Zimbabwe Economy - 2024

Economic overview

low income Sub-Saharan economy; political instability, protest crackdowns, and COVID-19 have damaged economic potential; reliant on natural resource extraction and agriculture; endemic corruption; ongoing hyperinflation

Real GDP (purchasing power parity)

$33.829 billion (2021 est.)
$31.188 billion (2020 est.)
$33.832 billion (2019 est.)

note: data are in 2017 dollars

Real GDP growth rate

8.47% (2021 est.)
-7.82% (2020 est.)
-6.33% (2019 est.)

Real GDP per capita

$2,100 (2021 est.)
$2,000 (2020 est.)
$2,200 (2019 est.)

note: data are in 2017 dollars

GDP (official exchange rate)

$21.441 billion (2019 est.)

Inflation rate (consumer prices)

98.55% (2021 est.)
557.2% (2020 est.)
255.3% (2019 est.)

GDP - composition, by sector of origin

agriculture: 12% (2017 est.)

industry: 22.2% (2017 est.)

services: 65.8% (2017 est.)

GDP - composition, by end use

household consumption: 77.6% (2017 est.)

government consumption: 24% (2017 est.)

investment in fixed capital: 12.6% (2017 est.)

investment in inventories: 0% (2017 est.)

exports of goods and services: 25.6% (2017 est.)

imports of goods and services: -39.9% (2017 est.)

Agricultural products

sugar cane, maize, milk, tobacco, cassava, vegetables, bananas, beef, cotton, oranges

Industries

mining (coal, gold, platinum, copper, nickel, tin, diamonds, clay, numerous metallic and nonmetallic ores), steel; wood products, cement, chemicals, fertilizer, clothing and footwear, foodstuffs, beverages

Industrial production growth rate

6.37% (2021 est.)

Labor force

7.916 million (2021 est.)

Unemployment rate

5.17% (2021 est.)
5.35% (2020 est.)
4.83% (2019 est.)

note: data include both unemployment and underemployment; true unemployment is unknown and, under current economic conditions, unknowable

Youth unemployment rate (ages 15-24)

total: 7.3% (2021 est.)

male: 6.2%

female: 8.5%

Population below poverty line

38.3% (2019 est.)

Gini Index coefficient - distribution of family income

50.3 (2020 est.)

Household income or consumption by percentage share

lowest 10%: 2%

highest 10%: 40.4% (1995)

Remittances

8.52% of GDP (2020 est.)
6.49% of GDP (2019 est.)
4.18% of GDP (2018 est.)

Budget

revenues: $17 million (2018 est.)

expenditures: $23 million (2018 est.)

Budget surplus (+) or deficit (-)

-9.6% (of GDP) (2017 est.)

Public debt

82.3% of GDP (2017 est.)
69.9% of GDP (2016 est.)

Taxes and other revenues

7.21% (of GDP) (2018 est.)

Fiscal year

calendar year

Current account balance

$1.096 billion (2020 est.)
$920.472 million (2019 est.)
-$1.38 billion (2018 est.)

Exports

$5.263 billion (2020 est.)
$5.267 billion (2019 est.)
$5.178 billion (2018 est.)

Exports - partners

United Arab Emirates 40%, South Africa 23%, Mozambique 9% (2019)

Exports - commodities

gold, tobacco, iron alloys, nickel, diamonds, jewelry (2019)

Imports

$5.489 billion (2020 est.)
$5.398 billion (2019 est.)
$7.642 billion (2018 est.)

Imports - partners

South Africa 41%, Singapore 23%, China 8% (2019)

Imports - commodities

refined petroleum, delivery trucks, packaged medicines, fertilizers, tractors (2019)

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold

$838.78 million (31 December 2021 est.)
$33.405 million (31 December 2020 est.)
$151.241 million (31 December 2019 est.)

Debt - external

$9.357 billion (31 December 2017 est.)
$10.14 billion (31 December 2016 est.)

Exchange rates

Zimbabwean dollars (ZWD) per US dollar -

Exchange rates:
88.552 (2021 est.)
51.329 (2020 est.)
16.446 (2019 est.)
322.355 (2018 est.)

note: the dollar was adopted as a legal currency in 2009; since then the Zimbabwean dollar has experienced hyperinflation and is essentially worthless