That estimated dollar amount results from a -30.3% downturn from $4.04 billion 5 years earlier in 2018.
Year over year, the total value of Zimbabwean exports shrank by -53.4% compared to $6.04 billion during 2021.
The US dollar is the official currency of Zimbabwe, and is used for international trade.
Zimbabwe’s Major Trading Partners
The latest available country-specific data for Zimbabwe is for 2021. Those metrics show that 94.4% of products exported from Zimbabwe were bought by importers in: South Africa (48.4% of Zimbabwe’s global total), United Arab Emirates (28.6%), Mozambique (8.4%), China (4.2%), Belgium (2.2%), Zambia (1.0%), Botswana (0.6%), Ukraine (0.3%), France (0.18%), Vietnam (also 0.18%), Indonesia (0.17%) and the United States of America (0.15%).
From a continental perspective, 61.4% of Zimbabwe’s exports by value were delivered to fellow African countries while 35% were sold to importers in Asia. Zimbabwe shipped another 3.5% worth of goods to Europe.
Tinier percentages went to buyers in North America (0.185%), Latin America (0.003%) excluding Mexico but including the Caribbean, then Oceania (0.0026%) led by Australia.
Given Zimbabwe’s population of 15.8 million people, its total $2.8 billion in 2022 exports translates to roughly $200 for every resident in the southern African country. That dollar metric falls well below the average $400 per capita one year earlier during 2021.
Zimbabwe’s Top 10 Exports
The following export product groups represent the highest dollar value in Zimbabwean global shipments during 2022 at the 2-digit Harmonized Tariff System code level. Also shown is the percentage share each export category represents in terms of overall exports from Zimbabwe.
- Tobacco, manufactured substitutes: US$1 billion (36.1% of total exports)
- Iron, steel: $556.4 million (19.8%)
- Salt, sulphur, stone, cement: $251.7 million (8.9%)
- Mineral fuels including oil: $212.3 million (7.5%)
- Ores, slag, ash: $158.9 million (5.6%)
- Cotton: $120.2 million (4.3%)
- Gems, precious metals: $96.8 million (3.4%)
- Fruits, nuts: $80.3 million (2.9%)
- Sugar, sugar confectionery: $30.7 million (1.1%)
- Raw hides, skins not furskins, leather: $27.8 million (1%)
Zimbabwe’s top 10 exports accounted for 90.6% of the overall value of its global shipments.
Salt, sulphur, stone and cement was the fastest grower among the top 10 export categories, up by 316.2% from 2021 to 2022.
In second place for improving export sales was the mineral fuels-related product category via a 125% advance, led by expanding revenues from international sales of Zimbabwean coal and lignite or peat coke and semi-coke.
Zimbabwe’s shipments of fruits and nuts posted the third-fastest gain in value, up by 120% from 2021.
The leading decliner among Zimbabwe’s top 10 export categories was gems and precious metals, pulled down by a -95.1% year-over-year reduction. Big losers under that product category include exports of gold and diamonds.
At the more granular four-digit Harmonized Tariff System code level, Zimbabwe’s most valuable exported products in 2022 was unmanufactured tobacco including tobacco waste (34.7% of Zimbabwe’s total). In second place was iron ferroalloys (16.1%), vermiculite and perlite (5.7%), chromium ores and concentrates (4.8%), coke and semi-coke (4.6%), uncarded and uncombed cotton (4.1%), coal including solid fuels made from coal (2.9%), unmounted and unset diamonds (2.8%), monument and building stones (2.6%), then pipe, chewing and pipe tobaccos (1.4%).
Products Creating Zimbabwe’s Largest Trade Surpluses
The following types of Zimbabwean product shipments represent positive net exports or a trade balance surplus. Investopedia defines net exports as the value of a country’s total exports minus the value of its total imports.
In a nutshell, net exports represent the amount by which foreign spending on a home country’s goods or services exceeds or lags the home country’s spending on foreign goods or services.
- Tobacco, manufactured substitutes: US$1 billion (Up by 22.2% since 2021)
- Iron, steel: $331.9 million (Up by 263.1%)
- Salt, sulphur, stone, cement: $166.6 million (Reversing a -$18.1 million deficit)
- Ores, slag, ash: $155.8 million (Down by -85.7%)
- Cotton: $116.6 million (Up by 36.8%)
- Gems, precious metals: $95.3 million (Down by -95.2%)
- Fruits, nuts: $71.1 million (Up by 129.8%)
- Raw hides, skins not furskins, leather: $25.3 million (Down by -13.5%)
- Coffee, tea, spices: $19.1 million (Up by 13.3%)
- Live trees, plants, cut flowers: $7.9 million (Up by 19234.1%)
Zimbabwe has positive net exports in the international trade of tobacco. In turn, these cashflows indicate Zimbabwe’s strong competitive advantages under the tobacco and manufactured tobacco substitutes category.
Products Causing Zimbabwe’s Worst Trade Deficits
Zimbabwe racked up an estimated -US$2.9 billion trade deficit for 2022, expanding by 88.7% from -$1.54 billion in red ink one year earlier in 2021.
Below are exports from Zimbabwe that result in negative net exports or product trade balance deficits. These negative net exports reveal product categories where foreign spending on home country Zimbabwe’s goods trail Zimbabwean importer spending on foreign products.
- Machinery including computers: -US$927.2 million (Down by -0.7% since 2021)
- Vehicles: -$564.1 million (Down by -1.6%)
- Electrical machinery, equipment: -$408.5 million (Up by 29.8%)
- Plastics, plastic articles: -$296.8 million (Up by 3.1%)
- Mineral fuels including oil: -$229.2 million (Down by -82.9%)
- Articles of iron or steel: -$216.8 million (Up by 7%)
- Fertilizers: -$172.2 million (Down by -60.9%)
- Pharmaceuticals: -$170.5 million (Down by -58.8%)
- Other chemical goods: -$141.9 million (Down by -48.3%)
- Paper, paper items: -$129.2 million (Up by 13.7%)
Zimbabwe has highly negative net exports and therefore deep international trade deficits under the machinery including computers product category.
Zimbabwean Export Companies
Not one Zimbabwean corporation ranks among Forbes Global 2000.
Wikipedia does list exporters from Zimbabwe. Selected examples are shown below.
- Border Timbers (forestry products)
- Colcom Foods Limited (meat processing)
- Cotton Company of Zimbabwe (cotton lint, cottonseed)
- Dairibord Zimbabwe Ltd (milk, other dairy products)
- Hippo Valley Estate (sugar)
- Sable Chemicals (fertilizer, ammonia nitrate)
- Tanganda Tea (tea, coffee)
- Zimbabwe Iron and Steel Company (iron, steel)
In macroeconomic terms, Zimbabwe’s total exported goods represent 7.1% of its overall Gross Domestic Product for 2022 ($39.9 billion valued in Purchasing Power Parity US dollars). That 7.1% for exports to overall GDP in PPP for 2022 compares to 16.6% for 2021. Those percentages suggest a relatively decreasing reliance on products sold on international markets for Zimbabwe’s total economic performance, albeit based on a short timeframe.
Another key indicator of a country’s economic performance is its unemployment rate. Zimbabwe’s unemployment rate averaged 7.95% for 2022, down from an average 8.07% in 2021 according to MacroTrends.net.
Zimbabwe’s capital city is Harare.
See also Zimbabwe’s Top 10 Imports, Top African Export Countries, South Africa’s Top 100 Imported Consumer Products and Nigeria’s Top 10 Exports
Research Sources:
Central Intelligence Agency, The World Factbook, Africa: Zimbabwe. Accessed on August 24, 2023
Forbes 2022 Global 2000 rankings, The World’s Biggest Public Companies. Accessed on August 24, 2023
International Monetary Fund, World Economic Outlook Database (GDP based on Purchasing Power Parity). Accessed on August 24, 2023
International Trade Centre, Trade Map. Accessed on August 24, 2023
Investopedia, Net Exports Definition. Accessed on August 24, 2023
Wikipedia, Gross domestic product. Accessed on August 24, 2023
Wikipedia, List of Companies of Zimbabwe. Accessed on August 24, 2023
Wikipedia, Purchasing power parity. Accessed on August 24, 2023
Wikipedia, Zimbabwe. Accessed on August 24, 2023
