Namibia's Adult Financial Inclusion Hits 86%, Survey Highlights Debt Concerns

A 2025 Namibia Financial Inclusion Survey released by the Namibia Statistics Agency (NSA) found that 86% of adults – about 1.56 million people – now have access to formal financial products, up from 78% in 2017. Formal inclusion rose to 81.5%, with 75.6% holding bank accounts and 18.3% using smart‑card accounts. Urban residents (91.7%) are more likely to be included than rural ones (79.3%), and the gender gap has narrowed, with 87.6% of women now financially included.

The same data underline persistent hardship: over half of the working population earns less than N$2 000 a month, and more than half rely on credit to buy food, education or transport. Household debt to banks exceeds N$124 billion. Analysts argue that these conditions make a universal basic income grant unavoidable, urging the government to prioritize poverty relief over costly projects like a new national airline.