Zimbabwe:
Economy

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Other pages in this profile of Zimbabwe:
Geography, People, Government, Communications & Transportation, Military & Transnational Issues.


Economy - overview	Definition 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, passed 1000% in 2006, and 26000% in November 2007. Private sector estimates of inflation in 2007 are well above 100,000%. Meanwhile, the official exchange rate fell from approximately 1 (revalued) Zimbabwean dollar per US dollar in 2003 to 30,000 per US dollar in 2007.
GDP (purchasing power parity)	Definition - World rank and map $2.211 billion (2007 est.)
GDP (official exchange rate)	Definition $1.726 billion note: hyperinflation and the plunging value of the Zimbabwean dollar makes Zimbabwe's GDP at the official exchange rate a highly inaccurate statistic (2007 est.)
GDP - real growth rate	Definition - World rank and map -6.1% (2007 est.)
GDP - per capita	Definition - World rank and map $200 (2007 est.)
GDP - composition by sector	Definition agriculture: 18.1% industry: 22.6% services: 59.3% (2007 est.)
Labor force	Definition 4.032 million (2007 est.)
Labor force - by occupation	Definition agriculture: 66% industry: 10% services: 24% (1996)
Unemployment rate	Definition - World rank and map 80% (2005 est.)
Population below poverty line	Definition 68% (2004)
Household income or consumption by percentage share	Definition lowest 10%: 2% highest 10%: 40.4% (1995)
Distribution of family income - Gini index	Definition - World rank and map 50.1 (2006)
Inflation rate (consumer prices)	Definition - World rank and map 10,453% official data; private sector estimates are much higher (2007 est.)
Investment (gross fixed)	Definition - World rank and map 16.9% of GDP (2007 est.)
Budget	Definition revenues: $2.442 billion expenditures: $3.017 billion (2007 est.)
Public debt	Definition - World rank and map 211.9% of GDP (2007 est.)
Agriculture - products	Definition corn, cotton, tobacco, wheat, coffee, sugarcane, peanuts; sheep, goats, pigs
Industries	Definition 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	Definition - World rank and map 0.2% (2007 est.)
Electricity - production	Definition - World rank and map 9.95 billion kWh (2005)
Electricity - consumption	Definition - World rank and map 12.27 billion kWh (2005)
Electricity - consumption per capita	Definition - World rank and map 990.9 kWh (2005)
Electricity - exports	Definition 0 kWh (2005)
Electricity - imports	Definition 3.013 billion kWh (2005)
Oil - production	Definition - World rank and map 0 bbl/day (2005 est.)
Oil - consumption	Definition - World rank and map 16,000 bbl/day (2005 est.)
Oil - consumption per 1,000 people	Definition - World rank and map 1.3 bbl/day (2005 est.)
Oil - exports	Definition - World rank and map 0 bbl/day (2004 est.)
Oil - imports	Definition - World rank and map 13,370 bbl/day (2004 est.)
Oil - proved reserves	Definition - World rank and map 0 bbl (1 January 2006 est.)
Natural gas - production	Definition - World rank and map 0 cu m (2005 est.)
Natural gas - consumption	Definition - World rank and map 0 cu m (2005 est.)
Natural gas - consumption per capita	Definition - World rank and map 0 cu m (2005 est.)
Natural gas - exports	Definition - World rank and map 0 cu m (2005 est.)
Natural gas - imports	Definition - World rank and map 0 cu m (2005)
Natural gas - proved reserves	Definition - World rank and map 0 cu m (1 January 2006 est.)
Current account balance	Definition - World rank and map -$116 million (2005 est.)
Exports	Definition - World rank and map $1.52 billion f.o.b. (2007 est.)
Exports - commodities	Definition platinum, cotton, tobacco, gold, ferroalloys, textiles/clothing
Exports - partners	Definition South Africa 16.4%, Democratic Republic of the Congo 11.6%, Japan 11.5%, Botswana 10.4%, Netherlands 7.4%, China 6.9%, Italy 5.8% (2006)
Imports	Definition - World rank and map $2.183 billion f.o.b. (2007 est.)
Imports - commodities	Definition machinery and transport equipment, other manufactures, chemicals, fuels
Imports - partners	Definition South Africa 39.1%, Zambia 28.4%, China 5.5% (2006)
Reserves of foreign exchange and gold	Definition - World rank and map $120 million (31 December 2007 est.)
Debt - external	Definition - World rank and map $5.155 billion (31 December 2007 est.)
Stock of direct foreign investment - at home	Definition $NA
Stock of direct foreign investment - abroad	Definition $NA
Market value of publicly traded shares	Definition $26.56 billion (2006)
Economic aid - recipient	Definition $367.7 million (2005 est.)
Currency (code)	Definition Zimbabwean dollar (ZWD)
Exchange rates	Definition Zimbabwean dollars per US dollar - 30,000 (2007), 162.07 (2006), 77.965 (2005), 5.729 (2004), 0.824 (2003) note: these are official exchange rates; non-official rates vary significantly
Fiscal year	Definition calendar year

Zimbabwe: Economy

Zimbabwe:
Economy