Economy of Zimbabwe

Economy of Zimbabwe
	Sam Nujoma Street in Harare
Currency	Zimbabwe Gold
Fiscal year	calendar year
Trade organisations	AU, AfCFTA, WTO, SADC, COMESA
Country group	Developing/Emerging; Lower-middle income economy;
Statistics
Population	16,942,006 (April 11, 2024 est)
GDP	$53.31 billion (nominal; 2025); $127.3 billion (PPP; 2025);
GDP rank	104th (nominal; 2025); 104th (PPP; 2025);
GDP growth	5.3% (2023); 2.0% (2024); 6.0% (2025); 4.6% (2026f);
GDP per capita	$2,200 (nominal; 2025); $5,410 (PPP; 2025);
GDP per capita rank	149th (nominal; 2025); 151th (PPP; 2025);
GDP by sector	agriculture: 12%; industry: 22.2%; services: 65.8%; (2017 est.);
Inflation (CPI)	92.5% (2025 est.)
Population below poverty line	1.0% (2017); 1.0% on less than $3.20/day (2017);
Gini coefficient	44.3 medium (2017)
Human Development Index	0.563 medium (2018) (150th); 0.435 low IHDI (2018);
Labour force	6,560,725 (2023); 58.6% employment rate (2022);
Labour force by occupation	agriculture: 67.5%; industry: 7.3%; services: 25.2%; (2017 est.);
Unemployment	11.3% (2014 est.); data include both unemployment and underemployment; true unemployment is unknown and, under current economic conditions, unknowable;
Main industries	mining (coal, gold, platinum, copper, nickel, tin, clay, numerous metallic and non-metallic ores), steel; wood products, cement, chemicals, fertilizer, clothing and footwear, foodstuffs, beverages, cattle, cows
External
Exports	$6.59 billion (2022 est.)
Export goods	platinum, cotton, tobacco, gold, ferroalloys, textiles/clothing
Main export partners	South Africa(+) 41.0%; United Arab Emirates(+) 32.0%; China(+) 8.86%; Belgium(+) 3.26%; Mozambique(+) 2.89%; (2022);
Imports	$8.68 billion (2022 est.)
Import goods	machinery and transport equipment, other manufactures, chemicals, fuels, food products
Main import partners	South Africa(+) 40.0%; China(+) 13.9%; Singapore(+) 13.6%; (2022);
FDI stock	$3.86 billion (31 December 2017 est.); Abroad: $309.6 million (31 December 2017 est.);
Current account	−$716 million (2017 est.)
Gross external debt	$14.01 billion (23 February 2023)
Public finances
Government debt	58.47% of GDP (2022 est.)
Foreign reserves	$431.8 million (31 December 2017 est.)
Budget balance	−9.6% (of GDP) (2017 est.)
Revenues	ZWL58.2 trillion (proposed for 2024); US$10.0 billion (official rate $1:5,790 (Nov 2023)); US$6.26 billion (parallel market $1:9,300 (Nov 2023));
Expenses	5.5 billion (2017 est.)
Economic aid	recipient: $178 million; note – the EU and the US provide food aid on humanitarian grounds (2000 est.)
	All values, unless otherwise stated, are in US dollars.

Zimbabwe has a $44 billion dollar informal economy in PPP terms which translates to 64.1% of the total economy. Agriculture and mining largely contribute to exports. The economy is estimated to be at $73 billion at the end of 2023.

The country has reserves of metallurgical-grade chromite. Other commercial mineral deposits include coal, diamonds, lithium, asbestos, copper, nickel, gold, platinum and iron ore.

Since the end of the civil war in 1980, Zimbabwe has had a tumultuous economy, going from Africa's breadbasket to a country where, as of March 2025, over one-third of its population is facing food insecurity.