for pay 32 41 12 9 7 100
- local shop 29 50 9 7 5 100
-primary school 27 47 18 3 5 100

Afrikaans - clinic/hospital 8 29 25 13 25 100
31 207 - public transport for pay 30 32 15 4 19 100
- local shop 29 43 13 4 12 100
-primary school 15 40 20 8 16 100

Caprivi - clinic/hospital 9 20 15 11 45 100
15 401 - public transport for pay 31 25 13 15 17 100
- local shop 19 30 19 14 19 100
-primary school 20 34 27 12 7 100

Damara/Nama - clinic/hospital 4 20 17 9 51 100
34 154 - public transport for pay 16 17 14 8 45 100
- local shop 21 28 15 7 29 100
-primary school 17 30 11 5 38 100

German - clinic/hospital 9 23 22 16 29 100
3 837 - public transport for pay 32 35 12 8 13 100
- local shop 33 41 12 2 12 100
-primary school 17 23 22 17 20 100

Oshiwambo - clinic/hospital 3 12 18 18 50 100
106 987 - public transport for pay 17 20 18 16 28 100
- local shop 13 22 18 12 35 100
-primary school 8 21 29 23 19 100

Otjiherero - clinic/hospital 5 18 15 6 55 100
22 375 - public transport for pay 19 24 9 7 41 100
- local shop 18 28 9 9 35 100
-primary school 13 20 16 5 46 100

Rukavango - clinic/hospital 1 11 27 26 35 100
21 233 - public transport for pay 50 19 8 9 14 100
- local shop 14 28 18 15 25 100
-primary school 12 24 27 24 12 100

San - clinic/hospital 0 0 2 11 86 100
3 551 - public transport for pay 39 14 1 5 42 100
- local shop 15 20 15 6 45 100
-primary school 7 16 18 4 54 100

Tswana - clinic/hospital 0 16 30 16 38 100
1 020 - public transport for pay 14 37 19 0 30 100
- local shop 11 47 16 4 22 100
-primary school 13 30 27 8 22 100

Other - clinic/hospital 8 25 25 9 33 100
951 - public transport for pay 24 35 13 12 15 100
- local shop 29 33 4 5 28 100
-primary school 14 35 17 5 28 100

NAMIBIA - clinic/hospital 4 17 19 15 45 100

244 827 - public transport for pay 23 22 15 11 28 100
- local shop 18 28 16 10 28 100
-primary school 12 26 23 15 23 100

Note: The column Number of households has been added to the table to facilitate the calculation of absolute numbers.
Note: There is an item non-response of 0.1 % in the household main language variable which is not presented in the table.
Definitions

Main language: See table 3.4.

Distance indicators: For definitional details see the NHIES administrative and technical report, annex 2, Interviewers Instruction Manual.

See also Form I in annex 1 of the same report.

114

Households where English is the main language are, on the average, best-off concerning

distance to selected infrastructure facilities like clinic/hospital, public transport, local shop

and primary school. Only 10 percent or less of the English speaking households have more

than 60 minutes one-way walking distance to the selected facilities. Also households

where Africaans and German are the main languages are in a relatively good position.

On the average, the San people are worst-off. 86 percent of the households have a one-way

walking distance of 60 minutes or more to the nearest clinic/hospital and 40 - 50 percent of

the households have a one-way walking distance of 60 minutes or more to public

transport, local shop and primary school. Also the other language groups have large

proportions of households with long distances to one or more of the selected facilities.

Among the households where Caprivi, Damara/Nama, Oshiwambo or Otjiherero is the

main language 45-55 percent of the households have 60 or more minutes one-way walking

distance to the nearest clinic/hospital.

115

Table 6.20. Households by household composition and one-way walking time in minutes to

selected facilities. Percent.

HOUSEHOLD
COMPOSITION

FACILITY MINUTES

TOTAL

Number of
households

5 or less 6 - 15 16 - 30 31 - 60 More than 60

Single person - - clinic/hospital 7 18 21 12 42 100

alone - public transport for pay 23 25 12 10 30 100
21 183 - local shop 23 34 10 8 26 100
-primary school 16 25 16 12 31 100

Single person - - clinic/hospital 6 15 25 7 47 100

with 1 own
child

- public transport for pay 31 21 12 9 27 100

4 156 - local shop 30 26 15 5 23 100
-primary school 16 31 26 7 20 100

Single person - - clinic/hospital 1 16 17 17 49 100

with more than - public transport for pay 21 18 18 18 24 100
1 own child - local shop 11 26 20 14 29 100
15 273 -primary school 9 28 26 19 19 100

Single person - - clinic/hospital 4 17 18 16 46 100

with
extended

- public transport for pay 20 22 17 14 27 100

family - local shop 15 26 18 12 30 100
68 476 -primary school 13 27 25 17 18 100

Single person - - clinic/hospital 6 17 21 13 42 100

with - public transport for pay 28 21 14 5 32 100
non-relatives - local shop 28 23 13 5 30 100
11 224 -primary school 11 21 24 12 32 100

Couple - - clinic/hospital 5 18 15 10 51 100

alone - public transport for pay 21 24 12 13 30 100
12 698 - local shop 21 29 11 11 28 100
-primary school 10 24 18 13 34 100

Couple - - clinic/hospital 3 20 17 12 47 100

with 1 own
child

- public transport for pay 26 28 12 5 30 100

10 557 - local shop 16 37 16 7 24 100
-primary school 9 27 20 11 33 100

Couple - - clinic/hospital 5 14 19 17 44 100

with more than - public transport for pay 29 21 13 11 25 100
1 own child - local shop 19 32 14 11 24 100
34 053 -primary school 13 29 23 13 23 100

Couple - - clinic/hospital 4 16 20 16 44 100

withextended - public transport for pay 23 22 15 11 29 100
family - local shop 17 26 17 10 30 100
56 689 -primary school 12 25 26 17 20 100

Couple - - clinic/hospital 4 19 17 12 48 100

with - public transport for pay 22 25 12 7 34 100
non-relatives - local shop 15 32 12 7 34 100
10 209 -primary school 12 28 18 18 25 100

NAMIBIA - clinic/hospital 4 17 19 15 45 100

244 827 - public transport for pay 23 22 15 11 28 100
- local shop 18 28 16 10 28 100
-primary school 12 26 23 15 23 100

Note: The column Number of households has been added to the table to facilitate the calculation of absolute numbers.
Definitions

Household composition: See table 3.5.

Distance indicators: For definitional details see the NHIES administrative and technical report, annex 2, Interviewers Instruction Manual.

See also Form I in annex 1 of the same report.

The correlation between household composition and the distance to infrastructure

facilities like clinic/hospital, public transport, local shop and primary school seems to be

small.

116

Table 6.21. Households by highest level of educational attainment of head of household

and one-way walking time in minutes to selected facilities. Percent.

HIGHEST LEVEL
OF EDUCATIONAL
ATTAINMENT

FACILITY MINUTES

TOTAL

Number of
household

5 or less 6 - 15 16 - 30 31 - 60 More than 60

No formal
education

- clinic/hospital 1 8 14 15 61 100

72 742 - public transport for pay 16 18 14 12 40 100
- local shop 11 21 15 13 40 100
-primary school 9 18 22 17 34 100

Primary educatiom - clinic/hospital 2 13 18 16 51 100
78 708 - public transport for pay 20 19 15 16 30 100
- local shop 14 24 17 11 34 100
-primary school 9 26 23 19 23 100

Secondary
education

- clinic/hospital 7 26 24 14 29 100

76 524 - public transport for pay 30 29 15 8 18 100
- local shop 25 37 16 8 15 100
-primary school 16 33 25 11 14 100

Tertiary education - clinic/hospital 13 30 18 15 24 100
13 529 - public transport for pay 40 29 13 5 13 100
- local shop 30 40 14 3 12 100
-primary school 30 33 20 6 11 100

NAMIBIA - clinic/hospital 4 17 19 15 45 100

244 827 - public transport for pay 23 22 15 11 28 100
- local shop 18 28 16 10 28 100
-primary school 12 26 23 15 23 100

Note: The column Number of households has been added to the table to facilitate the calculation of absolute numbers.
Note: There is a non-response in the variable highest educational attainment of the household corresponding to 1 percent of the
households which is not presented in the table.
Definitions

Highest level of educational attainment: See table 4.3.1.

Head of household: See table 3.3.

Distance indicators: For definitional details see the NHIES administrative and technical report, annex 2, Interviewers Instruction Manual.

See also Form I in annex 1 of the same report.

There is a strong correlation between the education level of the head of household and the

distance to infrastructure facilities. The higher the education the shorter the distance to

infrastructure facilities like clinic/hospital, public transport, local shop and primary

school.

117

Table 6.22. Households by main source of income and one-way walking time in minutes to

selected facilities. Percent.

MAIN SOURCE OF

INCOME
FACILITY MINUTES

TOTAL

Number of
household

5 or less 6 - 15 16 - 30 31 - 60 More than 60

Subsistence
farming

- clinic/hospital 1 6 14 18 60 100

85 050 - public transport for pay 19 15 17 16 32 100
- local shop 7 16 19 15 43 100
-primary school 7 19 28 24 22 100

Wages in cash - clinic/hospital 7 25 23 12 32 100
107 362 - public transport for pay 29 29 12 6 24 100
- local shop 26 39 13 6 16 100
-primary school 16 33 21 8 22 100

Business - clinic/hospital 5 20 20 10 45 100
13 909 - public transport for pay 31 20 9 11 29 100
- local shop 28 26 9 9 27 100
-primary school 10 25 23 10 33 100

Pensions - clinic/hospital 2 12 14 18 54 100
27 602 - public transport for pay 13 22 19 15 31 100
- local shop 10 25 20 12 33 100
-primary school 11 24 21 20 24 100

Cash remittances - clinic/hospital 8 20 24 11 36 100
10 556 - public transport for pay 20 18 24 15 23 100
- local shop 24 26 20 8 22 100
-primary school 19 31 18 10 21 100

NAMIBIA - clinic/hospital 4 17 19 15 45 100

244 827 - public transport for pay 23 22 15 11 28 100
- local shop 18 28 16 10 28 100
-primary school 12 26 23 15 23 100

Note: The column Number of households has been added to the table to facilitate the calculation of absolute numbers.
Note : There is a small group Other of the variable Main source of income representing 0.1 % of the households.
This group is not presented in the table.
Definitions

Main source of income: See table5.12.

Distance indicators: For definitional details see the NHIES administrative and technical report, annex 2, Interviewers Instruction Manual.

See also Form I in annex 1 of the same report.

Households where the main source of income is subsistence farming are, on the average,

worst-off concerning the distance to clinic/hospital, public transport and local shop. But

concerning the distance to primary school their situation is not worse than for other

households.

Also among households where the main source of income is business and pensions a

relatively large percent of the households have more than 60 minutes one-way walking

time to the nearest clinic/hospital, public transport and local shop.

Households where the main source of income is wages in cash and cash remittances

have, on the average, a somewhat better situation concerning the distances to the

infrastructure facilities in the table.

118

Table 6.23. Households by number of full-time employment equivalents ( FEEs) in

household and one-way walking time in minutes to selected facilities.

Percent.

FULL-TIME
EMPLOYMENT
EQUIVALENTS

FACILITY MINUTES

TOTAL

Number of
household

5 or less 6 - 15 16 - 30 31 - 60 More than 60

No economic - clinic/hospital 2 10 16 16 56 100
activity - public transport for pay 14 18 18 17 33 100
58 557 - local shop 8 23 19 14 35 100
-primary school 9 22 27 20 22 100

0 < FEEs < 0.5 - clinic/hospital 4 10 14 15 57 100
17 333 - public transport for pay 30 21 11 12 26 100
- local shop 14 20 20 14 32 100
-primary school 12 28 30 14 16 100

0.5 <= FEE s< 1.0 - clinic/hospital 5 13 27 16 39 100
24 336 - public transport for pay 26 23 17 13 21 100
- local shop 17 26 18 13 25 100
-primary school 12 25 30 20 13 100

1.0<= FEE s < 1.5 - clinic/hospital 5 19 19 12 45 100
65 837 - public transport for pay 24 22 14 10 30 100
- local shop 23 29 13 8 28 100
-primary school 13 26 18 12 31 100

1.5 <= FEE s< 2.0 - clinic/hospital 4 24 20 21 31 100
13 566 - public transport for pay 29 26 13 14 19 100
- local shop 16 36 14 11 23 100
-primary school 10 30 23 23 13 100

FEE s>= 2.0 - clinic/hospital 6 21 20 14 38 100
54 477 - public transport for pay 28 26 12 7 27 100
- local shop 23 33 13 6 24 100
-primary school 14 31 22 10 23 100

NAMIBIA - clinic/hospital 4 17 19 15 45 100

244 827 - public transport for pay 23 22 15 11 28 100
- local shop 18 28 16 10 28 100
-primary school 12 26 23 15 23 100

Note: The column Number of households has been added to the table to facilitate the calculation of absolute numbers.
Note : There is an item non-response of 4 % in the variable full-time employment equivalents which is not presented in the table.
Definitions

Full-time employment equivalents(FEEs): See the beginning of chapter 5 and table5.11.

Distance indicators: For definitional details see the NHIES administrative and technical report, annex 2, Interviewers Instruction Manual.

See also Form I in annex 1 of the same report.

There is no very clear correlation between the economic activity of the household and the

distance to infrastructure facilities like clinic/hospital, public transport, local shop and

primary school.

But, on the average, it seems as if households without any economic activity are worse-off

concerning distances to the infrastructure facilities in the table than households where

there are economically employed household members.

119

Table 6.24. Households by household percentile groups and one-way walking time in

minutes to selected facilities. Percent.

PERCENTILE
GROUPS

FACILITY MINUTES

TOTAL

Number of
household

5 or less 6 - 15 16 -
30

31 -
60

More than
60

APCI < P90 - clinic/hospital 4 15 18 15 48 100
220 346 - public transport for pay 22 21 15 12 29 100
- local shop 16 26 16 11 30 100
-primary school 12 25 24 16 24 100

APCI >= P90 - clinic/hospital 9 29 25 15 23 100
24 481 - public transport for pay 31 36 14 5 14 100
- local shop 28 45 13 4 10 100
-primary school 20 36 22 9 14 100

NAMIBIA - clinic/hospital 4 17 19 15 45 100

244 827 - public transport for pay 23 22 15 11 28 100
- local shop 18 28 16 10 28 100
-primary school 12 26 23 15 23 100

APCI < P25 - clinic/hospital 2 9 16 16 57 100
61 257 - public transport for pay 17 18 17 14 34 100
- local shop 11 20 19 12 38 100
-primary school 11 22 24 20 24 100

P25<= APCI < P50 - clinic/hospital 2 11 13 16 58 100
61 234 - public transport for pay 18 18 14 15 35 100
- local shop 12 21 17 13 37 100
-primary school 8 24 22 18 28 100

P50<= APCI < P75 - clinic/hospital 4 17 22 15 42 100
61 168 - public transport for pay 27 22 15 10 27 100
- local shop 19 31 14 9 27 100
-primary school 12 26 24 13 26 100

P75<= APCI < P90 - clinic/hospital 9 30 25 12 24 100
36 687 - public transport for pay 32 29 14 7 18 100
- local shop 30 37 13 8 12 100
-primary school 18 33 25 12 12 100

P90 <= APCI <
P95

- clinic/hospital 9 28 28 13 23 100

12 286 - public transport for pay 25 41 17 5 12 100
- local shop 27 46 12 5 10 100
-primary school 20 33 24 9 13 100

P95 <= APCI < P99 - clinic/hospital 7 30 25 17 21 100
9 770 - public transport for pay 35 33 12 5 14 100
- local shop 24 47 16 2 11 100
-primary school 20 39 21 8 13 100

APCI >= P99 - clinic/hospital 19 27 8 19 27 100
2 425 - public transport for pay 48 22 1 3 26 100
- local shop 48 30 4 4 14 100
-primary school 15 38 13 12 22 100

Note: The column Number of households has been added to the table to facilitate the calculation of absolute numbers.
Definitions

Percentile groups: The percentile groups are defined from the adjusted per capita income (APCI) . See the beginning of chapter 8

and table 8.1.2.

Distance indicators: For definitional details see the NHIES administrative and technical report, annex 2, Interviewers Instruction Manual.

See also Form I in annex 1 of the same report.

Percentile groups are frequently used to illustrate the skewness of the distribution of

economic standard in the population. The percentile groups in the table are defined from

the adjusted per capita income of the private household (see the beginning of chapter 8

and table 8.1.2) . The adjusted per capita income of the household is used as a basic

indicator of economic standard in this report.

There is a clear correlation between economic standard and distance to infrastructure

facilities like clinic/hospital, public transport, local shop and primary school. The higher

the economic standard the shorter the distance.

120

Chapter 7. ACCESS TO DURABLE/CAPITAL GOODS AND PROPERTY IN PRIVATE

HOUSEHOLDS

Introduction

Ownership of or access to household durable/capital goods like radio, TV, telephone,

refrigerator, sewing machine, motor vehicle, donkey/ox cart and bicycle is important for the

daily life of the household. They are used for entertainment, collecting of information,

communication with people far away, keeping food in good condition, sewing and repairing

clothes for own use or for income generation and for private transport. It is not necessary to own

or have access to all these durable/capital goods to have a decent life but lack of these facilities

is definitely an indication of troublesome living conditions.

In this chapter statistics are presented describing the ownership of or access to these household

durable/capital goods in different household groups of Namibia.

Agriculture is important for income generation in the majority of the Namibian households.

Subsistence farming is the traditional way to provide food to the household but agricultural

products are also produced for selling on the market by many households.

Statistics on ownership of or access to income generating agricultural facilities like cattle, goats,

sheep, pigs, poultry, grazing land, fields and fishing in different household groups in Namibia

are also presented in this chapter.

Namibia as a whole

Household durable/capital goods

About 70 percent of the Namibian households own or have access free of charge to a radio.

Less than 30 percent own or have access to respectively TV, telephone, refrigerator, sewing

machine, motor vehicle, donkey/ox cart and bicycle.

(table 7.1)

Income generating agricultural facilities

Many Namibian households are depending on agriculture for generating income - in most cases

for own consumption but also for selling of agricultural products. Subsistence farming is the

main source of income for about 85 000 households in Namibia and commercial farming is the

main source of income for about 4000 households.

40 - 45 percent of the Namibian households own or have access free of charge to cattle and/or

goats. 60 - 65 percent of the households own or have access to poultry, grazing land and/or

fields. About 25 percent of the households have access to fishing and 10 - 15 percent of the

households own or have access to sheep and/or pigs.

(table 7.9)

121

Namibia

Ownership/Acces to TV

22 to 66

2 to 21

Ownership/Acces to motor vehicle 42%

Erongo

Khomas

Karras

Hardap

Omaheke

Otjozondjupa

Kavango

Caprivi

Oshikoto

Ohangwena

Oshana

Omusati

Kunene

Households owning or having access to TV and motor

vehicles by region. Percent

122

Regions and rural/urban areas

Household durable/capital goods

There are great differences between households in rural and urban areas. Except for donkey/ox

cart, ownership of or access to household durable/capital goods is much more common in urban

than in rural areas.

Ownership of or access to household durable/capital goods is for most goods significantly more

common in the central/southern regions than in the northern regions. For example, 2 - 6 percent

of the households own or have access to a TV, a telephone or a refrigerator in the Caprivi

region. The corresponding percentages in the Khomas region are 60 - 70.

But ownership of or access to a radio is common in the households of all regions in Namibia

(table 7.1)

Income generating agricultural facilities

As expected, ownership of or access to income generating agricultural facilities is much more

common in rural areas than in urban areas. More than 50 percent of the households in rural

areas own or have access to cattle and/or goats and 80 percent own or have access to poultry

and/or fields.

The dependency of households on agriculture for generating income is higher in the northern

regions than in the central/southern regions. Almost 90 percent of the households in the Caprivi

region own or have access to cattle while the corresponding percentage in the Karas region is

13.

(table 7.9)

Sex of head of household

Household durable/capital goods

The male headed households in Namibia own or have access to household durable/capital goods

to a greater extent than the female headed households. This is the case in rural as well as in

urban areas.

For example, 30 percent of the male headed households in Namibia own or have access to a

motor vehicle. The corresponding percentage for female headed households is 14. In rural areas

the percentage for male headed households is 19 and for female headed households 10 and in

urban areas the percentages are 48 and 23 respectively.

(table 7.2)

Income generating agricultural facilities

There are no great differences between female headed and male headed households in

ownership of and access to income generating agricultural facilities.

(table 7.10)

123

Main language of household

Household durable/capital goods

Except for donkey/ox cart, the households where German, English or Afrikaans is the main

language have a higher or much higher frequency of ownership or access to household

durable/capital goods than the other language groups in Namibia.

Households where the San language is the main language are worst off concerning ownership of

or access to household durable/capital goods.

For example, among German speaking households about 70 percent own or have access to a

sewing machine. The corresponding percentage among the San speaking households is 2.

Almost 100 percent of the German speaking households own or have access to a telephone and

a refrigerator. The situation for the San speaking households is that hardly any household owns

a telephone or a refrigerator.

(table 7.3)

Income generating agricultural facilities

With some variations between the language groups, ownership of or access to income

generating agricultural facilities is most common among households where Caprivi, Rukavango,

Oshiwambo, Otjiherero or Tswana is the main language spoken.

Ownership of or access to income generating agricultural facilities is somewhat less common in

households where Damara/Nama or San is the main language.

Least common is ownership of and access to income generating agricultural facilities among

households where English, Afrikaans or German is the main language spoken. But Afrikaans

and German are common languages among households where commercial farming is the main

source of income.

(table 7.11)

Household composition

Household durable/capital goods

There is no very clear relationship between ownership/access to household durable capital

goods and househould composition. But households of couples normally own or have access to

household durable/capital goods to a greater extent than households of single persons. Nuclear

families of couples with or without children own or have access to TV, telephone, refrigerator

and motor vehicle to a greater extent than other households.

(table 7.4)

124

Income generating agricultural facilities

There is no clear relation between household composition on one hand and ownership of and

access to income generating agricultural facilities on the other hand. But especially among

households of couples, there is a tendency that households who are extended families and

households with non-relatives own or have access to income generating agricultural facilities to

a greater extent than households of nuclear families.

(table 7.12)

Highest level of educational attainment of the head of household

Household durable/capital goods

There is a strong correlation between ownership/access to household durable/capital goods and

the formal education of the head of household. The higher education, the more households own

or have access to durable/capital goods. The main difference is between, on one hand,

households where the head of household has only primary education or no formal education at

all and, on the other hand, households where the head of household has some secondary or

tertiary education.

For example, among households where the head of household has some secondary or tertiary

education 46 and 70 percent respectively own or have access to TV. The corresponding

percentage for households where the head of household has no formal education or only some

primary education is 5 and 11 percent.

(table 7.5)

Income generating agricultural facilities

In most cases, there is a negative correlation between the formal education of the head of

household, on one hand, and ,on the other hand, ownership of or access to income generating

agricultural facilities i.e. the lower the formal education of the head of household, the more

households own or have access to income generating agricultural facilities.

For example, among households where the head of household has no formal education or only

some primary education almost 50 percent own or have access to cattle. The corresponding

percentage for households where the head of household has some secondary or tertiary

education is 34 - 38 percent.

For goats the percentage of ownership or access is 50 percent for households where the head of

household has no formal education or only some primary education while the percentage is

about 35 percent for households where the head of household has some secondary education

and about 20 percent for households where the head of household has some tertiary education.

A similar negative correlation is valid for pigs, poultry, grazing land and fields. But ownership

of or access to sheep and fishing is rather independent of the formal education of the head of

household.

(table 7.13)

125

Main source of income

Household durable/capital goods

Ownership of or access to household durable/capital goods is most common among households

where wages in cash or business is the main source of income. Worst off are the large group of

households where subsistence farming is the main source of income. For example, only 2-3

percent of these households own or have access to a TV or a telephone or a refrigerator.

(table 7.6)

Income generating agricultural facilities

Independent of what is the main source of income, ownership of or access to income generating

agricultural facilities is common among Namibian households. As expected, ownership of and

access to income generating agricultural facilities is most common when the main source of

income is subsistence farming.

If the group of households where commercial farming is the main source of income - about

4000 households - is demarcated in the group of households where the main source of income

is business, the frequency of ownership of or access to income generating facilities increases

to even higher or much higher levels than for households where subsistence farming is the

main source of income. This is the case for cattle, goats and sheep where the percentages for

ownership are 85, 76 and 53 respectively. The corresponding percentages for subsistence

farmers (including ownership and access) are 61, 61 and 7 respectively.

(table 7.14)

Number of full-time employment equivalents in the household

Household durable/capital goods

There is a clear correlation between the economic activity in the household as measured by the

number of full-time employment equivalents and the ownership of or access to household

durable/capital goods. With few exceptions, households who have an economic activity

corresponding to one or more than one full-time employment equivalent own or have access to

durable/capital goods to a larger extent than households where the economic activity is lower.

Exceptions from this clear positive correlation are sewing machine, donkey/ox cart and bicycle

where ownership and access are more evenly spread among the households independently of the

economic activity.

(table 7.7)

Income generating agricultural facilities

There is no clear correlation between ownership of or access to income generating agricultural

activities on one hand and the economic activity of the household on the other hand.

(table 7.15)

126

Economic standard

Household durable/capital goods

Percentile groups are frequently used to illustrate the skewness of the distribution of economic

standard in the population. The percentile groups in the table are defined from the adjusted per

capita income of the private household (see the beginning of chapter 8 and table 8.1.2) . The

adjusted per capita income of the household is used as a basic indicator of economic standard in

this report.

There is a strong correlation between the economic standard of a household and the ownership

of and access to household durable/capital goods. The higher the economic standard - i.e. the

higher percentile group of households - the more frequent is ownership of or access to

household durable/capital goods. The only exception from this statement is ownership of or

access to a donkey/ox cart.

For example, among the 25 percent of the households having the lowest economic standard

only 2 - 3 percent own or have access to a TV or a phone or a refrigerator. Among the 10

percent of the households having the highest economic standard about 80 percent own or have

access to a TV or a telephone and 85 percent own or have access to a refrigerator. The

corresponding percentages for motor vehicle are 8 and 80.

Some durable/capital goods, like radio, sewing machine and bicycle, are somehat more evenly

spread among the households. But also for these durable/capital goods the positive correlation

between economic standard and ownership or access is very clear.

(table 7.8)

Income generating agricultural facilities

There is a clear negative correlation between the percentile group to which a household belongs,

on one hand, and ownership of or access to income generating agricultural facilities, on the

other hand, i.e. the higher percentile group a household belongs to the less common is

ownership or access to income generating agricultural facilities. The only exceptions from this

statement are ownership of or access to sheep and fishing where the correlation is very small or

even positive.

(table 7.16)

127

Table 7.1. Households by regions, rural/urban areas and access to durable/capital goods.

REGION DURABLE/CAPITAL GOODS %

Number of Radio TV Phone Fridge Sewing Motor Donkey/ Bicycle

households machine vehicle ox cart

Caprivi Owned 56 2 2 2 3 5 2 12

16 884 Access 12 0 4 1 1 3 4 4

Erongo Owned 78 39 27 45 32 28 19 24

16 611 Access 7 9 8 8 5 3 3 0

Hardap Owned 72 29 27 36 33 26 19 18

12 521 Access 5 5 8 2 2 9 2 3

Karas Owned 78 38 38 41 36 35 21 27

11 545 Access 4 5 6 3 1 7 3 3

Khomas Owned 85 60 56 68 37 48 9 24

34 101 Access 4 5 6 2 3 5 3 1

Kunene Owned 42 9 9 12 33 17 21 8

10 398 Access 6 6 7 7 5 4 5 0

Ohangwena Owned 58 1 0 1 21 7 6 24

25 574 Access 4 1 1 0 2 3 1 5

Okavango Owned 46 6 1 4 7 7 1 8

20 394 Access 9 3 3 0 5 1 1 3

Omaheke Owned 61 11 12 16 39 22 31 9

9 157 Access 10 2 5 1 1 4 12 1

Omusati Owned 57 2 1 3 21 13 20 29

21 822 Access 2 1 0 0 1 1 2 4

Oshana Owned 69 7 7 7 22 15 9 21

24 198 Access 2 3 1 1 1 2 3 3

Oshikoto Owned 57 10 5 10 23 15 14 13

18 795 Access 3 1 4 1 3 2 4 3

Otjozondjupa Owned 65 21 16 22 30 21 15 20

22 827 Access 12 10 11 3 2 5 4 2

NAMIBIA Owned 65 19 17 22 25 20 13 20

244 827 Access 6 4 5 2 2 3 3 3

Rural Owned 57 5 4 5 21 12 15 17

161 962 Access 7 2 4 1 2 4 4 3

Urban Owned 80 48 41 54 33 37 7 24

82 864 Access 4 7 5 3 3 3 1 1

Note: Only the two percentages for owned and access are presented in the table. The percentages for neither owned nor
access are excluded. The total of the three percentages is 100.
Note: TheNumber of households has been added to the first column to facilitate the calculation of absolute number in each cell.
Definitions
Region and Rral/Uban: See table 3.1.

Access: Not owned but access to free of charge.

About 70 percent of the Namibian households own or have access to a radio. Less than 30

percent own or have access to respectively TV, telephone, refrigerator, sewing machine,

motor vehicle, donkey/ox cart and bicycle.

There are great differences between households in rural and urban areas. Except for

donkey/ox cart, ownership of or access to household durable/capital goods is much more

common in urban than in rural areas.

Ownership of or access to household durable/capital goods is for most goods significantly

more common in the central/southern regions than in the northern regions.

128

Table 7.2. Households by rural/urban areas, sex of the head of household and access to

durable/capital goods.

RURAL/URBAN DURABLE/CAPITAL GOODS %

SEX OF HEAD OF Radio TV Phone Fridge Sewing Motor Donkey/ Bicycle

HOUSEHOLD machine vehicle ox cart

Number of
households

RURAL

Female headed Owned 52 2 1 2 18 7 10 14

households Access 7 1 3 1 3 3 3 4

66 108

Male headed Owned 60 7 6 7 24 15 19 20

households Access 6 3 5 2 2 4 5 3

95 855

TOTAL Owned 57 5 4 5 21 12 15 17

161 962 Access 7 2 4 1 2 4 4 3

URBAN

Female headed Owned 73 38 34 46 32 18 7 12

households Access 5 10 6 6 3 5 0 0

26 914

Male headed Owned 83 52 44 58 33 46 7 29

households Access 4 6 5 2 3 2 1 2

55 950

TOTAL Owned 80 48 41 54 33 37 7 24

82 864 Access 4 7 5 3 3 3 1 1

NAMIBIA

Female headed Owned 58 12 11 15 22 10 9 14

households Access 6 4 4 2 3 4 3 3

93 022

Male headed Owned 69 23 20 26 27 27 14 23

households Access 5 4 5 2 2 3 3 2

151 805

TOTAL Owned 65 19 17 22 25 20 13 20

244 827 Access 6 4 5 2 2 3 3 3

Head of household: See table 3.3.

Access: Not owned but access to free of charge.

The male headed households in Namibia own or have access to household durable/capital

goods to a greater extent than the female headed households. This is the case in rural as

well as in urban areas.

For example, 30 percent of the male headed households in Namibia own or have access to

a motor vehicle. The corresponding percentage for female headed households is 14. In

rural areas the percentage for male headed households is 19 and for female headed

households 10 and in urban areas the percentages are 48 and 23 respectively.

129

Table 7.3. Households by main language spoken and access to durable/capital goods.

Percent .

MAIN LANGUAGE Radio TV Phone Fridge Sewing Motor Donkey/ Bicycle

Number of
households

machine vehicle ox cart

English Owned 91 80 83 89 47 69 5 48

3 842 Access 2 2 3 2 0 5 3 1

Afrikaans Owned 87 70 64 76 45 59 8 36

31 207 Access 2 5 6 2 3 6 2 1

Caprivi Owned 59 4 3 4 5 7 2 13

15 401 Access 12 1 4 1 0 3 5 4

Damara/Nama Owned 66 18 11 21 29 13 31 13

34 154 Access 10 9 8 5 4 7 5 2

German Owned 98 81 96 100 69 91 9 42

3 837 Access 1 3 2 0 2 4 0 0

Oshiwambo Owned 62 6 4 7 20 12 10 22

106 987 Access 3 2 3 1 2 2 2 3

Otjiherero Owned 58 17 15 22 43 22 20 5

22 375 Access 8 7 10 6 4 6 8 0

Rukavango Owned 45 5 2 5 6 5 1 7

21 233 Access 11 4 4 0 4 2 1 4

San Owned 40 2 0 0 2 2 14 11

3 551 Access 9 0 3 0 0 0 6 0

Tswana Owned 80 33 33 46 40 19 18 12

1 020 Access 6 4 4 0 0 16 0 0

Other Owned 63 43 50 54 30 51 7 6

951 Access 7 0 0 0 0 7 10 0

NAMIBIA Owned 65 19 17 22 25 20 13 20

244 827 Access 6 4 5 2 2 3 3 3

Note : Only the two percentages for owned and access are presented in the table. The percentages for neither owned nor
access are excluded. The total of the three percentages is 100.
Note: The Number of households has been added to the first column to facilitate the calculation of absolute number in each cell.
Note : There is an item non-response of 0.1 % in the household main language variable which is not presented in the table.
Definitions
Main language spoken: See table 3.4.

Access: Not owned but access to free of charge.

Except for donkey/ox cart, the households where German, English or Afrikaans is the

main language have a higher or much higher frequency of ownership of or access to

household durable/capital goods than the other language groups in Namibia.

Households where the San language is the main language are worst off concerning

ownership of or access to household durable/capital goods.

For example, among German speaking households about 70 percent own or have access

to a sewing machine. The corresponding percentage among the San speaking households

is 2.

130

Table 7.4. Households by household composition and access to durable/capital goods.

Percent.

HOUSEHOLD Radio TV Phone Fridge Sewing Motor Donkey/ Bicycle

COMPOSITION machine vehicle ox cart

Number of
households

SINGLE - Owned 57 15 16 23 14 18 7 11

Alone Access 8 7 13 4 4 9 3 3

21 183

SINGLE - Owned 42 17 11 23 28 16 7 12

with 1 own child Access 9 6 6 1 2 4 2 0

4 156

SINGLE - with
more

Owned 44 13 11 13 16 9 7 15

than 1 own child Access 8 4 2 2 3 2 5 4

15 273

SINGLE - with Owned 61 9 8 14 21 10 12 16

extended family Access 6 4 3 2 2 3 3 3

68 476

SINGLE - Owned 71 16 16 24 24 20 10 13

with non-relatives Access 6 6 3 2 1 4 5 3

11 224

COUPLE - Owned 68 32 32 37 31 35 15 14

Alone Access 7 4 6 4 2 5 2 1

12 698

COUPLE - Owned 69 41 38 43 31 38 9 26

with 1 own child Access 7 3 5 4 1 3 5 2

10 557

COUPLE - with
more

Owned 67 34 29 34 27 31 13 29

than 1 own child Access 6 3 3 1 4 2 3 2

34 053

COUPLE - with Owned 71 19 14 19 32 22 18 24

extended family Access 3 3 4 1 2 3 2 2

56 689

COUPLE - Owned 82 24 16 24 35 30 15 22

with non-relatives Access 3 3 7 2 2 4 2 2

10 209

NAMIBIA Owned 65 19 17 22 25 20 13 20

244 827 Access 6 4 5 2 2 3 3 3

Note : Only the two percentages for owned and access are presented in the table. The percentages for neither owned nor
access are excluded. The total of the three percentages is 100.
Note: TheNumber of households has been added to the first column to facilitate the calculation of absolute number in each cell.
Note : There is an item non-response of 0.1% in the household composition variable which is not presented in the table.
Definitions
Household composition: See table 3.5.

Access: Not owned but access to free of charge.

There is no very clear relationship between ownership/access to household durable capital

goods and househould composition. But households of couples normally own or have

access to household durable/capital goods to a greater extent than households of single

persons. Nuclear families of couples with or without children own or have access to TV,

telephone, refrigerator and motor vehicle to a greater extent than other households.

131

Table 7.5. Households by highest formal education of the head of household and access to

durable/capital goods. Percent.

HIGHEST Radio TV Phone Fridge Sewing Motor Donkey/ Bicycle

EDUCATION machine vehicle ox cart

Number of households

No formal education Owned 49 2 2 3 20 6 16 14

72 742 Access 9 3 4 1 2 3 4 3

Primary education Owned 58 7 5 8 21 10 13 18

78 708 Access 5 4 5 2 3 3 3 2

Secondary
education

Owned 81 40 34 44 31 36 9 24

76 524 Access 4 6 5 3 3 4 3 2

Tertiary education Owned 94 67 70 75 50 71 7 36

13 529 Access 0 3 3 1 3 4 1 1

NAMIBIA Owned 65 19 17 22 25 20 13 20

244 827 Access 6 4 5 2 2 3 3 3

Note : Only the two percentages for owned and access are presented in the table. The percentages for neither owned nor
access are excluded. The total of the three percentages is 100.
Note: The Number of households has been added to the first column to facilitate the calculation of absolute number in each cell.
Note : There is an item non-response of 1% in the variable highest formal education of head of household which is not
presented in the table.
Definitions
Highest education: See table 4.3.1.

Access: Not owned but access to free of charge.

There is a strong correlation between ownership/access to household durable/capital

goods and the formal education of the head of household. The higher education, the more

households own or have access to durable/capital goods. The main difference is between,

on one hand, households where the head of household has only primary education or no

formal education at all and ,on the other hand, households where the head of household

has some secondary or tertiary education.

For example, among households where the head of household has some secondary or

tertiary education 46 and 70 percent respectively own or have access to TV. The

corresponding percentage for households where the head of household has no formal

education or only some primary education is 5 and 11 percent.

132

Table 7.6. Households by main sorce of income and access to durable/capital goods.

Percent.

MAIN SOURCE OF Radio TV Phone Fridge Sewing Motor Donkey/ Bicycle

INCOME machine vehicle ox cart

Number of households

Subsistence farming Owned 52 2 1 2 20 8 11 18

85 050 Access 5 1 1 0 3 2 3 4

Wages in cash Owned 76 34 29 38 26 30 12 24

107 362 Access 6 6 8 4 3 5 3 2

Business Owned 75 35 35 40 43 45 16 21

13 909 Access 4 4 2 1 2 2 2 3

Pensions Owned 56 9 11 14 31 11 18 12

27 602 Access 6 2 2 1 3 3 3

Cash remittances Owned 53 15 10 19 23 12 10 10

10 556 Access 8 7 6 2 3 5 5 3

NAMIBIA Owned 65 19 17 22 25 20 13 20

244 827 Access 6 4 5 2 2 3 3 3

Note: Only the two percentages for owned and access are presented in the table. The percentages for neither owned nor
access are excluded. The total of the three percentages is 100.
Note: The Number of households has been added to the first column to facilitate the calculation of absolute number in each cell.
Note: There is a small group Other of the variable main source of income representing 0.1 % of the households. This group is
not presented in the table.
Definitions
Main source of income: See table5.12.

Access: Not owned but access to free of charge.

Ownership of or access to household durable/capital goods is most common among

households where wages in cash or business is the main source of income. Worst off are

the large group of households where subsistence farming is the main source of income.

For example, only 2-3 percent of these households own or have access to a TV or a

telephone or a refrigerator.

133

Table 7.7. Households by number of full-time employment equivalents ( FEEs ) and access

to durable/capital goods. Percent.

FULL-TIME EMPLOYMENT Radio TV Phone Fridge Sewing Motor Donkey/ Bicycle

EQUIVALENTS machine vehicle ox cart

Number of households

No economic activity Owned 55 7 7 9 24 11 15 17

58 557 Access 5 2 2 1 3 3 3 4

0 < FEEs < 0.5 Owned 49 8 6 9 16 8 8 14

17 333 Access 10 1 2 1 4 4 4 4

0.5 <= FEEs < 1.0 Owned 63 12 11 14 19 15 10 19

24 336 Access 7 3 4 2 2 3 3 3

1.0 <= FEEs < 1.5 Owned 69 22 19 28 26 23 15 18

65 837 Access 6 6 8 4 2 6 3 1

1.5 <= FEEs < 2.0 Owned 67 22 17 20 21 17 7 22

13 566 Access 5 5 8 1 3 1 2 4

FEEs > =2.0 Owned 74 34 28 37 33 32 12 26

54 477 Access 4 4 5 1 2 2 3 1

NAMIBIA Owned 65 19 17 22 25 20 13 20

244 827 Access 6 4 5 2 2 3 3 3

Note : Only the two percentages for owned and access are presented in the table. The percentages for neither owned nor
access are excluded. The total of the three percentages is 100.
Note: The Number of households has been added to the first column to facilitate the calculation of absolute number in each cell.
Note : There is an item non-response of 4 % in the variable full-time employment equivalents which is not presented in the table.
Definitions
Full-time employment equivalents: See table 5.11.

Access: Not owned but access to free of charge.

There is a clear correlation between the economic activity in the household as measured

by the number of full-time employment equivalents and the ownership of or access to

household durable/capital goods. With few exceptions, households who have an economic

activity corresponding to one or more than one full-time employment equivalent own or

have access to durable/capital goods to a larger extent than households where the

economic activity is lower. Exceptions from this clear positive correlation are sewing

machine, donkey/ox cart and bicycle where ownership and access are more evenly spread

among the households independently of the economic activity.

134

Table 7.8. Households by percentile groups and access to durable/capital goods. Percent.

PERCENTILE Radio TV Phone Fridge Sewing Motor Donkey/ Bicycle

GROUPS machine vehicle ox cart

Number of
households

APCI< P90 Owned 61 13 10 15 22 14 13 18

220 346 Access 6 4 5 2 3 3 3 3

APCI>= P90 Owned 93 77 75 84 51 76 6 36

24 481 Access 1 2 4 2 2 4 1 0

NAMIBIA Owned 65 19 17 22 25 20 13 20

244 827 Access 6 4 5 2 2 3 3 3

APCI< P25 Owned 53 1 0 2 19 6 17 16

61 257 Access 7 2 2 1 1 2 3 2

P25 <= APCI < P50 Owned 56 4 3 6 21 9 12 16

61 234 Access 6 3 4 1 3 4 4 3

P50 <= APCI <P75 Owned 65 15 12 18 24 14 14 17

61 168 Access 6 6 6 3 2 4 4 4

P75 <= APCI < P90 Owned 79 43 35 47 28 38 9 25

36 687 Access 5 7 8 4 5 4 2 1

P90 <= APCI < P95 Owned 92 74 69 80 42 69 5 34

12 286 Access 1 4 6 2 2 5 1 0

P95 <= APCI < P99 Owned 94 78 79 86 62 80 7 38

9 770 Access 0 1 3 2 1 4 1 1

APCI >= P99 Owned 98 82 93 92 55 93 7 40

2 425 Access 0 0 2 2 4 3 0 0

Note : Only the two percentages for owned and access are presented in the table. The percentages for neither owned nor
access are excluded. The total of the three percentages is 100.
Note: TheNumber of households has been added to the first column to facilitate the calculation of absolute number in each cell.
Definitions
Percentile groupss: The percentile groups are defined from the adjusted per capita income (APCI). See the beginning of chapter 8

and table 8.1.2.

Access: Not owned but access to free of charge.

Percentile groups are frequently used to illustrate the skewness of the distribution of

economic standard in the population. The percentile groups in the table are defined from

the adjusted per capita income of the private household (see page ... and table 8.1.2) . The

adjusted per capita income of the household is used as a basic indicator of economic

standard in this report.

There is a strong correlation between the economic standard of a household and the

ownership of and access to household durable/capital goods. The higher the economic

standard - i.e. the higher percentile group of households - the more frequent is ownership

or access to household durable/capital goods. The only exception from this statement is

ownership of or access to a donkey/ox cart.

For example, among the 25 percent of the households having the lowest economic

standard only 2 - 3 percent own or have access to a TV or a phone or a refrigerator.

Among the 10 percent of the households having the highest economic standard about 80

percent own or have access to a TV or a telephone and 85 percent own or have access to a

refrigerator. The corresponding percentages for motor vehicle are 8 and 80.

Some durable/capital goods, like radio, sewing machine and bicycle, are somehat more

evenly spread among the households. But also for these durable/capital goods the positive

correlation between economic standard and ownership or access is very clear.

135

Table 7.9. Households by region, rural/urban areas and access to income generating

agricultural facilities. Percent .

REGION Cattle Goats Sheep Pigs Poultry Grazing Fields Fishing
Number of
households

land

Caprivi Owned 59 13 0 3 69 2 85 2
16 884 Access 28 0 0 0 4 93 7 79

Erongo Owned 24 37 13 3 40 5 7 0
16 611 Access 4 4 2 0 3 36 27 45

Hardap Owned 15 32 11 1 36 15 20 2
12 521 Access 1 2 1 0 0 22 15 6

Karas Owned 13 26 12 2 37 10 22 4
11 545 Access 0 2 1 0 2 30 20 1

Khomas Owned 19 20 9 2 19 5 10 0
34 101 Access 4 5 1 2 4 25 9 17

Kunene Owned 59 61 23 4 44 2 20 5
10 398 Access 4 4 2 0 1 76 45 0

Ohangwena Owned 51 72 0 36 97 17 97 1
25 574 Access 3 0 0 0 0 68 1 11

Okavango Owned 38 30 0 12 72 0 76 2
20 394 Access 17 0 0 0 1 90 17 89

Omaheke Owned 44 42 22 2 62 7 17 4
9 157 Access 2 3 1 0 2 56 24 0

Omusati Owned 47 69 10 46 93 15 94 2
21 822 Access 1 1 1 0 0 65 2 8

Oshana Owned 35 52 5 20 76 12 79 1
24 198 Access 2 3 1 1 1 57 3 9

Oshikoto Owned 47 54 1 24 79 11 75 1
18 795 Access 2 1 1 1 0 63 4 6

Otjozondjupa Owned 40 35 14 3 55 6 19 10
22 827 Access 5 3 1 0 1 53 24 0

NAMIBIA Owned 37 42 8 14 61 9 52 1
244 827 Access 6 2 1 0 1 56 13 23

Rural Owned 45 51 8 20 79 10 70 1
161 962 Access 7 2 1 0 1 70 13 23

Urban Owned 23 24 9 3 26 6 16 1
82 864 Access 3 3 1 1 3 29 12 23
Note: Only the two percentages for owned and access are presented in the table. The percentages for neither owned nor
access are excluded. The total of the three percentages is 100.
Note: The Number of households has been added to the first column to facilitate the calculation of absolute number in each cell.
Definitions
Region and Rral/Uban: See table 3.1.

Access: Not owned but access to free of charge.

Many Namibian households are depending on agriculture for generating income - in most

cases for own consumption but also for selling of agricultural products. Subsistence

farming is the main source of income for about 85 000 households in Namibia and

commercial farming is the main source of income for about 4000 households.

40 - 45 percent of the Namibian households own or have access to cattle and/or goats. 60 -

65 percent of the households own or have access to poultry, grazing land and/or fields.

About 25 percent of the households have access to fishing and 10 - 15 percent of the

households own or have access to sheep and/or pigs.

As expected, these percentages are in most cases significantly higher in rural areas.

The dependency of households on agriculture for generating income is higher in the

northern regions than in the central/southern regions.

136

Table 7.10. Households by sex of head of household, rural/urban areas and access to

income generating agricultural facilities. Percent.

RURAL/URBAN Cattle Goats Sheep Pigs Poultry Grazing Fields Fishing

SEX OF HEAD OF land

HOUSEHOLD

Number of
households

RURAL

Female headed Owned 38 50 6 21 82 10 82 1

household Access 7 2 1 0 1 71 8 25

66 108

Male headed Owned 49 52 9 19 76 10 62 1

household Access 7 2 1 0 1 69 17 22

95 855

TOTAL Owned 45 51 8 20 79 10 70 1

161 962 Access 7 2 1 0 1 70 13 23

URBAN

Female headed Owned 18 20 8 3 25 6 12 0

household Access 3 2 1 1 1 27 10 18

26 914

Male headed Owned 25 27 9 3 27 6 18 1

household Access 4 3 1 1 3 31 13 26

55 950

TOTAL Owned 23 24 9 3 26 6 16 1

82 864 Access 3 3 1 1 3 29 12 23

NAMIBIA

Female headed Owned 32 41 6 16 66 8 61 1

household Access 6 2 1 0 1 58 9 23

93 022

Male headed Owned 40 42 9 13 58 9 45 1

household Access 6 2 1 1 2 55 15 24

151 805

TOTAL Owned 37 42 8 14 61 9 52 1

244 827 Access 6 2 1 0 1 56 13 23

Head of household: See table 3.3.

Access: Not owned but access to free of charge.

There are no great differences between female headed and male headed households in

ownership and access to income generating agricultural facilities.

137

Table 7.11. Households by main language spoken and access to income generating

agricultural facilities . Percent .

MAIN Cattle Goats Sheep Pigs Poultry Grazing Fields Fishing

LANGUAGE land

Number of
households

English Owned 8 3 2 0 2 6 5 5

3 842 Access 0 0 0 0 2 7 11 32

Afrikaans Owned 14 18 12 1 20 11 14 2

31 207 Access 1 1 1 0 1 14 6 22

Caprivi Owned 57 12 0 3 69 3 81 2

15 401 Access 26 0 0 0 4 90 9 75

Damara/Nama Owned 16 34 10 1 50 4 12 0

34 154 Access 2 3 1 0 2 42 26 10

German Owned 17 9 7 3 12 18 17 3

3 837 Access 0 0 0 0 1 5 4 19

Oshiwambo Owned 44 59 4 28 80 13 77 1

106 987 Access 3 2 1 1 2 61 6 11

Otjiherero Owned 66 58 30 2 51 4 18 0

22 375 Access 7 5 2 0 1 73 30 9

Rukavango Owned 42 31 0 10 70 1 74 0

21 233 Access 20 0 0 0 1 90 18 85

San Owned 15 9 0 9 59 0 43 7

3 551 Access 0 0 0 0 0 61 14 38

Tswana Owned 49 34 23 0 44 25 16 0

1 020 Access 6 6 0 0 0 45 34 11

Other Owned 16 16 10 0 13 0 0 0

951 Access 4 4 0 0 4 21 26 14

NAMIBIA Owned 37 42 8 14 61 9 52 1

244 827 Access 6 2 1 0 1 56 13 23

Note : Only the two percentages for owned and access are presented in the table. The percentages for neither owned nor
access are excluded. The total of the three percentages is 100.
Note: The Number of households has been added to the first column to facilitate the calculation of absolute number in each cell.
Note : There is an item non-response of 0.1 % in the household main language variable which is not presented in the table.
Definitions
Main language spoken: See table 3.4.

Access: Not owned but access to free of charge.

With some variations between the language groups, ownership of or access to income

generating agricultural facilities is most common among households where Caprivi,

Rukavango, Oshiwambo, Otjiherero or Tswana is the main language spoken.

Ownership of or access to income generating agricultural facilities is somewhat less

common in households where Damara/Nama or San is the main language.

Least common is ownership of and access to income generating agricultural facilities

among households where English, Afrikaans or German is the main language spoken. But

Afrikaans and German are common languages among households where commercial

farming is the main source of income.

138

Table 7.12. Households by household composition and access to income generating

agricultural facilities. Percent .

HOUSEHOLD Cattle Goats Sheep Pigs Poultry Grazing Fields Fishing

COMPOSITION land

Number of households

SINGLE - Owned 21 26 5 3 32 4 22 0

Alone Access 7 6 2 0 2 46 22 18

21 183

SINGLE - Owned 31 27 10 7 43 5 36 3

with 1 own child Access 7 4 0 0 0 50 11 30

4 156

SINGLE - with more Owned 29 39 6 12 68 9 66 1

than 1 own child Access 11 2 1 0 1 57 8 27

15 273

SINGLE - with Owned 37 47 7 17 70 9 64 1

extended family Access 5 2 1 0 2 62 11 20

68 476

SINGLE - Owned 35 47 12 12 53 8 31 1

with non-relatives Access 4 4 2 1 4 53 17 12

11 224

COUPLE - Owned 28 26 12 4 47 12 30 2

Alone Access 5 1 0 0 1 36 16 23

12 698

COUPLE - Owned 20 17 7 1 36 7 32 2

with 1 own child Access 11 2 1 0 1 40 16 25

10 557

COUPLE - with more Owned 33 32 7 9 51 7 46 0

than 1 own child Access 7 1 1 0 2 51 11 31

34 053

COUPLE - with Owned 53 56 9 23 73 11 61 1

extended family Access 5 1 1 1 1 64 12 25

56 689

COUPLE - Owned 47 54 12 19 73 7 51 2

with non-relatives Access 2 2 1 1 2 60 12 22

10 209

NAMIBIA Owned 37 42 8 14 61 9 52 1

244 827 Access 6 2 1 0 1 56 13 23

Note : Only the two percentages for owned and access are presented in the table. The percentages for neither owned nor
access are excluded. The total of the three percentages is 100.
Note: TheNumber of households has been added to the first column to facilitate the calculation of absolute number in each cell.
Note : There is an item non-response of 0.1% in the household composition variable which is not presented in the table.
Definitions
Household composition: See table 3.5.

Access: Not owned but access to free of charge.

There is no clear relation between household composition on one hand and ownership of

and access to income generating agricultural facilities on the other hand. But especially

among households of couples, there is a tendency that households who are extended

families and households with non-relatives own or have access to income generating

agricultural facilities to a greater extent than households of nuclear families.

139

Table 7.13. Households by highest formal education of head of household and access to

income generating agricutural facilities . Percent.

HIGHEST Cattle Goats Sheep Pigs Poultry Grazing Fields Fishing

EDUCATION land

Number of households

No formal education Owned 41 49 7 17 74 8 63 1

72 742 Access 6 1 1 0 1 68 15 21

Primary education Owned 40 47 7 19 72 9 62 0

78 708 Access 7 3 1 0 2 63 13 23

Secondary education Owned 33 34 10 8 43 9 35 1

76 524 Access 5 2 1 1 2 43 12 24

Tertiary education Owned 32 21 11 5 28 12 26 2

13 529 Access 2 1 0 1 2 29 7 28

NAMIBIA Owned 37 42 8 14 61 9 52 1

244 827 Access 6 2 1 0 1 56 13 23

Note : Only the two percentages for owned and access are presented in the table. The percentages for neither owned nor
access are excluded. The total of the three percentages is 100.
Note: The Number of households has been added to the first column to facilitate the calculation of absolute number in each cell.
Note : There is an item non-response of 1% in the variable highest formal education of head of household which is not
presented in the table.
Definitions
Highest education: See table 4.3.1.

Access: Not owned but access to free of charge.

In most cases, there is a negative correlation between the formal education of the head of

household, on one hand, and ,on the other hand, ownership or access to income generating

agricultural facilities i.e. the lower the formal education of the head of household, the

more households own or have access to income generating agricultural facilities.

For example, among households where the head of household has no formal education or

only some primary education almost 50 percent own or have access to cattle. The

corresponding percentage for households where the head of household has some

secondary or tertiary education is 34 - 38 percent.

For goats the percentage of ownership or access is 50 percent for households where the

head of household has no formal education or only some primary education while the

percentage is about 35 percent for households where the head of household has some

secondary education and about 20 percent for households where the head of household

has some tertiary education.

A similar negative correlation is valid for pigs, poultry, grazing land and fields. But

ownership of or access to sheep and fishing is rather independent of the formal education

of the head of household.

140

Table 7.14. Households by main sorce of income and access to income generating

agricultural facilities. Percent.

MAIN SOURCE OF Cattle Goats Sheep Pigs Poultry Grazing Fields Fishing

INCOME land

Number of households

Subsistence farming Owned 52 60 6 28 88 12 92 1

85 050 Access 9 1 1 0 0 75 6 28

Wages in cash Owned 28 30 8 4 41 5 22 1

107 362 Access 4 3 1 0 2 42 18 21

Business Owned 43 42 20 10 51 16 44 1

13 909 Access 6 5 2 2 4 46 12 23

Pensions Owned 32 39 8 16 65 6 54 1

27 602 Access 5 1 0 0 1 59 12 17

Cash remittances Owned 21 29 4 6 44 5 35 1

10 556 Access 6 4 1 0 5 52 15 20

NAMIBIA Owned 37 42 8 14 61 9 52 1

244 827 Access 6 2 1 0 1 56 13 23

Note: Only the two percentages for owned and access are presented in the table. The percentages for neither owned nor
access are excluded. The total of the three percentages is 100.
Note: The Number of households has been added to the first column to facilitate the calculation of absolute number in each cell.
Note: There is a small group Other of the variable main source of income representing 0.1 % of the households. This group is
not presented in the table.
Definitions
Main source of income: See table5.12.

Access: Not owned but access to free of charge.

Independent of what is the main source of income, ownership of or access to income

generating agricultural facilities is common among Namibian households. As expected,

ownership of and access to income generating agricultural facilities is most common when

the main source of income is subsistence farming.

If the group of households where commercial farming is the main source of income is

isolated from the group of households where the main source of income is business, the

frequency of ownership of or access to income generating facilities increases to even

higher or much higher levels than for households where subsistence farming is the

main source of income. This is the case for cattle, goats and sheep where the percentages

for ownership are 85, 76 and 53 respectively. The corresponding percentages for

subsistence farmers (including ownership and access) are 61, 61 and 7 respectively.

141

Table 7.15. Households by number of full-time employment equivalents ( FEEs ) in the

household and access to income generating agricultural facilities. Percent.

FULL-TIME EMPLOYMENT Cattle Goats Sheep Pigs Poultry Grazing Fields Fishing

EQUIVALENTS land
Number of households

No economic activity Owned 37 52 8 20 72 13 68 1

58 557 Access 3 2 1 0 2 56 7 14

0 < FEEs < 0.5 Owned 43 36 4 16 75 5 75 1

17 333 Access 12 1 1 1 1 75 9 42

0.5 <= FEEs < 1.0 Owned 40 38 6 13 67 4 64 1

24 336 Access 11 1 1 0 1 69 8 39

1.0 <= FEEs < 1.5 Owned 31 35 9 7 52 7 36 1

65 837 Access 5 3 1 0 2 51 18 18

1.5 <= FEEs < 2.0 Owned 42 41 3 14 59 3 53 2

13 566 Access 10 2 1 0 1 67 11 44

FEEs > =2.0 Owned 39 42 11 13 54 9 39 1

54 477 Access 4 2 1 1 1 49 16 22

NAMIBIA Owned 37 42 8 14 61 9 52 1

244 827 Access 6 2 1 0 1 56 13 23

Note : Only the two percentages for owned and access are presented in the table. The percentages for neither owned nor
access are excluded. The total of the three percentages is 100.
Note: The Number of households has been added to the first column to facilitate the calculation of absolute number in each cell.
Note : There is an item non-response of 4 % in the variable full-time employment equivalents which is not presented in the table.
Definitions
Full-time employment equivalents: See table 5.11.

Access: Not owned but access to free of charge.

There is no clear correlation between ownership of or access to income generating

agricultural activities on one hand and the economic activity of the household on the other

hand.

142

Table 7.16. Households by percentile groups and access to income generating agricultural

facilities.

PERCENTILE Cattle Goats Sheep Pigs Poultry Grazing Fields Fishing

GROUPS land
Number of
households

APCI< P90 Owned 39 44 7 15 65 8 56 1

220 346 Access 6 2 1 0 1 60 13 23

APCI>= P90 Owned 22 21 13 3 16 13 15 1

24 481 Access 3 2 1 1 3 19 8 24

NAMIBIA Owned 37 42 8 14 61 9 52 1

244 827 Access 6 2 1 0 1 56 13 23

APCI< P25 Owned 42 51 6 21 78 9 72 1

61 257 Access 8 2 1 0 1 69 9 23

P25 <= APCI < P50 Owned 40 48 6 17 75 7 65 1

61 234 Access 6 1 1 0 0 69 12 23

P50 <= APCI <P75 Owned 38 41 8 14 61 9 46 1

61 168 Access 5 3 1 0 2 56 18 24

P75 <= APCI < P90 Owned 32 33 10 7 37 8 28 1

36 687 Access 5 3 1 1 2 39 14 23

P90 <= APCI < P95 Owned 22 23 6 3 17 11 16 1

12 286 Access 3 3 1 1 3 21 9 19

P95 <= APCI < P99 Owned 21 17 19 1 12 12 13 2

9 770 Access 2 1 1 0 2 19 10 30

APCI >= P99 Owned 31 27 23 10 28 27 17 3

2 425 Access 2 2 2 2 2 7 3 27

Note : Only the two percentages for owned and access are presented in the table. The percentages for neither owned nor
access are excluded. The total of the three percentages is 100.
Note: TheNumber of households has been added to the first column to facilitate the calculation of absolute number in each cell.
Definitions
Percentile groupss: The percentile groups are defined from the adjusted per capita income (APCI). See the beginning of chapter 8

and table 8.1.2.

Access: Not owned but access to free of charge.

Percentile groups are frequently used to illustrate the skewness of the distribution of

economic standard in the population. The percentile groups in the table are defined from

the adjusted per capita income of the private household (see the beginning of chapter 8

and table 8.1.2) . The adjusted per capita income of the household is used as a basic

indicator of economic standard in this report.

There is a clear negative correlation between the percentile group to which a household

belongs, on one hand, and ownership of or access to income generating agricultural

facilities , on the other hand, i.e. the higher percentile group a household belongs to the

less common is ownership of or access to income generating agricultural facilities. The

only exceptions from this statement are ownership of or access to sheep and fishing where

the correlation is very small or even positive.

143

Chapter 8. ECONOMIC STANDARD

National totals and means.

The total annual private household consumption in Namibia is estimated to about 3.1 billion

Namibian dollars (N$). (See chapter 9 of the NHIES Administrative and Technical Report for a

comparison with the corresponding estimate of the National Accounts.) The average annual

private household consumption in Namibia is about N$ 12 800 and the average annual per

capita consumption is about N$ 2 300.

The total annual income of private households in Namibia is estimated to about 4.2 billion

Namibian dollars (N$). This means that almost 75 percent of this income is used for private

consumption while the rest is used for investments and savings and other non-consumption

purposes.

The average annual household income in Namibia is about N$ 17 200 and the average annual

per capita income is about N$ 3 000. The average adjusted per capita income is about N$ 3 600.

BASIC INDICATORS

As experienced internationally the consumption is better recorded than income in

household income and expenditure surveys. This means that the most reliable way

to estimate (total available) household income in a household income and

expenditure survey is to add household savings and investments and some other

non-consumption disbursements (e.g. income tax) to the total private consumption

of the household. The total private household consumption is defined as the cash

expenditures and the consumption in kind (own produce, bartering, payments/gifts

in kind). Household income and private household consumption defined in this

way are the main indicators of economic standard in this chapter.

In order to pay attention to differences in household size and household

composition when comparing economic standard between households private

household consumption per capita (i.e. per household member) as well as private

income per capita and adjusted private income per capita is compiled. Unlike the

unadjusted per capita income the adjusted per capita income pays attention to

the fact that the consumption needs of children are less than the consumption needs

of adults. This means that the weight attached to each child is less than 1 when

compiling the per capita income (see table 8.1.2 for details). When compiling the

unadjusted per capita income all members of the households are given the weight

144

Namibia

Karas

Hardap

Erongo

Omaheke

Khomas

Kunene

Okavango

Caprivi
Omusati

Oshana

Otjozondjupa

Average per Capita Income

9 995

1 866 to 5 759

863 to 1 865

Ohangwena

Oshikoto

Namibia

The average per capita income by region

145

PERCENTILE GROUPS

A population of households can be divided into100 equalsized subgroups of households defined

by the size of a certain variable.

In this report the variable used is the adjusted per capita income which is used as an indicator

of the economic standard of the household. The 1 st percentile group includes the 1 percent of

the households having the lowest economic standard i.e. the lowest adjusted per capita income.

The 2nd percentile group includes the 1 percent of the households having the lowest economic

standard after exclusion of the 1 st percentile group. The 3rd percentile group includes the 1

percent of the households having the lowest economic standard after exclusion of the 1st and

2nd percentile groups. Etc. The 100th percentile group includes the one percent of the

households having the highest economic standard.

The values defining the borderlines between the different percentile groups are called

percentiles: P1, P2 etc. to P99. For example, the first percentile P1 is the value of the adjusted

per capita income which demarcates the 1st percentile group from the 2nd percentile group and

the 99th percentile P99 is the value of the adjusted per capita income which demarcates the

99th percentile group from the 100th percentile group.

In this report the percentile groups are aggregated to bigger groups in two basic groupings A

and B:

A.1. Adjusted per capita income (APCI) less than (<)P90.

This group includes the 90 percent of the households having the lowest value

of APCI.

A 2. APCI larger than or equal to (>=) P90.

This group includes the 10 percent of the households having the

highest value of APCI.

B1. APCI < P25.

This group includes the 25 percent of the households having the lowest

APCI.

B2. P25<=APCI<P50.

This group includes the 25 percent of the households which have a

higher economic standard than B1, i.e.the 25 percent having the lowest

APCI, but a lower economic standard than the 50 percent of the households

having the highest APCI.

B3. P50<=APCI<P75.

B4. P75<=APCI<P90.

B5. P90<=APCI<P95.

B6. P95<=APCI<P99.

The household groups B3, B4,B5 and B6 are defined in a similar way as B2.

B7. APCI>=P99.

This group includes the 1 percent of the households having the highest

economic standard i.e. the highest APCI.

P25, P50 and P75 are also called the 1st, 2nd and 3rd quartiles respectively.

P50 is also called the median.

146

The distribution of economic standard

The distribution of economic standard measured as household consumption and household

income is very skewed in the Namibian population. The Lorenz curve and the Gini coefficient

presented later in this chapter is a clear evidence of the skewness of the income distribution. A

Gini coefficient of about 0.7 is an indication of a very skewed distribution of economic

standard.

Another indication of the skewed distribution of economic standard in Namibia are the big

differences between national arithmetical means and medians:

INDICATOR Arithmetical mean
Annual value

Median
Annual value

N$
Private household
consumption

12 783

5 743

Private household
consumption per capita

2 253

863

Household income 17 198 6 161
Household income per
capita

3 031

933

Adjusted household
income per capita

3 608

1 140

The arithmetical means are relatively high because by definition they are influenced by the high

consumption and income levels of certain private households in Namibia. The medians on the

other hand reflect the consumption and income levels below which 50 percent of the

households/individuals in Namibia have to survive.

Percentile groups are frequently used to illustrate the skewness of the distribution of economic

standard in the population. The percentile groups are defined from the (adjusted) per capita

income of the private households (see the beginning of this chapter and table 8.1.2).

From studying percentile groups (table 8.1.1-2) the skewness of the distribution of economic

standard in Namibia becomes still more evident.

Household consumption

The 10 percent of the households (5.3 percent of the population) which have the highest

economic standard i.e. the highest (adjusted) per capita income are consuming about 44 percent

of the total private consumption in households. The other 90 percent of the households ( 94.7

percent of the population) are consuming about 56 percent of the total private consumption in

households.

The annual per capita consumption is about N$ 18 700 in the better off group while it is about

N$ 1 300 in the rest of the population.

The 5 percent of the households who have the highest economic standard have a total

consumption which is almost twice the consumption of the 50 percent of the households who

have the lowest economic standard. The smaller group of 5 percent of the households includes

147

only 2.5 percent of the population but has a total annual consumption of about Million N$ 900.

The larger group of 50 percent of the households includes about 60 percent of the population

and the total annual consumption in this group is about Million N$ 490.

(table 8.1.1)

Household income

The skewness of the income distribution is still more pronounced than the skewness of the

distribution of private consumption.

The 10 percent of the households or 5.3 percent of the population who have the highest

(adjusted) per capita income have more than 50 percent of the total income of the private

households. The other 90 percent of the households or 94.7 percent of the population have only

about 48 percent of the total income of the private households.

The average per capita income is about N$ 29 500 in the better off group while it is about N$ 1

500 in the rest of the population. The corresponding figures for the average adjusted per capita

income is N$ 33 000 and N$ 1 800.

The 5 percent of the households who have the highest economic standard have a total

household income which is about three times the household income of the 50 percent of the

households which have the lowest economic standard. The smaller group of 5 percent of the

households includes only 2.5 percent of the population but has a total annual household income

of about Million N$ 1 500. The larger group of 50 percent of the households includes about 60

percent of the population and the total annual household income in this group is about Million

N$ 520.

(table 8.1.2)

Regions and rural/urban areas

The Khomas region where the capital Windhoek is situated has the highest level of private

consumption in Namibia. The average annual per capita consumption in the Khomas region is

about N$ 7 000. The corresponding figure for the northern regions is below N$ 1500.

The Khomas region has also the highest level of private income in Namibia. The average annual

per capita income in the Khomas region is about N$ 10 000 and the average adjusted per capita

income is about N$ 11 400. The corresponding figures for the northern regions are between N$

900 and N$ 2 000.

A general observation is that rural areas and the northern regions of Namibia are worse off

concerning economic standard.

(table 8.2.1-2)

Sex of head of household

About 40 percent of the Namibian private households are headed by females. The average

economic standard of female headed households is about half of the average economic standard

in male headed households. This picture is the same independently of whether household

private consumption or household income is used as an indicator of economic standard.

148

There are relatively fewer female headed households in urban areas than in rural areas.

The average economic standard is much higher in urban than in rural areas for female headed

households as well as for male headed households.

The relative difference in average economic standard between female headed and male headed

households is somewhat lower in rural areas.

(table 8.3.1-2)

Main language of household

The average economic standard of households is much higher in population groups where

German, English and Afrikaans are the main languages of the household. For example, the

German speaking population, who has the highest private consumption level, has an average

consumption level which is 20 times the level of the worst off group in Namibia - the San

people.

The difference in economic standard is still more pronounced if household income is used as an

indicator of economic standard.

(table 8.4.1-2)

Household composition

Single persons and couples living alone without any children have the highest economic

standard. Also single persons with only 1 own child and couples with only own children in the

household have a relatively high economic standard.

Extended families with only relatives have the lowest average economic standard.

(table 8.5.1-2)

Highest level of educational attainment of head of household

There is a strong relationship between the level of educational attainment of the head of

household and the economic standard of the household. The average per capita consumption is

about 12 times higher in households where the head has finished some tertiary education

compared to households where the head has no formal education.

The differences in average income level are still more pronounced. The average per capita

income is about 15 times higher in households where the head has finished some tertiary

education compared to households where the head has no formal education.

(table 8.6.1-2)

149

Main source of income

Subsistence farming is the main source of income for about 35 percent of the Namibian

households.

Households where business is the main source of income - about 6 percent of the households

- have, on the average, 6-7 times the economic standard of households where subsistence

farming is the main source of income.

Households where wages in cash is the main source of income - about 44 percent of the

Namibian households - have, on the average, about 4-5 times the economic standard of

households where subsistence farming is the main source of income.

About 15 percent of the private households of Namibia rely on pensions or cash remittances

as their main source of income. The economic standard for these households is, on the average,

about 40-50 percent higher than for households where subsistence farming is the main source

of income. But the economic standard is only about 50-60 percent of the average economic

standard of households in Namibia.

(table 8.7.1-2)

Number of full-time employment equivalents in the household

There is a clear relation between the level of gainful employment in the household and the

economic standard of the household. Households having at least the equivalence of 2 full-time

employed members (the gainful employment might be distributed among more than two

members in the form of part-time employment) have an average economic standard of about 3

times the level of households having no member employed.

(table 8.8.1-2)

150

LORENZ CURVE FOR THE DISTRIBUTION OF INCOME AMONG THE

NAMIBIAN POPULATION

0.1

0.2

0.3

0.4

0.5

0.6

0.7

0.8

0.9

1 10 19 28 37 46 55 64 73 82 91 100

% OF POPULATION

%
O

F
I
N

C
O

M
E

Note: The Lorenz curve is based on individuals as unit of analysis. The income variable used is the adjusted
per capita income of the household. This variable is used as an indicator of the economic standard of all members of the
household.

The Gini coefficient is 0.701.

The Gini coefficient is defined as the ratio between the area below the diagonal and above

the curve (the nominator) and the whole area below the diagonal (the denominator). The

size of the first area is an expression for the skewness of the income distribution. The

bigger the area, the larger the skewness of the income distribution.

The value of the Gini coefficient will always be between 0 and 1. The higher the value, the

skewer the income distribution.

A Gini coefficient of 0.7 is an indication of a very skewed income distribution.

151

Table 8.1.1 The population and the annual household private consumption

disaggregated by household percentile groups.

PERCENTILE Households Average Population Total Total Average Average

GROUPS Household Consumption Consumption Household Per Capita

size Consumption Consumption

% % Million N$ % N$ N$

APCI<P90 90 6.0 94.7 1 748 55.9 7 933 1 329

APCI>=P90 10 3.0 5.3 1 381 44.1 56 434 18 675

NAMIBIA 100 5.7 100 3 129 100 12 783 2 253

APCI<P25 25 7.6 33.3 172 5.5 2 811 372

P25<= APCI <P50 25 6.2 27.5 322 10.3 5 273 845

P50<= APCI <P75 25 5.1 22.3 547 17.5 8 952 1 766

P75<= APCI <P90 15 4.4 11.5 705 22.5 19 226 4 408

P90<= APCI <P95 5 3.3 2.9 466 14.9 37 939 11 599

P95<= APCI <P99 4 2.8 2.0 601 19.2 61 595 22 093

APCI>=P99 1 2.7 0.5 313 10.0 129 335 47 850

Definitions
Percentile groups: The percentile groups are defined from the adjusted per capita income (APCI) . See the beginning of this chapter and

table 8.1.2.

Private consumption is defined as private consumption in cash and in kind. For further details see the administrative and technical report

chap 8.
The total annual private household consumption in Namibia is estimated to about 3.1

billion Namibian dollars (N$). The average annual private household consumption in

Namibia is about N$ 12 800 and the average annual per capita consumption is about N$ 2

300. The corresponding median values are about N$ 5 700 and N$ 900 respectively. The

great differences between averages and corresponding medians are an indication of the

skewness of the distribution of private consumption in Namibia .

Percentile groups are frequently used to illustrate the skewness of the distribution of

economic standard in the population. The percentile groups in the table are defined from

the (adjusted) per capita income of the private household (see the beginning of this

chapter and table 8.1.2)

From the table it is evident that the distribution of the annual private household

consumption is very skewed in Namibia. The 10 percent of the households (5.3 percent of

the population) which have the highest (adjusted) per capita income are consuming about

44 percent of the total private consumption in households. The other 90 percent of the

households ( 94.7 percent of the population) are consuming about 56 percent of the total

private consumption in households.

The annual per capita consumption is about N$ 18 700 in the better off group while it is

about N$ 1 300 in the rest of the population.

From the lower part of the table it is evident that there are great differences in the

consumption level also within the two groups presented in the first part of the table.

152

Table 8.1.2 The annual private household income disaggregated by household percentile

groups.

PERCENTILE Population Total Total Average Average Average Average

GROUPS Income Income Household Household Per Capita Adjusted

Size Income Income Per Capita

Income

% Million N$ % N$ N$ N$

APCI <P90 94.7 2 023 48.1 6.0 9 182 1 539 1 838

APCI >=P90 5.3 2 187 51.9 3.0 89 339 29 564 33 012

NAMIBIA 100 4 210 100 5.7 17 198 3 031 3 608

APCI <P25 33.3 177 4.2 7.6 2 890 382 464

P25<= APCI <P50 27.5 343 8.2 6.2 5 608 8 99 1 079

P50<= APCI <P75 22.3 615 14.6 5.1 10 055 1 984 2 337

P75<= APCI <P90 11.5 887 21.1 4.4 24 201 5 549 6 436

P90<= APCI <P95 2.9 634 15.1 3.3 51 625 15 783 17 703

P95<= APCI <P99 2.0 897 21.3 2.8 91 864 32 951 36 553

# >=P99 0.5 655 15.6 2.7 270 236 99 979 111 635

Definitions
Percentile groups: The percentile groups are defined from the adjusted per capita income (ACPI) . See the begining of this chapter.

Household income is defined as private consumption in cash and in kind plus household savings and investments and some other non-

consumption disbursements(e.g. income tax). For further details see the administrative and technical report chap 8.

Adjusted per capita income is compiled by means of the following weights allocated to each member of the household depending on age: if

Age<=5 then the weight=0.5, if 5<age<=15 then the weight=0.75 and if age>15 then the weight=1.0 (SSD Research Report 10, February

1994, UNAM)

The total annual income of private households in Namibia is estimated to about 4.2 billion

Namibian dollars (N$). 75 percent of this income is used for private consumption while the

rest is used for investments and savings and other non-consumption purposes.

The average annual household income in Namibia is about N$ 17 200 and the average

annual per capita income is about N$ 3 000. The average adjusted per capita income is

about N$ 3 600. The corresponding median values are about N$ 6 200, N$ 900 and

N$ 1 100 respectively. The great differences between averages and corresponding medians

are an indication of the skewness of the distribution of household income in Namibia .

From the table it is evident that the distribution of household income is very skewed in

Namibia. It is even more skewed than the private household consumption. The 10 percent

of the households or 5.3 percent of the population who have the highest (adjusted) per

capita income they have more than 50 percent of the total income of the private

households. The other 90 percent of the households or 94.7 percent of the population have

only about 48 percent of the total income of the private households.

The average per capita income is about N$ 29 500 in the better off group while it is about

N$ 1 500 in the rest of the population. The corresponding figures for the average adjusted

per capita income is N$ 33 000 and N$ 1 800.

From the lower part of the table it is evident that there are great differences in income

level also within the two groups presented in the first part of the table.

153

Table 8.2.1 The population and the annual household private consumption in regions and

rural/urban areas.

REGION Households Average Population Total Total Average Average

Household Consumption Consumption Household Per Capita

size Consumption Consumption

% % Million N$ % N$ N$

Caprivi 6.9 5.4 6.6 92 3.0 5 479 1 012

Erongo 6.8 4.5 5.4 250 8.0 15 087 3 369

Hardap 5.1 4.3 3.9 168 5.4 13 484 3 115

Karas 4.7 4.7 3.9 181 5.8 15 722 3 354

Khomas 13.9 4.7 11.6 1 164 37.2 34 152 7 200

Kunene 4.2 5.7 4.2 81 2.6 7 882 1 388

Ohangwena 10.4 7.5 13.7 156 5.0 6 111 819

Okavango 8.3 6.1 9.0 153 4.9 7 537 1 229

Omaheke 3.7 5.1 3.4 118 3.8 12 936 2 515

Omusati 8.9 7.0 11 169 5.4 7 746 1 105

Oshana 9.9 6.7 11.6 216 6.9 8 928 1 338

Oshikoto 7.7 6.2 8.4 139 4.4 7 407 1 199

Otjozondjupa 9.3 4.4 7.2 236 7.6 10 374 2 358

NAMIBIA 100 5.7 100 3 129 100 12 783 2 253

Rural 66.2 6.1 71.1 1 231 39.3 7 601 1 246

Urban 33.8 4.8 28.9 1 898 60.7 22 912 4 731

Definitions

Region and Rural/Urban: See table 3.1.

Private consumption is defined as private consumption in cash and in kind. For further details see the administrative and technical report

chap 8.

The Khomas region where the capital Windhoek is situated has the highest level of private

consumption in Namibia. The average annual per capita consumption in the Khomas

region is about N$ 7 000. The corresponding figure for the northern regions is below N$

1500.

A general observation is that rural areas and the northern regions of Namibia are worse

off concerning private household consumption level.

154

Table 8.2.2 The annual private household income in regions and rural/urban areas.

REGION Population Total Total Average Average Average Average

Income Income Household Household Per Capita Adjusted

Size Income Income Per Capita

Income

% Million N$ % N$ N$ N$

Caprivi 6.6 122 2.9 5.4 7 248 1 338 1 598

Erongo 5.4 349 8.3 4.5 21 055 4 701 5 423

Hardap 3.9 279 6.6 4.3 22 308 5 153 5 945

Karas 3.9 311 7.4 4.7 26 991 5 758 6 655

Khomas 11.6 1 616 38.4 4.7 47 409 9 995 11 359

Kunene 4.2 110 2.6 5.7 10 583 1 864 2 203

Ohangwena 13.7 164 3.9 7.5 6 439 863 1 070

Okavango 9.0 182 4.3 6.1 8 944 1 459 1 763

Omaheke 3.4 157 3.7 5.1 17 183 3 341 3 944

Omusati 11 184 4.4 7.0 8 441 1 204 1 452

Oshana 11.6 254 6.1 6.7 10 528 1 577 1 922

Oshikoto 8.4 163 3.9 6.2 8 689 1 406 1 680

Otjozondjupa 7.2 314 7.5 4.4 13 756 3 126 3 659

NAMIBIA 100 4 210 100 5.7 17 198 3 031 3 608

Rural 71.1 1 531 36.4 6.1 9 453 1 550 1 875

Urban 28.9 2 679 63.6 4.8 32 335 6 676 7 651

Definitions

Region and Rural/Urban: See table 3.1.

Household income is defined as private consumption in cash and in kind plus household savings and investments and some other non-

consumption disbursements(e.g. income tax). For further details see the administrative and technical report chap 8.

Adjusted per capita income: See table 8.1.2

The Khomas region where the capital Windhoek is situated has the highest level of private

income in Namibia. The average annual per capita income in the Khomas region is about

N$ 10 000 and the average adjusted per capita income is about N$ 11 400. The

corresponding figures for the northern regions are between N$ 900 and N$ 2 000.

A general observation is that rural areas and the northern regions of Namibia are worse

off concerning household income level. This is even more pronounced for household

income than for private household consumption.

155

Table 8.3.1 The population and the annual household private consumption disaggregated

by rural/urban areas and sex of head of household.

RURAL/URBAN Households Average Population Total Total Average Average

SEX OF HEAD Household Consumption Consumption Household Per Capita

OF size Consumption Consumption

HOUSEHOLD % % Million N$ % N$ N$

RURAL

Female 27.0 6.1 29.0 390 12.5 5 907 969

Male 39.2 6.1 42.1 840 26.9 8 769 1 437

TOTAL 66.2 6.1 71.1 1231 39.3 7601 1 246

URBAN

Female 11.0 4.6 9.0 387 12.4 14 409 3 103

Male 22.9 4.9 19.9 1 510 48.3 27 001 5 467

TOTAL 33.8 4.8 28.9 1 898 60.7 22 912 4 731

NAMIBIA

Female 38.0 5.7 38.0 778 24.9 8 367 1 475

Male 62.0 5.7 62.0 2 351 75.1 15 489 2 730

TOTAL 100 5.7 100 3 129 100 12 783 2 253

Definitions

Rural/Urban: See table 3.1.

Head of household: See table 3.3.

Private consumption is defined as private consumption in cash and in kind. For further details see the administrative and technical report

chap 8.

About 40 percent of the Namibian private households are headed by females. The

household private consumption level in female headed households is about half of the

consumption level in male headed households.

There are relatively fewer female headed households in urban areas than in rural areas.

The level of the private household consumption is much higher in urban than in rural

areas for female headed households as well as for male headed households.

The relative difference in the level of the private household consumption between female

headed and male headed households is somewhat lower in rural areas.

156

Table 8.3.2 The annual private household income disaggregated by rural/urban areas and

sex of head of household.

RURAL/URBAN Population Total Total Average Average Average Average

SEX OF HEAD Income Income Household Household Per Capita Adjusted

OF Size Income Income Per Capita

HOUSEHOLD Income

% Million N$ % N$ N$ N$

RURAL

Female 29.0 437 10.4 6.1 6 612 1 085 1 334

Male 42.1 1 093 26.0 6.1 11 412 1 870 2 236

TOTAL 71.1 1 531 36.4 6.1 9 453 1 550 1 875

URBAN

Female 9.0 515 12.2 4.6 19 143 4 122 4 781

Male 19.9 2 164 51.4 4.9 38 681 7 832 8 927

TOTAL 28.9 2 679 63.6 4.8 32 335 6 676 7 651

NAMIBIA

Female 38.0 952 22.6 5.7 10 238 1 804 2 188

Male 62.0 3 258 77.4 5.7 21 462 3 783 4 454

TOTAL 100 4 210 100 5.7 17 198 3 031 3 608

Definitions

Rural/Urban: See table 3.1.

Head of household: See table 3.3.

Household income is defined as private consumption in cash and in kind plus household savings and investments and some other non-

consumption disbursements(e.g. income tax). For further details see the administrative and technical report chap 8.
Adjusted per capita income: See table 8.1.2

The same highlights as for household private consumption in table 8.3.1 can be made for

household income.

The level of the household income in female headed households is about half of the

income level in male headed households.

The level of the household income is much higher in urban than in rural areas for female

headed households as well as for male headed households.

The relative difference in the level of the household income between female headed and

male headed households is somewhat lower in rural areas.

157

Table 8.4.1 The population and the annual household private consumption disaggregated

by main language of household.

MAIN Households Average Population Total Total Average Average

LANGUAGE Household Consumption Consumption Household Per Capita

size Consumption Consumption

% % Million N$ % N$ N$

English 1.6 3.6 1.0 192 6.1 50 029 14 053

Afrikaans 12.7 4.2 9.5 1 053 33.7 33 750 7 988

Caprivi 6.3 5.6 6.2 92 2.9 5 983 1 064

Damara/Nama 14.0 5.1 12.5 257 8.2 7 529 1 484

German 1.6 2.7 0.8 215 6.9 56 105 20 617

Oshiwambo 43.7 6.5 50.2 857 27.4 8 016 1 229

Otjiherero 9.1 5.5 8.9 238 7.6 10 651 1 927

Rukavango 8.7 5.9 9.0 151 4.9 7 151 1 209

San 1.5 5.1 1.3 18 0.6 5 337 1 039

Tswana 0.4 3.7 0.3 12 0.4 12 425 3 321

Other 0.4 3.1 0.2 35 1.1 37 365 12 101

NAMIBIA 100 5.7 100 3 129 100 12 783 2 253

Note: There is an item non-response of 0.1 % in the household main language variable which is not presented in the table.
Definitions

Main language: See table 3.4.

Private consumption is defined as private consumption in cash and in kind. For further details see the administrative and technical report

chap 8.

The level of the private household consumption is much higher in population groups

where German, English and Afrikaans are the main languages of the household. For

example, the German speaking population, who has the highest level of private

consumption, has a consumption level which is 20 times the level of the worst off group in

Namibia - the San people.

158

Table 8.4.2 The annual private household income disaggregated by main language of

household.

MAIN Population Total Total Average Average Average Average

LANGUAGE Income Income Household Household Per Capita Adjusted

Size Income Income Per Capita

Income

% Million N$ % N$ N$ N$

English 1.0 260 6.2 3.6 67 822 19052 21708

Afrikaans 9.5 1 616 38.4 4.2 51 791 12258 13995

Caprivi 6.2 123 2.9 5.6 8 000 1422 1692

Damara/Nama 12.5 355 8.4 5.1 10 401 2050 2404

German 0.8 291 6.9 2.7 75 864 27878 30459

Oshiwambo 50.2 988 23.5 6.5 9 241 1416 1707

Otjiherero 8.9 321 7.6 5.5 14 366 2599 3077

Rukavango 9.0 171 4.1 5.9 8 054 1362 1652

San 1.3 20 0.5 5.1 5 684 1107 1315

Tswana 0.3 17 0.4 3.7 17 138 4581 5325

Other 0.2 40 1 3.1 42 728 13838 15085

NAMIBIA 100 4 210 100 5.7 17 198 3031 3608

Note: There is an item non-response of 0.1 % in the household main language variable which is not presented in the table.
Definitions

Main language: See table 3.4.

Household income is defined as private consumption in cash and in kind plus household savings and investments and some other non-

consumption disbursements(e.g. income tax). For further details see the administrative and technical report chap 8.
Adjusted per capita income: See table 8.1.2

The same highlights as for private household consumption in table 8.4.1 can be made for

household income. But the differences in income level are still more pronounced than for

the private household consumption.

The household income level is much higher in population groups where German, English

and Afrikaans are the main languages of the household. For example, the German

speaking population, who has the highest level of household income , has an income level

which is 23-25 times the level of the worst off group in Namibia - the San people.

159

Table 8.5.1 The population and the annual private household consumption in households

of different composition.

HOUSEHOLD Households Average Population Total Total Average Average

COMPOSITION Household Consumption Consumption Household Per Capita

size Consumption Consumption

% % Million N$ % N$ N$

Single person

- alone 8.7 1.0 1.6 215 6.9 10 190 9 966

- with 1 own child 1.7 2.0 0.6 33 1.1 7 997 3 937

-with more than

1 own child 6.2 4.5 4.9 121 3.9 7 927 1 769

- with "extended

family" 2.8 6.2 30.5 547 17.5 7 996 1 293

- with non-
relatives

4.6 6.5 5.3 143 4.6 12 749 1 951

Couple

- alone 5.2 2.0 1.9 308 9.8 24 265 11 971

- with 1 own child 4.3 3.0 2.3 230 7.4 21 869 7 249

- with more than

1 own child 13.9 5.7 13.9 693 22.2 20 370 3 603

- with "extended

family" 23.2 8.0 32.6 658 21.0 11 621 1 455

- with non-
relatives

4.2 8.7 6.4 175 5.6 17 214 1 978

NAMIBIA 100 5.7 100 3 129 100 12 783 2 253

Note: There is an item non-response of 0.1 % in the household composition variable which is not presented in the table.
Definitions
Household composition: See table 3.5.

Private consumption is defined as private consumption in cash and in kind. For further details see the administrative and technical report

chap 8.

Single persons and couples living alone without any children have the highest private

consumption level. Also single persons with only 1 own child and couples with only own

children in the household have a relatively high private consumption level.

Extended families with only relatives have the lowest private consumption level.

160

Table 8.5.2 The annual private household income in households of different composition.

HOUSEHOLD Population Total Total Average Average Average Average

COMPOSITION Income Income Household Household Per Capita Adjusted

Size Income Income Per Capita

Income

% Million N$ % N$ N$ N$

Single person

- alone 1.6 266 6.3 1.0 12 592 12 316 12 337

- with 1 own child 0.6 36 0.9 2.0 8 901 4 382 4 987

-with more than

1 own child 4.9 142 3.4 4.5 9 352 2 087 2 621

- with "extended

family" 30.5 647 15.4 6.2 9 458 1 529 1 835

- with non-
relatives

5.3 196 4.7 6.5 17 524 2 682 3 077

Couple

- alone 1.9 476 11.3 2.0 37 555 18 528 18 536

- with 1 own child 2.3 352 8.4 3.0 33 400 11 071 12 441

- with more than

1 own child 13.9 983 23.4 5.7 28 892 5 111 6 262

- with "extended

family" 32.6 861 20.5 8.0 15 195 1 903 2 279

- with non-
relatives

6.4 243 5.8 8.7 23 804 2 735 3 214

NAMIBIA 100 4 210 100 5.7 17 198 3 031 3 608

Note: There is an item non-response of 0.1 % in the household composition variable which is not presented in the table.
Definitions
Household composition: See table 3.5.

Household income is defined as private consumption in cash and in kind plus household savings and investments and some other non-

consumption disbursements(e.g. income tax). For further details see the administrative and technical report chap 8.
Adjusted per capita income: See table 8.1.2

The same highlights as for private household consumption in table 8.5.1 can be made for

household income.

Single persons and couples living alone without any children have the highest household

income level. Also single persons with only 1 own child and couples with only own

children in the household have a relatively high household income level.

Extended families with only relatives have the lowest household income level.

161

Table 8.6.1 The population and the annual household private consumption disaggregated

by highest level of educational attainment of the head of household.

HIGHEST Households Average Population Total Total Average Average

LEVEL OF Household Consumption Consumption Household Per Capita

EDUCATIONAL size Consumption Consumption

ATTAINMENT % % Million N$ % N$ N$

No formal

education 29.7 6.1 31.8 389 12.4 5 354 881

Primary

education 32.1 6.1 34.4 554 17.7 7 042 1 158

Secondary

education 31.3 5.0 27.8 1 505 48.1 19 678 3 906

Tertiary

education 5.5 4.5 4.4 634 20.3 46 918 10 480

NAMIBIA 100 5.7 100 3 129 100 12 783 2 253

Note: There is a non-response in the variable highest educational attainment of the household corresponding to 1 percent of the
households which is not presented in the table.
Definitions
Highest level of educational attainment:See table 4.3.1.

Head of household: See table 3.3

Private consumption is defined as private consumption in cash and in kind. For further details see the administrative and technical report

chap 8.

There is a strong relationship between the level of educational attainment of the head of

household and the level of private consumption in the household. The per capita

consumption is about 12 times higher in households where the head has finished some

tertiary education compared to households where the head has no formal education.

162

Table 8.6.2 The annual private household income by highest level of educational

attainment of the head of household.

HIGHEST Population Total Total Average Average Average Average

LEVEL OF Income Income Household Household Per Capita Adjusted

EDUCATIONAL Size Income Income Per Capita

ATTAINMENT Income

% Million N$ % N$ N$ N$

No formal

education 31.8 426 10.1 6.1 5861 965 1 155

Primary

education 34.4 634 15.1 6.1 8057 1 325 1 592

Secondary

education 27.8 2151 51.1 5.0 28111 5 580 6 556

Tertiary

education 4.4 904 21.5 4.5 66867 14 937 17 451

NAMIBIA 100 4 210 100 5.7 17 198

3 031 3 608

Head of household: See table 3.3

Household income is defined as private consumption in cash and in kind plus household savings and investments and some other non-

consumption disbursements(e.g. income tax). For further details see the administrative and technical report chap 8.
Adjusted per capita income: See table 8.1.2

The same highlights as for private household consumption in table 8.6.1 can be made for

household income. But the differences in income level are still more pronounced than for

household private consumption.

There is a strong relationship between the level of educational attainment of the head of

household and the level of income in the household. The per capita income is about 15

times higher in households where the head has finished some tertiary education compared

to households where the head has no formal education.

163

Table 8.7.1 The population and the annual household private consumption disaggregated

by main source of income.

MAIN Households Average Population Total Total Average Average

SOURCE OF Household Consumption Consumption Household Per Capita

INCOME size Consumption Consumption

% % Million N$ % N$ N$

Subsistence

farming 34.7 6.9 42.2 549 17.6 6 459 936

Wages in cash 43.9 4.8 37.4 1 905 60.9 17 748 3 673

Business 5.7 5.3 5.3 403 12.9 29 039 5 526

Pensions 11.3 5.8 11.4 201 6.4 7 294 1 266

Cash remittances 4.3 4.7 3.6 68 2.2 6 485 1 366

NAMIBIA 100 5.7 100 3 129 100 12 783 2 253

Note : There is a small group Other of the variable main source of income representing 0.1 % of the households. This group is
not presented in the table.
Definitions
Main source of income: See table5.12.
Private consumption is defined as private consumption in cash and in kind. For further details see the administrative and technical report

chap 8.

Subsistence farming is the main source of income for about 35 percent of the Namibian

households.

Households where business is the main source of income - about 6 percent of the

households - have about 6 times the private consumption level of households where

subsistence farming is the main source of income.

Households where wages in cash is the main source of income - about 44 percent of the

Namibian households - have about 4 times the private consumption level of households

where subsistence farming is the main source of income.

About 15 percent of the private households of Namibia rely on pensions or cash

remittances as their main source of income. The annual private per capita consumption

for these households is about N$ 1300. This consumption level is about 40 percent higher

than for households where subsistence farming is the main source of income. But it is

only about 60 percent of the average private per capita consumption in Namibia.

164

Table 8.7.2 The annual private household income disaggregated by main source of

income.

MAIN Population Total Total Average Average Average Average

SOURCE OF Income Income Household Household Per Capita Adjusted

INCOME Size Income Income Per Capita

Income

% Million N$ % N$ N$ N$

Subsistence

farming 42.2 613 14.6 6.9 7 218 1 046 1 280

Wages in cash 37.4 2 708 64.3 4.8 25 224 5 220 6 080

Business 5.3 555 13.2 5.3 39 909 7 594 8 889

Pensions 11.4 254 6.0 5.8 9 217 1 600 1 865

Cash remittances 3.6 77 1.8 4.7 7 375 1 554 1 846

NAMIBIA 100 4 210 100 5.7 17 198 3 031 3 608

Note : There is a small group Other of the variable main source of income representing 0.1 % of the households. This group is
not presented in the table.
Definitions
Main source of income: See table5.12.
Household income is defined as private consumption in cash and in kind plus household savings and investments and some other non-

consumption disbursements(e.g. income tax). For further details see the administrative and technical report chap 8.
Adjusted per capita income: See table 8.1.2

The same highlights as for household private consumption in table 8.7.1 can be made for

household income. But the differences in income level are still more pronounced than for

household private consumption.

Households where business is the main source of income have about 7 times the income

level of households where subsistence farming is the main source of income.

Households where wages in cash is the main source of income have about 5 times the

income level of households where subsistence farming is the main source of income.

The annual per capita income for households where pensions or cash remittances is

the main source of income is about N$ 1600. This consumption level is about 50 percent

higher than for households where subsistence farming is the main source of income. But

it is only about 50 percent of the average per capita income in Namibia.

165

Table 8.8.1 The population and the annual private household consumption disaggregated

by household groups defined by the number of full-time employment equivalents (FEEs)

in the household.

FULL -TIME Households Average Population Total Total Average Average

EMPLOYMENT Household Consumption Consumption Household Per Capita

EQUIVALENTS size Consumption Consumption

(FEEs) % % Million N$ % N$ N$

No economic

activity 23.9 5.7 24.0 384 12.3 6 567 1 153

0< FEEs <0.5 7.1 5.2 6.5 152 4.9 8 801 1 685

0.5<= FEEs <1.0 9.9 5.4 9.5 230 7.4 9 488 1 741

1.0<= FEEs <1.5 26.9 4.7 22.1 887 28.3 13 476 2 896

1.5<= FEEs <2.0 5.5 5.9 5.8 165 5.3 12 219 2 054

FEEs >=2.0 22.3 6.6 25.8 1 115 35.6 20 468 3 108

NAMIBIA 100 5.7 100 3 129 100 12 783 2 253

Note : There is an item non-response of 4 % in the variable full-time employment equivalents which is not presented in the table.
Definitions
Full-time employment equivalents: See table 5.11.
Private consumption is defined as private consumption in cash and in kind. For further details see the administrative and technical report

chap 8.

There is a clear relation between the level of gainful employment in the household and the

private consumption level of the household. Households having at least the equivalence of

2 full-time employed members (the gainful employment might be distributed among more

than two members in the form of part-time employment) have a private consumption level

of 2.7 times the level of households having no member employed.

166

Table 8.8.2 The annual private household income disaggregated by household groups

defined by number of full-time employment equivalents (FEEs) in the household.

FULL -TIME Population Total Total Average Average Average Average

EMPLOYMENT Income Income Household Household Per Capita Adjusted

EQUIVALENTS Size Income Income Per Capita

(FEEs) Income

% Million N$ % N$ N$ N$

No economic

activity 24.0 458 10.9 5.7 7 830 1 375 1 662

0< FEEs <0.5 6.5 186 4.4 5.2 10 780 2 064 2 528

0.5<= FEEs <1.0 9.5 292 7.0 5.4 12 039 2 209 2 665

1.0<= FEEs <1.5 22.1 1 239 29.4 4.7 18 832 4 047 4 798

1.5<= FEEs <2.0 5.8 222 5.3 5.9 16 418 2 760 3 276

FEEs >=2.0 25.8 1 559 37.0 6.6 28 624 4 347 5 074

NAMIBIA 100 4 210 100 5.7 17 198 3 031 3 608

Note : There is an item non-response of 4 % in the variable full-time employment equivalents which is not presented in the table.
Definitions
Full-time employment equivalents: See table 5.11.
Household income is defined as private consumption in cash and in kind plus household savings and investments and some other non-

consumption disbursements(e.g. income tax). For further details see the administrative and technical report chap 8.
Adjusted per capita income: See table 8.1.2

The same highlights as for private household consumption in table 8.8.1 can be made for

household income.

There is a clear relation between the level of gainful employment in the household and the

income level of the household. Households having at least the equivalence of 2 full-time

employed members (the gainful employment might be distributed among more than two

members in the form of part-time employment) have an income level of 3 times the level

of households having no member employed.

167

Chapter 9. HOUSEHOLD DISTRIBUTION OF CONSUMPTION AND EXPENDITURE

BASIC INDICATORS

The total private household consumption consists of cash expenditures for consumption purposes and

consumption in kind.

The cash expenditures for consumption purposes - the consumption in cash - consist of all cash purchases of

food, clothing, housing, furniture, household utensils, goods and services for household operation, medical care

and health services, transport and communication , education, culture, entertainment, recreation services,

personal care, certain insurances etc.

The consumption in kind includes consumption of own produce and consumption of items received by bartering,

free of charge such as gifts and as payments in kind etc.

The housing consumption in kind is defined as the market value of living in a house owned by the household or

provided free of charge to the household. Also households living in a house provided at subsidized rent have a

housing consumption in kind.

There are also cash expenditures which are not consumption. For example, paying of income tax, paying of fees

for life/pension insurances, household savings and investments.

In order to describe important aspects of the household consumption, the private household consumption is

presented in four different ways in this chapter:

1. The consumption of Food, Housing, Clothing and Other consumption is shown as a percentage of the Total

Private Household Consumption in table 9.1 - 9.8 for different groups of households.

Other consumption includes furniture and utensils, goods and services for household operation, medical care,

transport and communication, education, personal care, recreation etc.

To satisfy their consumption needs the households will generally start with the basic needs such as food, housing

and clothing. If the resources of the households are either inadequate or just good enough to satisfy these basic

needs, then the total consumption of the households will mainly consist of these consumption groups - with priority

for food - and the other consumption will be very small.

In such a situation the percentage of food consumption out of the total household consumption will be high.

If the resources of the households are quite adequate then in addition to their basic needs the households will

satisfy their other needs also. This will be reflected by an increase of the percentage of other consumption

compared to food consumption.

2. The rate of food consumption of the total private household consumption for each household is the indicator

presented in table 9.9 - 9.16. If a high proportion of the total consumption of a household is made up of food then

it indicates that the household has no means of satisfying other needs.

The food consumption rate is (internationally often) used as a poverty indicator and households having a food

consumption rate of 60 percent or more are defined as poor. If the food consumption rate is 80 percent or more

the poverty is severe.

It must be remembered, however, that the presented figures in this survey are affected by the fact that the food

consumption is only recorded for one month and therefore the estimated food consumption rate as a measure

of the longterm food consumption rate might be misleading.

3. Consumption in kind as part of the total consumption is an indicator which shows the importance of economic

transactions without money involved. In table 9.17 - 24 the consumption in kind of different household groups in

Namibia is highlighted.

4.Table 9.25 - 32 provides a more detailed description of the consumption pattern of different household groups in

Namibia. Also investments, savings, income tax payments etc. are highlighted in these tables.

168

Namibia

2 253

Food consumption rate

38.0 to 71.6

26.8 to 37.9

8.7

Average per capita consumption N$3 354

Karas

3 354

Hardap

3 115

Khomas

7 200

Erongo

3 369

Omaheke

2 515

Otjozondjupa

2 358

Kunene

1 388

Okavango

1 229

Caprivi

1 012Oshikoto

1 199

Oshana
1 338

819

OhangwenaOmusati

1 105

Household food consumption rate and average per capita

consumption by region

169

Namibia as a whole

The average rate of food consumption in Namibia is about one third of the total private

household consumption while the average rate of housing consumption is about one fourth. The

average rate of clothing consumption is about 5 percent and the rate of consumption of other

goods and services is about 35 percent.

(table 9.1)

As an average for Namibia the consumption in kind is about 30 percent of the total private

household consumption.

The consumption in kind is dominated by food and housing. On the national level the housing

consumption in kind is higher than the food consumption in kind. The food consumption in

kind is about 10 percent of the total private consumption while the housing consumption is 20

percent of the total private consumption.

As the total food consumption - including cash and kind consumption - is somewhat above 30

percent of the total private consumption it means that about one third of the total food

consumption in the Namibian households is consumption in kind i.e. without money

transactions involved. The total housing consumption is about 25 percent of the total private

consumption and almost four fifths of this consumption are consumption in kind i.e. housing in

owned houses, in houses provided free of charge or in houses provided at a subsidized rent.

(table 9.17)

About 38 percent of the households in Namibia have a food consumption rate of 60 percent or

more and about 9 percent of the households have a food consumption rate of 80 percent or

more.

If the food consumption rate in the households (as estimated in this survey) is used as a poverty

indicator it means that 38 percent of the Namibian households are poor or severely poor and 8

percent are severely poor.

(table 9.9)

Regions and rural/urban areas

In the rural areas, the rate of food consumption is significantly higher - 47 percent - than in the

urban areas - 23 percent. This difference between rural and urban areas can be understood from

the low average household consumption in the rural areas - N$ 7 600 - compared to the average

household consumption in the urban areas - N$ 23 000.

The rate of food consumption in rural areas is almost half the total consumption while in urban

areas it is close to one fourth of the total consumption.

The rate of housing consumption is relatively high in the urban areas compared to the rural

areas as is also the rate of other consumption.

The rate of food consumption is in all the northern regions higher than 40 percent - with the

Okavango region reporting the highest rate of 60 percent - while in the central/southern regions

it is lower than 40 percent - with the Khomas region reporting the lowest rate of 18 percent. The

170

reverse pattern can be observed for other consumption i.e other consumption is higher in

the central/southern regions than in the northern regions.

Also the housing consumption in the central/southern regions is high compared to the northern

regions with the exception of the Omaheke and the Otjozondjupa regions.

(table 9.1)

The consumption in kind is dramatically different in the rural and the urban areas.

In the rural areas the consumption in kind is about 38 percent of the total private consumption.

Also in the rural areas the consumption in kind is dominated by food and housing. But in the

rural areas the food consumption in kind is higher than the housing consumption in kind. The

food consumption in kind is about 22 percent of the total private consumption in rural areas

while the housing consumption in kind is about 13 percent of the total private consumption.

As the total food consumption is about 47 percent of the total private consumption in rural

areas it means that almost half of the total food consumption is consumption in kind. The total

housing consumption is about 15 percent of the total private consumption in rural areas and

most of this consumption is consumption in kind.

In the urban areas the consumption in kind is only about 24 percent of the total private

consumption. And in the urban areas almost all consumption in kind is housing consumption.

The housing consumption in kind is about 23 percent of the total private consumption and the

food consumption in kind is about 1 percent of the total private consumption.

As the total food consumption is 23 percent of the total private consumption in urban areas it

means that more than 95 percent of the food consumption in urban areas is consumption in

cash. The total housing consumption is 32 percent of the total private consumption in urban

areas which means that about two thirds of the housing consumption in urban areas is

consumption in kind and one third is rent payments in cash.

There are also great differences between the 13 regions. Most of the northern regions but also

the Omaheke region are relying on consumption in kind in a similar way as described for the

rural areas above i.e. food consumption is the greater part of the consumption in kind. The

Erongo, Hardap, Karas and Khomas regions are relying on consumption in kind in a similar way

as described for the urban areas above i.e. housing consumption is the dominating part of the

consumption in kind.

The cash/kind consumption patterns are somewhat different for the Caprivi, Oshana and

Otjozondjupa regions.

(table 9.17)

In the rural areas the percentage of households having a food consumption rate of 60 percent or

more is 49 percent and of 80 percent or more 12 percent . In the urban areas the figures are

fairly low - 17 percent and 3 percent. This indicates that poverty is much more common in rural

areas than in urban areas.

171