Zimbabwe Economy Profile 2009

Economy - overview

The government of Zimbabwe faces a wide variety of difficult economic problems as it struggles with an unsustainable fiscal deficit, an overvalued official exchange rate, hyperinflation, and bare store shelves. Its 1998-2002 involvement in the war in the Democratic Republic of the Congo drained hundreds of millions of dollars from the economy. The government's land reform program, characterized by chaos and violence, has badly damaged the commercial farming sector, the traditional source of exports and foreign exchange and the provider of 400,000 jobs, turning Zimbabwe into a net importer of food products. The EU and the US provide food aid on humanitarian grounds. Badly needed support from the IMF has been suspended because of the government's arrears on past loans and the government's unwillingness to enact reforms that would stabilize the economy. The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe routinely prints money to fund the budget deficit, causing the official annual inflation rate to rise from 32% in 1998, to 133% in 2004, 585% in 2005, past 1,000% in 2006, and 26,000% in November 2007, and to 11.2 million percent in 2008. Meanwhile, the official exchange rate fell from approximately 1 (revalued) Zimbabwean dollar per US dollar in 2003 to 30,000 per US dollar in September 2007.

GDP (purchasing power parity)

$1.925 billion (2008 est.)
$2.241 billion (2007 est.)
$2.371 billion (2006 est.)
note: data are in 2008 US dollars

GDP (official exchange rate)

$10.58 billion
note: hyperinflation and the plunging value of the Zimbabwean dollar makes Zimbabwe's GDP at the official exchange rate a highly inaccurate statistic (2008 est.)

GDP - real growth rate

-14.1% (2008 est.)
-5.5% (2007 est.)
-4.6% (2006 est.)

GDP - per capita (PPP)

$200 (2008 est.)
$200 (2007 est.)
$200 (2006 est.)
note: data are in 2008 US dollars

GDP - composition by sector

agriculture: 18.1%
industry: 22.6%
services: 59.3% (2008 est.)

Population below poverty line

68% (2004)

Labor force

4.039 million (2008 est.)

Labor force - by occupation

agriculture: 66%
industry: 10%
services: 24% (1996)

Unemployment rate

80% (2005 est.)

Household income or consumption by percentage share

lowest 10%: 2%
highest 10%: 40.4% (1995)

Distribution of family income - Gini index

50.1 (2006)
50.1 (1995)

Investment (gross fixed)

17.7% of GDP (2008 est.)

Budget

revenues: $941,600
expenditures: $1.092 million (2008 est.)

Public debt

259.4% of GDP (2008 est.)
52.3% of GDP (2004 est.)

Inflation rate (consumer prices)

11.2 million% (2008 est.)
12,563% (2007 est.)

Central bank discount rate

NA% (31 December 2008)
975% (31 December 2007)

Commercial bank prime lending rate

NA% (31 December 2008)
578.96% (31 December 2007)

Stock of money

$NA (31 December 2008)
$14.18 billion (31 December 2007)
note: this number reflects the vastly overvalued official exchange rate of 30,000 Zimbabwe dollars per US dollar; at an unofficial rate of 800,000 Zimbabwe dollars per US dollar, the stock of Zimbabwe dollars would equal only about US$500 million and Zimbabwe's velocity of money (the number of times money turns over in the course of a year) would be nine, in line with the velocity of money for other countries in the region

Stock of quasi money

$NA (31 December 2008)
$5.349 billion (31 December 2007)

Stock of domestic credit

$NA (31 December 2008)
$24.91 billion (31 December 2007)

Industries

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

Industrial production growth rate

-14.7% (2008 est.)

Electricity - production

9.467 billion kWh (2006 est.)

Electricity - production by source

fossil fuel: 47%
hydro: 53%
nuclear: 0%
other: 0% (2001)

Electricity - consumption

11.59 billion kWh (2006 est.)

Electricity - exports

34 million kWh (2006 est.)

Electricity - imports

2.867 billion kWh (2006 est.)

Oil - production

0 bbl/day (2007 est.)

Oil - consumption

14,590 bbl/day (2006 est.)

Oil - imports

15,800 bbl/day (2005 est.)

Oil - exports

0 bbl/day (2005 est.)

Oil - proved reserves

0 bbl (1 January 2006 est.)

Natural gas - production

0 cu m (2007 est.)

Natural gas - consumption

0 cu m (2007 est.)

Natural gas - exports

0 cu m (2007 est.)

Natural gas - imports

0 cu m (2007 est.)

Natural gas - proved reserves

0 cu m (1 January 2006 est.)

Current Account Balance

-$659.2 million (2008 est.)
-$494.8 million (2007 est.)

Agriculture - products

corn, cotton, tobacco, wheat, coffee, sugarcane, peanuts; sheep, goats, pigs

Exports

$1.321 billion (2008 est.)
$1.467 billion (2007 est.)

Exports - commodities

platinum, cotton, tobacco, gold, ferroalloys, textiles/clothing

Exports - partners

South Africa 36.1%, Democratic Republic of the Congo 8.9%, Botswana 8%, China 5.5%, Zambia 4.4%, Japan 4.1%, Italy 4.1% (2008)

Imports

$1.915 billion (2008 est.)
$1.975 billion (2007 est.)

Imports - commodities

machinery and transport equipment, other manufactures, chemicals, fuels

Imports - partners

South Africa 52.2%, China 7%, Botswana 4.5% (2008)

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold

$96 million (31 December 2008 est.)
$117 million (31 December 2007 est.)

Debt - external

$5.316 billion (31 December 2008 est.)
$5.155 billion (31 December 2007 est.)

Stock of direct foreign investment - at home

$NA

Stock of direct foreign investment - abroad

$NA

Market value of publicly traded shares

$NA (31 December 2008)
$5.333 billion (31 December 2007)
$26.56 billion (31 December 2006)

Economic aid - recipient

$367.7 million (2005 est.)

Currency (code)

ZWD

Currency (code)

Zimbabwean dollar (ZWD)

Exchange rates

Zimbabwean dollars (ZWD) per US dollar - NA (2008 est.), 30,000 (2007), 162.07 (2006), 77.965 (2005), 5.729 (2004)
note: these are official exchange rates; non-official rates vary significantly

Fiscal year

calendar year