11 000 shop workers earn under N$1 000 monthly

Imagine trying to survive on N$1 000 or less each month after working 28 out of 31 days. With current taxi rates, an average employee in the wholesale and retail industry would be left with a mere N$272 to live on.

According to the Namibia Statistics Agency (NSA), there are 11 320 employees in the wholesale and retail industry earning N$1 000 or less a month.

In total, the industry employs 54 618 individuals. Of this, 9 560 earn between N$1 001 to N$2 000.

In this sector 19.2% of the workforce falls into the 25-29 age group and 19.7% in the 30-34 age group.

According to the NSA, the majority (15 903) of the people employed in that sector work in the service and sales department and only 567 earn N$50 001 and more.

Economist Omu Kakujaha-Matundu has called the salaries “starvation wages” and trade unions have been asked to intervene.

“Something needs to be done about those [wages]. An amount of N$1 000 won’t even pay for rent in a corrugated backyard shack.

Such wages drive those poor folks into prostitution and other criminalities to make ends meet ” says Kakujaha-Matundu.

He says those earning such low wages must be considered unemployed as the amount is barely enough to cover the cost of living.

“All the government does is build more prisons and recruit more police. In fact those earning such low wages should be counted as unemployed.”
MINING SECTOR

In the mining and quarrying sector, 676 employees earn N$1 000 or less. The sector employs 14 337 individuals and has the highest number of skilled labour.

This represents 2.6% of the employed population.

Craft and related trades workers make up the majority of this sector with 3 711 employees, followed by plant and machine operators and assemblers (2 326), and professionals (2 079).

In this sector 1 597 earn between N$5 001 to N$10 000, while 1 313 earn between N$10 001 to N$15 000.

A substantial portion of the workforce in this sector are aged between 30-34 (19.7%), 35-39 (18.9%), and 40-44 (16.1%).

FINANCIAL AND INSURANCE SECTOR

Meanwhile, the financial sector employed 16 691 individuals, with the majority employed as technicians and associate professionals.

This sector has the fewest people in the lowest income bracket (N$1 000 or less) and the highest number of individuals earning N$50 001 and more.

About 1 813 of those fall in the N$5 001-N$10 000 income bracket.

Those within the N$10 001-N$15 000 income bracket are 1 732 and 1 613 in the N$15 001-N$20 000 bracket.

The 30-34 age group makes up the largest proportion of the workforce at 23.3%.

COST OF LIVING

The headline annual inflation rate for April was 3.6%, a decline when compared to 4.8% recorded in April 2024.

Last year, Numbeo, a crowd-sourced global database for quality of life, released its cost-of-living index for Africa ranking, Namibia third in southern Africa.

The estimated monthly costs for a single person is US$623.3 (N$11 148), excluding rent.

This means that for a single person to live comfortably, they have to earn more than N$11 148.

However, Windhoek has been ranked ninth among the least expensive cities globally making it one of the most affordable cities for expatriates.

This is according to the Mercer Cost of Living survey released in January.

The annual survey evaluates over 200 cities worldwide, assessing the cost of living based on factors such as housing, transportation, food and other daily expenses.

For consistency, New York was used as the base city and currency movements were measured against US dollars.

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