What Zimbabwe sells and buys, and with whom
Zimbabwe exported US$8.0bn of goods in 2024 and imported US$9.6bn, a deficit of US$1.6bn. 24% of its exports went to other SADC countries, which supplied 52% of its imports.
Zimbabwe's trade since 2012
Exports and imports of goods, and exports to other SADC countries, US dollars
Who buys from Zimbabwe
Exports by destination, 2024. United Arab Emirates takes 34%.
What Zimbabwe sells, and to whom
Exports by product group and partner, 2024
Hover over a band or a name to follow it. Flows under 0.4% of the total (US$166m in all) are not drawn.
Zimbabwe's main exports
Top products (four-digit HS headings), 2024, with the value five years before
Trade with each SADC neighbour
2024, with the main products each way| Neighbour | Zimbabwe sold | Zimbabwe bought | Balance | Mostly |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| South Africa | US$1.4bn | US$3.8bn | −US$2.4bn | Sold nickel mattes and intermediates; bought maize · more |
| Mozambique | US$253m | US$414m | −US$161m | Sold chrome ore; bought refined fuels and oils · more |
| Zambia | US$171m | US$314m | −US$143m | Sold cigarettes; bought cement · more |
| Mauritius | US$7.0m | US$204m | −US$197m | Sold raw cotton; bought nitrogen fertilisers · more |
| Botswana | US$39m | US$45m | −US$5.5m | Sold sugar; bought salt and pure sodium chloride · more |
| Malawi | US$29m | US$49m | −US$20m | Sold paper packaging; bought tobacco leaf · more |
| Namibia | US$19m | US$50m | −US$32m | Sold electricity; bought mixed fertilisers · more |
| Eswatini | US$693k | US$51m | −US$51m | Sold tobacco leaf; bought flavour and fragrance mixtures · more |
| Tanzania | US$13m | US$37m | −US$24m | Sold tobacco leaf; bought tobacco leaf · more |
| DRC | US$7.5m | US$13m | −US$5.4m | Sold coal; bought electricity · more |
| Madagascar | US$7.9m | US$938k | +US$6.9m | Sold other manufactured tobacco and manufactured tobacco…; bought food preparations · more |
| Lesotho | US$6.6m | US$61k | +US$6.6m | Sold raw cotton; bought women's suits and dresses · more |
| Seychelles | US$746k | US$1.3m | −US$587k | Sold tobacco leaf; bought pesticides and herbicides · more |
| Angola | US$687k | US$780k | −US$93k | Sold malt, whether or not roasted; bought carboys, bottles, flasks, jars, pots, phials, ampoules and… · more |
How processed Zimbabwe's trade is
Exports and imports by stage of processing, 2024
Raw: unprocessed farm goods, ores, minerals, crude oil, coal and gas. Processed materials: refined metals and fuels, chemicals, processed farm goods for industry. Refined gold counts here. Manufactured goods: machinery, vehicles, parts, consumer goods and packaged food.
Analysis: Zimbabwe's value-addition balance and openings
For members: where Zimbabwe earns and spends at each stage of processing, with SADC and with the world; how much rides on a few products and buyers; what it is competitive in; which exports grew or shrank; where its exports meet preferential terms; and the products it could sell to neighbours, or buy from them instead of from outside the region.
The trade analysis for Zimbabwe is part of the Individual plan
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CEPII BACI, built from UN Comtrade with each flow reconciled between exporter and importer (Etalab Open Licence 2.0). Values in current US dollars; exports valued free on board. Figures can differ from national statistics, and include non-monetary gold. About the data