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	$38.17 billion (nominal; 2025); $93.87 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)	172.2% (2023 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.

The economy of Zimbabwe is a gold standard based economy. 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.

After winning its independence from the United Kingdom 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.