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]