Economy - overview:
Zimbabwe's economy depends heavily on its mining and agriculture sectors. Following a decade of contraction from 1998 to 2008, the economy recorded real growth of more than 10% per year in the period 2010-13, before falling below 3% in the period 2014-17, due to poor harvests, low diamond revenues, and decreased investment. Lower mineral prices, infrastructure and regulatory deficiencies, a poor investment climate, a large public and external debt burden, and extremely high government wage expenses impede the country’s economic performance.
Until early 2009, the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) routinely printed money to fund the budget deficit, causing hyperinflation. Adoption of a multi-currency basket in early 2009 - which allowed currencies such as the Botswana pula, the South Africa rand, and the US dollar to be used locally - reduced inflation below 10% per year. In January 2015, as part of the government’s effort to boost trade and attract foreign investment, the RBZ announced that the Chinese renmimbi, Indian rupee, Australian dollar, and Japanese yen would be accepted as legal tender in Zimbabwe, though transactions were predominantly carried out in US dollars and South African rand until 2016, when the rand’s devaluation and instability led to near-exclusive use of the US dollar. The government in November 2016 began releasing bond notes, a parallel currency legal only in Zimbabwe which the government claims will have a one-to-one exchange ratio with the US dollar, to ease cash shortages. Bond notes began trading at a discount of up to 10% in the black market by the end of 2016.
Zimbabwe’s government entered a second Staff Monitored Program with the IMF in 2014 and undertook other measures to reengage with international financial institutions. Zimbabwe repaid roughly $108 million in arrears to the IMF in October 2016, but financial observers note that Zimbabwe is unlikely to gain new financing because the government has not disclosed how it plans to repay more than $1.7 billion in arrears to the World Bank and African Development Bank. International financial institutions want Zimbabwe to implement significant fiscal and structural reforms before granting new loans. Foreign and domestic investment continues to be hindered by the lack of land tenure and titling, the inability to repatriate dividends to investors overseas, and the lack of clarity regarding the government’s Indigenization and Economic Empowerment Act.
GDP (purchasing power parity):
$33.87 billion (2017 est.)
$32.94 billion (2016 est.)
$32.73 billion (2015 est.)
note: data are in 2017 dollars
country comparison to the world: 128
GDP (official exchange rate):
$17.11 billion (2017 est.)
GDP - real growth rate:
2.8% (2017 est.)
0.7% (2016 est.)
1.4% (2015 est.)
country comparison to the world: 121
GDP - per capita (PPP):
$2,300 (2017 est.)
$2,300 (2016 est.)
$2,300 (2015 est.)
note: data are in 2017 dollars
country comparison to the world: 200
Gross national saving:
15.4% of GDP (2017 est.)
15.5% of GDP (2016 est.)
4.9% of GDP (2015 est.)
country comparison to the world: 124
GDP - composition, by end use:
household consumption: 84%
government consumption: 20.5%
investment in fixed capital: 13.8%
investment in inventories: 0%
exports of goods and services: 26.4%
imports of goods and services: -44.9% (2017 est.)
GDP - composition, by sector of origin:
agriculture: 12.5%
industry: 26.9%
services: 60.6% (2017 est.)
Agriculture - products:
tobacco, corn, cotton, wheat, coffee, sugarcane, peanuts; sheep, goats, pigs
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:
2.1% (2017 est.)
country comparison to the world: 127
Labor force:
7.907 million (2017 est.)
country comparison to the world: 64
Labor force - by occupation:
agriculture: 66%
industry: 10%
services: 24% (2017 est.)
Unemployment rate:
95% (2014 est.)
80% (2005 est.)
note: data include both unemployment and underemployment; true unemployment is unknown and, under current economic conditions, unknowable
country comparison to the world: 218
Population below poverty line:
72.3% (2012 est.)
Household income or consumption by percentage share:
lowest 10%: 2%
highest 10%: 40.4% (1995 est.)
Distribution of family income - Gini index:
50.1 (2011 est.)
50.1 (2006 est.)
country comparison to the world: 18
Budget:
revenues: $3.6 billion
expenditures: $4.8 billion (2017 est.)
Taxes and other revenues:
21% of GDP (2017 est.)
country comparison to the world: 143
Budget surplus (+) or deficit (-):
-7% of GDP (2017 est.)
country comparison to the world: 188
Public debt:
75.5% of GDP (2017 est.)
69.9% of GDP (2016 est.)
country comparison to the world: 47
Fiscal year:
calendar year
Inflation rate (consumer prices):
2.5% (2017 est.)
-1.6% (2016 est.)
country comparison to the world: 119
Central bank discount rate:
7.17% (31 December 2010 est.)
975% (31 December 2007 est.)
country comparison to the world: 46
Commercial bank prime lending rate:
18% (31 December 2017 est.)
15% (31 December 2016 est.)
country comparison to the world: 25
Stock of narrow money:
$2.395 billion (31 December 2017 est.)
$2.274 billion (31 December 2016 est.)
note: Zimbabwe's central bank no longer publishes data on monetary aggregates, except for bank deposits, which amounted to $2.1 billion in November 2010; the Zimbabwe dollar stopped circulating in early 2009; since then, the US dollar and South African rand have been the most frequently used currencies; there are no reliable estimates of the amount of foreign currency circulating in Zimbabwe
country comparison to the world: 128
Stock of broad money:
$3.753 billion (31 December 2016 est.)
$3.949 billion (31 December 2017 est.)
country comparison to the world: 139
Stock of domestic credit:
$5.68 billion (31 December 2017 est.)
$5.398 billion (31 December 2016 est.)
country comparison to the world: 125
Market value of publicly traded shares:
$4.073 billion (13 April 2015 est.)
$11.82 billion (31 December 2012 est.)
$10.9 billion (31 December 2011 est.)
country comparison to the world: 92
Current account balance:
$-617 million (2017 est.)
$-662 million (2016 est.)
country comparison to the world: 110
Exports:
$3.763 billion (2017 est.)
$3.366 billion (2016 est.)
country comparison to the world: 119
Exports - commodities:
platinum, cotton, tobacco, gold, ferroalloys, textiles/clothing
Exports - partners:
South Africa 79.5%, Mozambique 9.5%, UAE 4.1% (2016)
Imports:
$5.605 billion (2017 est.)
$5.351 billion (2016 est.)
country comparison to the world: 119
Imports - commodities:
machinery and transport equipment, other manufactures, chemicals, fuels, food products
Imports - partners:
South Africa 46.6%, Zambia 24% (2016)
Reserves of foreign exchange and gold:
$374 million (31 December 2017 est.)
$407.2 million (31 December 2016 est.)
country comparison to the world: 152
Debt - external:
$10.97 billion (31 December 2017 est.)
$10.14 billion (31 December 2016 est.)
country comparison to the world: 110
Stock of direct foreign investment - at home:
$3.918 billion (31 December 2017 est.)
$3.518 billion (31 December 2016 est.)
country comparison to the world: 108
Stock of direct foreign investment - abroad:
$294.8 million (31 December 2017 est.)
$271.6 million (31 December 2016 est.)
country comparison to the world: 98
Exchange rates:
Zimbabwean dollars (ZWD) per US dollar -
1 (2017 est.)
1 (2016 est.)
NA (2013)
234.25 (2010)
note: the dollar was adopted as a legal currency in 2009; since then the Zimbabwean dollar has experienced hyperinflation and is essentially worthless