Namibia posted more than a 12 percent increase in seafood exports for the second quarter of 2026, coinciding with a surge in demand in key export markets such as Europe and other nations in Africa.
The latest statistics from the Namibia Statistics Agency (NSA) show export earnings for fish and crustaceans, mollusks, and other aquatic invertebrates for the three-month period increased to NAD 4.6 billion (USD 278.6 million, EUR 249 million), compared to NAD 4.1 billion (USD 248.3 million, EUR 222 million) in Q2 2025.
Spain was the top market for Namibian seafood exports in the quarter, accounting for 27.8 percent of the total. In a recent U.S. Department of Agriculture report, Spain has insufficient commercial fishing and aquaculture “to meet domestic demand for seafood products; therefore, imports continue to remain key for the Spanish market.”
Zambia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo rounded out the top three export markets for Namibian seafood, making up 23.8 percent and 11.3 percent of the share, respectively.
Horse mackerel and hake comprised the vast majority of the fish species sent abroad during the period.
Meanwhile, the Namibian seafood import bill for Q2 2026 amounted to NAD 189.2 million (USD 11.5 million, EUR 10.2 million), compared to NAD 155 million (USD 9.4 million, EUR 8.4 million) recorded in the same period a year ago. Though it imported more than it did in Q2 2025, the Southwest African nation still enjoyed a large trade surplus.
“[Namibia's] export markets will remain of utmost importance to the marine resource-processing industry in the future, even if the domestic demand further increases substantially,” the Namibian government said in a recent report.
Besides wild capture export growth, the country’s exports are expected to receive a boost from aquaculture production in the near future, as a planned 51,000-metric-ton (MT) Atlantic salmon farm in Lüderitz Bay is anticipated to generate at least EUR 400 million (USD 467 million) in export earnings at full capacity.
