Interest payments in Namibia
Namibia: Interest payments was 14.1% in 2023. ▲ Rising
Interest payments in Namibia, 1991–2023
Source: Government Finance Statistics Yearbook and data files, International Monetary Fund (IMF). Measured in % of expense.
Analysis
In 2023, interest payments in Namibia stood at 14.1%. That is the highest value across all 27 years on record.
The figure is up 10.1% on the previous year and up 229.1% over ten years.
Over the whole period, interest payments in Namibia peaked at 14.1% in 2023 and was at its lowest, 0.7%, in 1992.
That places Namibia 33rd out of 152 countries with data for 2023, putting it in the top quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 27 years of available data.
Interest payments in Namibia, year by year
| Year | % of expense | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1991 | 0.8% | — |
| 1992 | 0.7% | -10.9% |
| 1999 | 7.4% | +893.6% |
| 2000 | 6.7% | -10.1% |
| 2001 | 7.3% | +9.7% |
| 2002 | 8.5% | +16.6% |
| 2003 | 8.1% | -5.2% |
| 2004 | 9.1% | +12.8% |
| 2005 | 9.9% | +8.3% |
| 2006 | 9.7% | -1.7% |
| 2007 | 8.3% | -15.1% |
| 2008 | 6.2% | -25.1% |
| 2009 | 5.8% | -6.1% |
| 2010 | 4.1% | -29.4% |
| 2011 | 3.7% | -10.9% |
| 2012 | 5.1% | +38.9% |
| 2013 | 4.3% | -15.3% |
| 2014 | 4.1% | -4.3% |
| 2015 | 4.7% | +15.0% |
| 2016 | 7.7% | +63.1% |
| 2017 | 8.2% | +6.3% |
| 2018 | 9.4% | +15.0% |
| 2019 | 11.0% | +16.6% |
| 2020 | 10.4% | -5.8% |
| 2021 | 11.5% | +10.9% |
| 2022 | 12.8% | +11.9% |
| 2023 | 14.1% | +10.1% |
Namibia compared with similar countries
- Namibia's 14.1% is above the median for lower middle income countries, which is 10.0%, 1.4× the median. (36 countries reporting)
- Namibia's 14.1% is above the median for Sub-Saharan Africa, which is 11.3%, 1.3× the median. (35 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Interest payments in Namibia changed far more than this series normally does. A large move can be a real event or a change in how the figure was measured — the source note below says who published it.
| Year | Change | From | To |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | +893.6% | 0.7% | 7.4% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 3.0% | 0.7% | 7.4% | 3 |
| 2000s | 8.0% | 5.8% | 9.9% | 10 |
| 2010s | 6.2% | 3.7% | 11.0% | 10 |
| 2020s | 12.2% | 10.4% | 14.1% | 4 |
Countries ranked near Namibia
- 30 Fiji 14.6% compare
- 31 South Africa 14.3% compare
- 32 Cote d'Ivoire 14.1% compare
- 34 El Salvador 14.1% compare
- 35 Panama 13.4% compare
- 36 Senegal 13.2% compare
More public sector data for Namibia
- Democracy, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Men's universal right to vote, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Universal right to vote, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Universal right to vote in practice, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Elected parliament, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Chief executive of the government is elected, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Democracy 7 (2025)
- Chief executive of the government is elected 1 (2025)
- Elected parliament 1 (2025)
- Men's universal right to vote 1 (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is interest payments in Namibia?
- Interest payments in Namibia was 14.1% in 2023, according to Government Finance Statistics Yearbook and data files, International Monetary Fund (IMF).
- What is the highest interest payments recorded in Namibia?
- The highest recorded value was 14.1% in 2023.
- What is the lowest interest payments recorded in Namibia?
- The lowest recorded value was 0.7% in 1992.
- How does Namibia rank for interest payments?
- Namibia ranks 33rd out of 152 countries with data for 2023.
- Is interest payments rising or falling in Namibia?
- Over the last ten years it is up 229.1%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Namibia data come from?
- The figures come from Government Finance Statistics Yearbook and data files, International Monetary Fund (IMF), published as part of Interest payments (% of expense). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 27 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data).
About this data
Interest payments include interest payments on government debt (including long-term bonds, long-term loans, and other debt instruments) to domestic and foreign residents. This indicator is expressed as percentage of total expenses which is any decrease in net worth resulting from a transaction.