WINDHOEK: The Namibia Statistics Agency (NSA) has announced that it will undertake the Namibia Household Income and Expenditure Survey (NHIES) for the 2025/2026 period.

The exercise, to be held over a 12-month period, will start with a pilot survey that will run from 30 September until 18 October 2024, NSA Statistician General, Alex Shimuafeni said on Wednesday.

He said the main main field work for the NHIES will run from 17 March 2025 until 17 March 2026.

The survey is a household-based survey designed to collect data on incomes and expenditure patterns of households.

‘This comprehensive survey is instrumental in calculating poverty indicators at both household and individual levels. Additionally, the NHIES also serves as a crucial statistical framework for compiling the national basket items for the compilation of price indices used in the calculation of inflation, a key economic indicator. It forms the basis for updating prices and rebasing of both national accounts and Consumer Price Index,’ Shimuafen
i explained.

‘Through the NHIES, we will be able to describe the living conditions of Namibians using actual patterns of consumption and income, as well as a range of other socio-economic indicators.’

The survey will cover all 14 regions, and a representative sample of 10 368 households will be selected through a two-stage sampling procedure.

Shimuafeni noted that the NSA has allocated N.dollars 43 million for the pilot survey, logistics, training, and other related costs. For the 2025/2026 and 2026/2027 financial years, the government will avail N.dollars 50 million for the NSA to conduct the 2025/26 Namibia Household Income and Expenditure Survey.

The agency will further recruit around 171 temporary staff members, who will include team supervisors and enumerators for the main fieldwork. For the pilot survey, Shimuafeni said that NSA will recruit 24 field staff this year and for next year, a total of 147 field workers will be recruited for 12 months. It will be the first survey to be conducted since the
last exercise in 2015/16, which Shimuafeni said was due to budgetary constraints.

Source: The Namibia News Agency