Poverty declines, inequality still high
The distribution of severely poor households is concentrated in the Kunene, Kavango East, Zambezi and Omaheke regions, the latest survey shows.
ILENI NANDJATO
Poverty and inequality remain pressing concerns in Namibia despite the latest figures showing a slight decline.
The Namibia Statistics Agency yesterday made public the outcome of its Namibia Household Income and Expenditure Survey (NHIES) for 2015/16.
The survey shows that poverty levels in the country have dropped to 10.7% during 2015/16 from 15.4% in 2010.
The income inequality, however, remains high despite a slight decline from 58% in 2010 to 56% in 2016.
The Kunene, Omaheke, Zambezi and Kavango East regions recorded high poverty levels, compared to Khomas, Hardap, Oshana and //Karas.
The field work of the survey was conducted from April 2015 to March 2016.
Statistician-general Alex Shimuafeni said an estimated 544 655 private households were counted during the survey, with an estimated household population of 2 280 716.
The majority of the population (53.1%) live in rural areas, while 46.9% live in urban areas.
He said after data processing, 10 090 out of 10 368 sampled households were successfully interviewed, resulting in a 97.3% response rate, which exceeds the NSA acceptable standard for response rate for social statistics of 80%.
“The measurement of the severity of poverty gives a higher weight to the poorest of the poor. This measure can be particularly useful in tracking developments for the poorest over time and comparing severe deprivation across groups,” said Shimuafeni.
“About 10.7% of the population were severely poor or food poor as measured by the lower bound poverty line of N$389. On average, severely poor people were just 3.4% below the severe poverty line.
“This measurement of the depth of severe poverty says that an average of N$13.2 additional consumption expenditure per person would be needed to lift severely poor Namibians out of severe poverty (that is, 3.4% times N$389).”
The distribution of severely poor households across the country is highly concentrated in Kunene, Kavango East, Zambezi and Omaheke regions. These regions have severe poverty rates above the national average of 10.7%.
Lower levels of severely poor are found in the Khomas and Erongo regions. The report indicates that the poor are disproportionately located in rural areas. About 25.1% of rural households are poor, compared to 8.6% for urban households.
The incidence of severely poor households is also higher among rural households, where 15.9% of the households were found to be severely poor compared to 4.8% in urban areas. When compared to the 2009/2010 NHIES, the number of severely poor people in rural areas has increased from 13.56% to 15.9%.
Income gap
Meanwhile, about 53.6% of households in Namibia reported salaries and wages as their main source of income, followed by pensions (pensions from employment and/or annuity fund and state old-age pension) with 11% and subsistence farming with 10.6%.
In urban areas, 72% of the households reported salaries and wages as their main source of income, followed by business income with 11.3%, compared to rural areas, where 31.8% of the households reported salaries and wages as their main source of income, followed by subsistence farming with 22.4%.
At the regional level, salaries and wages were the main sources of income in most regions, with the exception of Omusati and Ohangwena where large proportions of households reported subsistence farming as the main source of income, at 38.5% and 22.7%.
Poverty and inequality remain pressing concerns in Namibia despite the latest figures showing a slight decline.
The Namibia Statistics Agency yesterday made public the outcome of its Namibia Household Income and Expenditure Survey (NHIES) for 2015/16.
The survey shows that poverty levels in the country have dropped to 10.7% during 2015/16 from 15.4% in 2010.
The income inequality, however, remains high despite a slight decline from 58% in 2010 to 56% in 2016.
The Kunene, Omaheke, Zambezi and Kavango East regions recorded high poverty levels, compared to Khomas, Hardap, Oshana and //Karas.
The field work of the survey was conducted from April 2015 to March 2016.
Statistician-general Alex Shimuafeni said an estimated 544 655 private households were counted during the survey, with an estimated household population of 2 280 716.
The majority of the population (53.1%) live in rural areas, while 46.9% live in urban areas.
He said after data processing, 10 090 out of 10 368 sampled households were successfully interviewed, resulting in a 97.3% response rate, which exceeds the NSA acceptable standard for response rate for social statistics of 80%.
“The measurement of the severity of poverty gives a higher weight to the poorest of the poor. This measure can be particularly useful in tracking developments for the poorest over time and comparing severe deprivation across groups,” said Shimuafeni.
“About 10.7% of the population were severely poor or food poor as measured by the lower bound poverty line of N$389. On average, severely poor people were just 3.4% below the severe poverty line.
“This measurement of the depth of severe poverty says that an average of N$13.2 additional consumption expenditure per person would be needed to lift severely poor Namibians out of severe poverty (that is, 3.4% times N$389).”
The distribution of severely poor households across the country is highly concentrated in Kunene, Kavango East, Zambezi and Omaheke regions. These regions have severe poverty rates above the national average of 10.7%.
Lower levels of severely poor are found in the Khomas and Erongo regions. The report indicates that the poor are disproportionately located in rural areas. About 25.1% of rural households are poor, compared to 8.6% for urban households.
The incidence of severely poor households is also higher among rural households, where 15.9% of the households were found to be severely poor compared to 4.8% in urban areas. When compared to the 2009/2010 NHIES, the number of severely poor people in rural areas has increased from 13.56% to 15.9%.
Income gap
Meanwhile, about 53.6% of households in Namibia reported salaries and wages as their main source of income, followed by pensions (pensions from employment and/or annuity fund and state old-age pension) with 11% and subsistence farming with 10.6%.
In urban areas, 72% of the households reported salaries and wages as their main source of income, followed by business income with 11.3%, compared to rural areas, where 31.8% of the households reported salaries and wages as their main source of income, followed by subsistence farming with 22.4%.
At the regional level, salaries and wages were the main sources of income in most regions, with the exception of Omusati and Ohangwena where large proportions of households reported subsistence farming as the main source of income, at 38.5% and 22.7%.
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