Economy - overview: The government of Zimbabwe faces a wide variety of difficult economic problems as it struggles to consolidate earlier moves to develop a market-oriented economy. Its involvement in the war in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, for example, has already drained hundreds of millions of dollars from the economy. Badly needed support from the IMF suffers delays in part because of the country's failure to meet budgetary goals. Inflation rose from an annual rate of 32% in 1998 to 59% in 1999 and 60% in 2000. The economy is being steadily weakened by excessive government deficits and AIDS; Zimbabwe has the highest rate of infection in the world. Per capita GDP, which is twice the average of the poorer sub-Saharan nations, will increase little if any in the near-term, and Zimbabwe will suffer continued frustrations in developing its agricultural and mineral resources.

GDP: purchasing power parity - $28.2 billion (2000 est.)

GDP - real growth rate: -6.1% (2000 est.)

GDP - per capita: purchasing power parity - $2,500 (2000 est.)

GDP - composition by sector:
agriculture: 28%
industry: 32%
services: 40% (1997 est.)

Population below poverty line: 60% (1999 est.)

Household income or consumption by percentage share:
lowest 10%: 1.8%
highest 10%: 46.9% (1990)

Inflation rate (consumer prices): 60% (2000 est.)

Labor force: 5.5 million (2000 est.)

Labor force - by occupation: agriculture 66%, services 24%, industry 10% (1996 est.)

Unemployment rate: 50% (2000 est.)

Budget:
revenues: $2.5 billion
expenditures: $2.9 billion, including capital expenditures of $279 million (FY96/97 est.)

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

Industrial production growth rate: NA%

Electricity - production: 5.78 billion kWh (1999)

Electricity - production by source:
fossil fuel: 69.98%
hydro: 30.02%
nuclear: 0%
other: 0% (1999)

Electricity - consumption: 6.939 billion kWh (1999)

Electricity - exports: 0 kWh (1999)

Electricity - imports: 1.564 billion kWh (1999)

Agriculture - products: corn, cotton, tobacco, wheat, coffee, sugarcane, peanuts; cattle, sheep, goats, pigs

Exports: $1.8 billion (f.o.b., 2000 est.)

Exports - commodities: tobacco 29%, gold 7%, ferroalloys 7%, cotton 5% (1999 est.)

Exports - partners: South Africa 10%, UK 9%, Malawi 8%, Botswana 8%, Japan 7%, (1999 est.)

Imports: $1.3 billion (f.o.b., 2000 est.)

Imports - commodities: machinery and transport equipment 35%, other manufactures 18%, chemicals 17%, fuels 14% (1999 est.)

Imports - partners: South Africa 46%, UK 6%, China 4%, Germany 4%, US 3% (1999 est.)

Debt - external: $4.1 billion (2000 est.)

Economic aid - recipient: $200 million (2000 est.)

Currency: Zimbabwean dollar (ZWD)

Currency code: ZWD

Exchange rates: Zimbabwean dollars per US dollar - 54.9451 (January 2001), 43.2900 (2000), 38.3142 (1999), 21.4133 (1998), 11.8906 (1997), 9.9206 (1996)

Fiscal year: 1 July - 30 June

NOTE: The information regarding Zimbabwe on this page is re-published from the 2001 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Zimbabwe Economy 2001 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Zimbabwe Economy 2001 should be addressed to the CIA.