Namibia
Results are from an analysis of the 2015 Household Income and Expenditure Survey (HIES). Information on methodology is in the report and in the method briefs.
Prevalence of Functional Difficulties
In Namibia, the share of adults aged 15 and older with any functional difficulty stands at 19.4%. Separating by level of difficulty, the prevalence rates of some difficulty and at least a lot of difficulty are 15.4% and 4% respectively. The prevalence of functional difficulties is higher for women (22.2%) than for men (16.3%). Functional difficulties are more prevalent among older age groups, at 8.8% for ages 15 to 29, 15.2% for ages 30 to 44, 35% for ages 45 to 64, and 66.5% for ages 65 and over. Across the six functional domains considered, difficulties with seeing (12.2%) and mobility (6.3%) are most common.
About two in ten households have an adult with any functional difficulty: at the household level, the prevalence of any functional difficulty is at 28.1%, including 22.4% with some difficulty and 5.7% with at least a lot of difficulty. The prevalence of functional difficulties is higher in rural areas compared to urban areas: 22.4% vs. 16.5% among adults and 34.3% vs. 23.9% among households, for rural and urban areas, respectively.
Table 1: Namibia: Prevalence of functional difficulties (%)
| Group | Any difficulty | Some difficulty | At least a lot of difficulty |
|---|---|---|---|
| All adults | 19.36 | 15.41 | 3.95 |
| Females | 22.17 | 17.89 | 4.28 |
| Males | 16.26 | 12.67 | 3.59 |
| Rural residents | 22.35 | 17.69 | 4.66 |
| Urban residents | 16.51 | 13.24 | 3.27 |
| Ages 15 to 29 | 8.82 | 7.22 | 1.60 |
| Ages 30 to 44 | 15.15 | 13.05 | 2.11 |
| Ages 45 to 64 | 35.00 | 28.17 | 6.83 |
| Ages 65 and over | 66.46 | 46.89 | 19.56 |
| Seeing | 12.15 | 10.38 | 1.78 |
| Hearing | 4.71 | 4.01 | 0.70 |
| Mobility | 6.26 | 4.77 | 1.49 |
| Cognitive | 4.09 | 3.34 | 0.75 |
| Self-care | 1.43 | 0.93 | 0.50 |
| Communication | 1.17 | 0.73 | 0.44 |
| All households | 28.13 | 22.39 | 5.74 |
| Rural households | 34.28 | 26.76 | 7.52 |
| Urban households | 23.88 | 19.36 | 4.51 |
Source: Namibia 2015 HIES, own calculations
Key indicators on the deprivations and wellbeing experienced by persons with and without functional difficulties are presented in Table 2. Table 2 begins with information on the multidimensional poverty headcount—the rate of persons deprived in more than one dimension in the areas of education, work, health, and standard of living. Persons with at least a lot of functional difficulty have a multidimensional poverty headcount of 83% compared to 69% for persons with some functional difficulty and 63% for persons with no difficulty.
Table 2: Namibia: Key indicators for adults age 15+ by functional difficulty status (% and percentage points)
| Indicator | No Difficulty | Some Difficulty | Difference between no difficulty and some difficulty | At least a lot of difficulty | Difference between no difficulty and at least a lot of difficulty |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Multidimensional poverty headcount | 63 | 69 | -6*** | 83 | -20*** |
| Less than primary school | 9 | 22 | -13*** | 36 | -27*** |
| Employment population ratio | 62 | 62 | 0 | 37 | 25*** |
| Safely managed drinking water | 86 | 80 | 6*** | 81 | 5*** |
| Safely managed sanitation | 39 | 36 | 3*** | 35 | 4** |
| Clean fuel | 45 | 36 | 10*** | 33 | 12*** |
| Electricity | 50 | 44 | 7*** | 44 | 6*** |
| Adequate housing | 4 | 6 | -1** | 4 | 0 |
| Owns assets | 30 | 28 | 2*** | 26 | 4*** |
Source: Namibia 2015 HIES, own calculations
Education
The share of adults who have less than primary school as their highest level of schooling attained is significantly higher among persons with at least a lot of functional difficulty (36%) and persons with some difficulty (22%) compared to persons with no difficulty (9%). This boils down to gaps of 13 percentage points (p.p.) between persons with some functional difficulty and persons with no difficulty and 27 p.p. between persons with at least a lot of functional difficulty and persons with no difficulty.
Work
Persons with at least a lot of functional difficulty have a lower employment population ratio (or share of the population working) than persons with no difficulty, at 37% and 62%, respectively. Persons with some difficulty also have an employment population ratio of 62%.
Health
Rates of access to safely managed drinking water and sanitation are lower among persons with some or at least a lot of difficulty compared to persons with no difficulty
Standard of Living
There are large and significant differences in terms of the share of individuals with clean fuel, electricity, and asset ownership, with lower rates for persons with some and at least a lot of difficulty compared to persons with no difficulty. Rates of adequate housing are overall similar across the different functional difficulty groups.
More results for Namibia are available in results tables on the ddi website.