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Photo: Hans Hillewaert derivative work: Jjtkk · CC BY-SA 3.0 · via Wikimedia Commons, shown in greyscale
Topic 07 of 12 · Country Index 2026
Namibia: Environment & Sustainability
How much pressure does a country put on nature, and how is it changing course?
Namibia is placed joint 101st of 161 countries on environment & sustainability in the Country Index 2026, from 2 of its 3 key statistics. Readings behind it: Renewable Share of Electricity Generation 97.56 (2024); Organic Agricultural Area 0 (2024).
Environment & Sustainability
joint101st
of 161 countries placed
Placed from 2 of 3 key statistics
01The evidence
The 3 key statistics that decide it
Only these place Namibia on environment & sustainability — one vote each. Every value is the publisher’s own, read at the edition the Country Index 2026 used; the grey ticks are every other country in that edition, lowest on the left.
Key 1 of 3
Renewable Share of Electricity Generation
Ember
Why it is a key: How much of the electricity a country actually generates already comes from renewable sources.
2024 edition · data for 2024 · CC BY 4.0
97.56
Renewables (% of electricity generated)
Higher is better
Namibia: 97.56. Across the 193 countries in this edition, values run from 0 (Gambia) to 100 (Paraguay); the world median is 31.14.
- World median
- 31.14
- Best in Southern Africa
- 97.56 Namibia
- Land neighbours
- Angola 73.7 · Botswana 0.292 · South Africa 12.51 · Zambia 87.47
Each grey tick is one of 193 countries in the 2024 edition.
Key 2 of 3
Organic Agricultural Area
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)
Why it is a key: Farmland managed without synthetic inputs — a practice that reduces pressure, where the footprint measures the pressure itself. ⚠ A thin pairing: this topic gets stronger keys when carbon per capita and air quality are imported.
2024 edition · data for 2024 · CC BY 4.0
0
Organic share of agricultural land (%)
Higher is better
Namibia: 0. Across the 156 countries in this edition, values run from 0 (Afghanistan) to 86.38 (Samoa); the world median is 0.725.
- World median
- 0.725
- Best in Southern Africa
- 0.63 Eswatini
- Land neighbours
- South Africa 0.03 · Zambia 0.14
Each grey tick is one of 156 countries in the 2024 edition.
Key 3 of 3
Ecological Footprint
Global Footprint Network
Why it is a key: How much of the planet's biological capacity a country's own consumption uses up.
2025 edition · data for 2025 · CC BY-SA 4.0
No reading
Ecological Footprint (global hectares per person)
Lower is better
Global Footprint Network publishes no 2025 figure for Namibia, so the standing rests on the other keys.
Across the 126 countries in this edition, values run from 0.514 (Yemen) to 11.73 (Qatar); the world median is 2.296.
- World median
- 2.296
- Best in Southern Africa
- 1.822 Eswatini
- Land neighbours
- Angola 0.707 · Botswana 2.152 · South Africa 2.56 · Zambia 1.109
Each grey tick is one of 126 countries in the 2025 edition.
02Over time
Which way Namibia is moving
Each key’s published value, edition by edition, beside the world median. The Country Index 2026 is the first edition of the standing, so the standing itself has no history to chart yet.
Renewable Share of Electricity Generation
Renewables (% of electricity generated) · higher is better
NamibiaWorld median
Namibia rose from 97.22 in 2000 to 97.56 in 2024; the world median went from 14.98 to 31.14.
Every year’s figures
Year Namibia World median 2024 97.56 31.136 2023 97.88 26.890 2022 98.49 27.359 2021 97.35 24.983 2020 96.50 25.000 2019 96.38 23.341 2018 98.58 22.936 2017 96.05 19.936 2016 95.95 20.000 2015 97.47 18.557 2014 99.35 19.081 2013 95.56 18.562 2012 97.01 16.909 2011 97.24 15.798 2010 96.18 16.875 2009 94.67 15.276 2008 88.54 14.901 2007 98.09 14.229 2006 93.79 14.041 2005 98.23 14.768 2004 99.28 13.794 2003 99.30 13.505 2002 99.30 12.500 2001 100.00 13.889 2000 97.22 14.977 Organic Agricultural Area
Organic share of agricultural land (%) · higher is better
NamibiaWorld median
Namibia was at 0 in both 2007 and 2024; the world median went from 0.37 to 0.725.
Every year’s figures
Year Namibia World median 2024 0.00 0.725 2023 0.00 0.780 2022 0.00 0.740 2021 0.00 0.710 2020 — 0.665 2019 0.00 0.550 2018 0.00 0.490 2017 0.00 0.630 2016 0.08 0.545 2015 0.08 0.540 2014 0.08 0.470 2013 0.06 0.440 2012 0.04 0.480 2011 0.04 0.460 2010 0.00 0.330 2009 0.00 0.335 2008 0.00 0.290 2007 0.00 0.370 2006 — 0.305 2005 — 0.345
03In context
Namibia beside its neighbours
A position reads best beside the countries around it. Every position below is a place among all 161 countries on environment & sustainability, never a place within the region.
1st161stNot placed · 63 countries with too few key statisticsNo data
Namibia and the countries it borders
The standing is each country’s place among all 161 placed on the topic; the other columns are the publishers’ own values, read at the edition the standing used.
| Country | Standing | Renewable Share of Electricity GenerationRenewables (% of electricity generated) | Organic Agricultural AreaOrganic share of agricultural land (%) | Ecological FootprintEcological Footprint (global hectares per person) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Angola | 2nd | 73.7 | — | 0.707 |
 Zambia | =41st | 87.47 | 0.14 | 1.109 |
| Namibia | =101st | 97.56 | 0 | — |
 Botswana | 139th | 0.292 | — | 2.152 |
 South Africa | 141st | 12.51 | 0.03 | 2.56 |
“—” means the publisher gives no reading for that country in that edition. A country needs readings on enough keys to be placed.
Across Southern Africa
Every country in the sub-region, by its place among all 161.
Placed either side on environment & sustainability
The countries immediately above and below Namibia in the topic’s list.
04Context, no vote
Where Namibia is ahead of the world, and behind
17 more statistics filed under environment & sustainability, published in full and deliberately given no vote in the standing. Select a row for the publisher, the rank and the links.
Ahead of the world median2
Statistics on which Namibia does better than the middle country measured.
Water StressFAO · 2023 · world median 100.3110▲ Improved since 2013
Namibia: 0.31 · world median 10 · Freshwater withdrawal as a share of available resources (%). Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), 2023 edition, data for 2023.
Published values in that edition run from 0.03 to 3,851; lower is better.
Position 169th of 177 — derived here by ordering the published values, 1st = worst. The publisher ranks no country on this.
Internal Displacements by DisasterIDMC · 2024 · world median 4,7501,4004,750▼ Worsened since 2014
Namibia: 1,400 · world median 4,750 · New displacements by disaster (people). Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC), 2024 edition, data for 2024.
Published values in that edition run from 1 to 11,001,000; lower is better.
Position 107th of 160 — derived here by ordering the published values, 1st = worst. The publisher ranks no country on this.
Behind the world median5
Statistics on which Namibia does worse than the middle country measured.
Renewable Internal Freshwater Resources per CapitaFAO · 2022 · world median 2,5282,1322,528▼ Worsened since 2012
Namibia: 2,132 · world median 2,528 · Renewable internal freshwater (cubic metres per person). Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), 2022 edition, data for 2022.
Published values in that edition run from 0 to 445,023; higher is better.
Position 104th of 181 — derived here by ordering the published values, 1st = best. The publisher ranks no country on this.
World Risk IndexInstitute for International Law of Peace and Armed Conflict (IFHV), Ruhr University Bochum · 2025 · world median 4.175.864.17No real change since 2015
Namibia: 5.86 · world median 4.17 · WorldRiskIndex score (0–100, where 100 is the most at risk). Institute for International Law of Peace and Armed Conflict (IFHV), Ruhr University Bochum, 2025 edition, data for 2025.
Published values in that edition run from 0.18 to 46.56; lower is better.
Position 80th of 193 — derived here by ordering the published values, 1st = worst. The publisher ranks no country on this.
Planetary pressures-adjusted HDIUNDP Human Development Report Office · 2023 · world median 0.6780.6110.678▲ Improved since 2013
Namibia: 0.611 · world median 0.678 · PHDI (0–1). UNDP Human Development Report Office, 2023 edition, data for 2023.
Published values in that edition run from 0.276 to 0.827; higher is better.
Position 103rd of 156 — derived here by ordering the published values, 1st = best. The publisher ranks no country on this.
World Energy Trilemma IndexWorld Energy Council · 2023 · world median 63.855.863.8No earlier reading
Namibia: 55.8 · world median 63.8 · Trilemma score (0–100). World Energy Council, 2023 edition, data for 2023.
Published values in that edition run from 27.7 to 83.2; higher is better.
Ranked 73rd of 99 by World Energy Council.
Adjusted Net SavingsWorld Bank Group · 2021 · world median 8.389-1.8348.389▼ Worsened since 2011
Namibia: -1.834 · world median 8.389 · Adjusted net savings, including particulate emission damage (% of GNI). World Bank Group, 2021 edition, data for 2021.
Published values in that edition run from -81.62 to 32.18; higher is better.
Position 101st of 118 — derived here by ordering the published values, 1st = best. The publisher ranks no country on this.
No better end10
These describe the shape of a country — more is not better or worse, only different — so they are never ahead or behind.
Arable Land per PersonFAO · 2023 · world median 0.1090.270.109No real change since 2013
Namibia: 0.27 · world median 0.109 · Arable land (hectares per person). Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), 2023 edition, data for 2023.
Published values in that edition run from 0 to 1.459.
Position 34th of 206 — derived here by ordering the published values, counted from the highest value. The publisher ranks no country on this.
Agricultural LandFAO · 2023 · world median 37.9647.1437.96No real change since 2013
Namibia: 47.14 · world median 37.96 · Agricultural land (% of land area). Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), 2023 edition, data for 2023.
Published values in that edition run from 0.445 to 86.48.
Position 70th of 209 — derived here by ordering the published values, counted from the highest value. The publisher ranks no country on this.
Total Natural Resources Rents (% of GDP)World Bank Group · 2021 · world median 1.7084.0311.708Moved since 2011
Namibia: 4.031 · world median 1.708 · Natural resources rents (% of GDP). World Bank Group, 2021 edition, data for 2021.
Published values in that edition run from 0 to 61.03.
Position 76th of 180 — derived here by ordering the published values, counted from the highest value. The publisher ranks no country on this.
Water Withdrawal by SectorFAO · 2022 · world median 62.1471.4862.14No real change since 2012
Namibia: 71.48 · world median 62.14 · Freshwater withdrawn for agriculture (% of total). Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), 2022 edition, data for 2022.
Published values in that edition run from 0 to 99.48.
Position 71st of 171 — derived here by ordering the published values, counted from the highest value. The publisher ranks no country on this.
Agricultural EmissionsFAO · 2023 · world median 8,6358,4918,635No real change since 2013
Namibia: 8,491 · world median 8,635 · Farm-gate emissions (kt CO₂eq). Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), 2023 edition, data for 2023.
Published values in that edition run from 0 to 1,044,508.
Position 101st of 193 — derived here by ordering the published values, counted from the highest value. The publisher ranks no country on this.
Pesticide Use per HectareFAO · 2024 · world median 1.731.221.73Moved since 2014
Namibia: 1.22 · world median 1.73 · Pesticide use (kg per hectare of cropland). Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), 2024 edition, data for 2024.
Published values in that edition run from 0 to 37.72.
Position 105th of 178 — derived here by ordering the published values, counted from the highest value. The publisher ranks no country on this.
Land Under Cereal ProductionFAO · 2023 · world median 689,278339,089689,278Moved since 2013
Namibia: 339,089 · world median 689,278 · Land under cereal production (hectares). Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), 2023 edition, data for 2023.
Published values in that edition run from 0 to 103,715,108.
Position 109th of 179 — derived here by ordering the published values, counted from the highest value. The publisher ranks no country on this.
Fertilizer Consumption per HectareFAO · 2023 · world median 87.3627.0787.36Moved since 2013
Namibia: 27.07 · world median 87.36 · Fertilizer consumption (kg per hectare of arable land). Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), 2023 edition, data for 2023.
Published values in that edition run from 0 to 2,926.
Position 138th of 188 — derived here by ordering the published values, counted from the highest value. The publisher ranks no country on this.
Forest AreaFAO · 2023 · world median 31.087.80531.08No real change since 2013
Namibia: 7.805 · world median 31.08 · Forest area (% of land area). Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), 2023 edition, data for 2023.
Published values in that edition run from 0 to 94.45.
Position 173rd of 210 — derived here by ordering the published values, counted from the highest value. The publisher ranks no country on this.
Livestock DensityFAO · 2023 · world median 0.5350.060.535No real change since 2013
Namibia: 0.06 · world median 0.535 · Livestock units per hectare of agricultural land. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), 2023 edition, data for 2023.
Published values in that edition run from 0.02 to 43.97.
Position 181st of 188 — derived here by ordering the published values, counted from the highest value. The publisher ranks no country on this.
No current reading for Namibia
Agricultural Irrigated Land and Ecological Footprint. Listed rather than hidden, so the page can be checked against it.
05Country Index 2026
Environment & Sustainability among Namibia’s 12 topics
Environment & Sustainability is Namibia’s 8th best-placed topic of 12. Strongest first; each marker sits at the position divided by that topic’s field, so fields of different sizes compare fairly.
- Democracy & Civil Liberties61st of 1983/3 keys
- Risk & Resilience69th of 1913/3 keys
- Peace & Securityjoint 80th of 1773/3 keys
- Governance & Institutions111th of 1935/5 keys
- Education & Knowledge108th of 1823/4 keys
- Economy & Innovation90th of 1503/3 keys
- Gender & Equality108th of 1783/3 keys
- Environment & Sustainabilityjoint 101st of 1612/3 keys
- Mobility & Connectivity95th of 1473/3 keys
- Development & Human Capital165th of 1943/3 keys
- Work & Labour157th of 1824/4 keys
- Health & Wellbeing175th of 2014/4 keys
06The top of the list
Who leads on environment & sustainability
The three countries placed highest of 161, and the leaders Namibia can most readily be measured against.
1
UruguaySouth America
1st of 161 · 2 of 3 keys
2AngolaMiddle Africa
2nd of 161 · 2 of 3 keys
Photo: Paulo César Santos derivative work: Jjtkk · CC0, greyscale
3
Timor-LesteSouth-eastern Asia
3rd of 161 · 2 of 3 keys
Photo: Nhobgood Nick Hobgood · CC BY-SA 3.0, greyscale
_banner_Kalandula_waterfalls_of_the_Lucala_River.jpg){kind=link}
Placed highest nearby
Highest placed on all 3 keys
Sierra Leone4th3/3 keysHighest in Africa
Angola2nd2/3 keysHighest in Southern Africa
Eswatini=27th3/3 keysThis page
Namibia=101st2/3 keys
Positions out of 161 placed on the topic. A country needs readings on enough keys to be placed, and the top of the list is often held on fewer of them.
07Questions
Namibia on environment & sustainability: questions answered
Every answer is built from the numbers on this page, so none can say something the page does not.
How does Namibia rank on environment & sustainability?
Namibia is placed joint 101st of 161 countries on Environment & Sustainability in the Country Index 2026, from 2 of its 3 key statistics (Renewable Share of Electricity Generation and Organic Agricultural Area). The position is this site’s ordering of published statistics, not a rank any publisher printed.
What is the latest Renewable Share of Electricity Generation figure for Namibia?
97.56 in 2024 (renewables (% of electricity generated)), according to Ember. The world median in the same edition was 31.14.
What is the latest Organic Agricultural Area figure for Namibia?
0 in 2024 (organic share of agricultural land (%)), according to Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). The world median in the same edition was 0.725.
How does Namibia compare with South Africa on environment & sustainability?
South Africa is placed 141st of 161, and Namibia joint 101st. Renewable Share of Electricity Generation: South Africa 12.51, Namibia 97.56; Organic Agricultural Area: South Africa 0.03, Namibia 0.
How have Namibia’s environment & sustainability figures changed?
Renewable Share of Electricity Generation rose from 97.22 in 2000 to 97.56 in 2024; Organic Agricultural Area was 0 in both 2007 and 2024.
Which environment & sustainability statistics are missing for Namibia?
No current reading is published for Namibia on Agricultural Irrigated Land and Ecological Footprint. They are listed rather than hidden, so the evidence on the page can be checked against it.
08Keep reading
Explore further
Namibia, topic by topic
- Governance & Institutions111th of 193
- Economy & Innovation90th of 150
- Work & Labour157th of 182
- Education & Knowledge108th of 182
- Health & Wellbeing175th of 201
- Development & Human Capital165th of 194
- Gender & Equality108th of 178
- Democracy & Civil Liberties61st of 198
- Peace & Security=80th of 177
- Risk & Resilience69th of 191
- Mobility & Connectivity95th of 147
- The full Namibia profile
Nearby, on environment & sustainability
The key statistics, for every country
09Method
Method, sources and how to cite
What this topic does not measure
Carbon emissions per person, air quality and biodiversity are not yet keys, because the site does not yet hold data for them that passes every test. Forest cover, water use, farmland and farm emissions are published here as context. Exposure to natural hazards belongs to Risk & Resilience.
How the Environment & Sustainability standing is decided, step by step
A standing is a place in a list, not a mark out of anything. This one is part of the Country Index 2026, and it is worked out like this.
- A few key indicators decide it; the rest are context. 3 indicators on this topic are keys and 18 are charted alongside them without a vote. That split is the point: if every statistic voted, importing five more of one kind would quietly change what the topic is about.
- Each key is read at one edition. ⚠ The keys behind this standing do not all describe the same year — they run from 2024 to 2025, because publishers release on their own schedules. Read the standing as “how this country places now”, not as a snapshot of one year.
- Every country’s published value is turned into a place within that one key’s own field, and then expressed as a share of that field — how far down this key’s list the country sits, rather than how many countries are above it. Keys where a higher published number is worse (terrorism, hunger, disaster risk) are turned round first, so the good end is always the same end.
- Dividing by the field first is the whole reason this works. A place carries the size of its list inside it: 22nd of 44 and 108th of 215 are the same showing, and averaging the numbers 22 and 108 says loudly that they are not. Fields on this site run from about 44 countries to about 215, so averaging raw places would reward a country for happening to be measured in small ones. Dividing each place by its own field removes the size and leaves only the showing.
- The shares are averaged, plainly. One key, one vote — no key is weighted above another, because any weighting would be this site’s opinion presented as a measurement. Countries are then put in order by that average, and the average itself is never published. It is our arithmetic with nothing anchoring it, so printing it would invite it to be read as a measurement somebody made. The position it produces, the band, and the keys it was built from are all published instead — every one of them checkable against the tables on this page.
- A country needs 2 of this topic’s 3 keys — half, rounded up, and never fewer than 2. A standing built from one reading, printed beside one built from four, is two different things sharing a column heading. 161 countries clear the bar here.
- A key has to earn its vote every edition. It must measure at least 120 countries (below that it starts measuring who was surveyed rather than the world), it must not have more than 10% of its field tied at either end, and it must not repeat another key in the same topic — Spearman correlation above 0.92 counts as repeating. A topic needs at least 2 surviving keys to place anyone at all; this one has 3.
- A standing is relative, and the grouping is ours. It says where a country places against the others measured alongside it, so it moves when they move. The publishers listed on this page did not agree to be read together, and each measures its subject its own way: the underlying numbers are theirs, the ordering on top is this site’s — the same method as the rest of the Country Index, applied to one subject instead of all of them.
The key statistics and their licences
- Renewable Share of Electricity Generation — Ember, CC BY 4.0
- Organic Agricultural Area — Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), CC BY 4.0
- Ecological Footprint — Global Footprint Network, CC BY-SA 4.0
The other 17 statistics on this page come from 6 publishers, each named beside its numbers, with every edition and licence on the datasets pages.
The standing itself is part of the Country Index 2026, published under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Photographs
Namibia’s banner and the countries placed highest, from their profiles: Wikimedia Commons, shown in greyscale, each used under the licence named.
- Namibia (banner) — Hans Hillewaert derivative work: Jjtkk, CC BY-SA 3.0
- Uruguay — Elemaki, CC BY 3.0
- Angola — Paulo César Santos derivative work: Jjtkk, CC0
- Timor-Leste — Nhobgood Nick Hobgood, CC BY-SA 3.0
Cite this page
Nations Inquiry (2026). Namibia: Environment & Sustainability — standing and statistics, Country Index 2026. https://nationsinquiry.com/countries/namibia/environment