Poverty in Namibia

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Poverty in Namibia is common with an unemployment rate of 29.9%, poverty incidence of 26.9% and HIV prevalence of 16.9%. Namibia has an economic growth rates averaging 4.3% according to the World Bank, and is one of nine nations in Africa classified by the World Bank as upper center pay. [1] However, income disparity in the country is one of the world's highest with a Gini coefficient of 59.1 in 2015 [2] (2017: 61.3), and there were 3,300 US$ millionaires in 2017. [3]

In a 2021 report by the governmental Namibia Statistics Agency, multidimensional poverty was determined to affect 43% of the population, 59% in rural and 25% in urban areas. The poorest regions per this measure were Kavango West (80%), Kavango East (70%) and Kunene Region (64%), while the lowest rates of poverty were found in Erongo (16%) and ǁKaras (21%). [4]

More than 400,000 people live in informal housing, with Windhoek (100,000 shack dwellers), Rundu (76,000) and Otjiwarongo (53,000) accommodating the largest number. [5]

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References

  1. Summary of Poverty and Deprivation in Namibia 2015 United Nations Development Programme. Accessed 14 March 2019
  2. "GINI index (World Bank estimate)". data.worldbank.org. World Bank . Retrieved 20 January 2019.
  3. Nakashole, Ndama (24 April 2017). "Namibians 3rd wealthiest people in Africa". The Namibian . p. 13. Archived from the original on 18 June 2017.
  4. Iikela, Sakeus (11 June 2021). "43% of Namibians are still poor". The Namibian . p. 1.
  5. Nghinomenwa, Erastus (12 August 2020). "Namibia's ghetto life: Half million live in shacks countrywide". The Namibian . p. 1.