Tanzania Economy

Swahili Phrases | Sign Our Guest Book | Emergency Services | Contact Us

Documentaries

Tourism in Tanzania

Medical & Health

Hotels & Accommodation

QUICK Links

You are here > Home > Facts > Government & Economy

Tanzania    Economy

Economy - overview: Tanzania is one of the poorest countries in the world. The economy is heavily dependent on agriculture, which accounts for half of GDP, provides 85% of exports, and employs 80% of the work force. Topography and climatic conditions, however, limit cultivated crops to only 4% of the land area. Industry is mainly limited to processing agricultural products and light consumer goods. The World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, and bilateral donors have provided funds to rehabilitate Tanzania's deteriorated economic infrastructure. Growth in 1991-2000 featured a pick up in industrial production and a substantial increase in output of minerals, led by gold. Natural gas exploration in the Rufiji Delta looks promising and production could start by 2002. Recent banking reforms have helped increase private sector growth and investment. Continued donor support and solid macroeconomic policies should allow Tanzania to achieve real GDP growth of 6% in 2001 and in 2002.

GDP: purchasing power parity - $25.1 billion (2000 est.)  
GDP - real growth rate: 5.2% (2000 est.)  
GDP - per capita: purchasing power parity - $710 (2000 est.)  
GDP - composition by sector: agriculture:  49% industry:  17% services:  34% (1998 est.)

Population below poverty line: 51.1% (1991 est.)  
Household income or consumption by percentage share: lowest 10%:  2.9%

highest 10%:  30.2% (1993)  
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 6% (2000 est.)  
Labor force: 13.495 million  
Labor force - by occupation: agriculture 80%, industry and commerce 20% (2000 est.)  
Unemployment rate: NA%  
Budget: revenues:  $1.21 billion

expenditures:  $1.36 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (1999 est.)  
Industries: primarily agricultural processing (sugar, beer, cigarettes, sisal twine), diamond and gold mining, oil refining, shoes, cement, textiles, wood products, fertilizer, salt  
Industrial production growth rate: 8.4% (1999 est.)  
Electricity - production: 2.248 billion kWh (1999)  
Electricity - production by source: fossil fuel:  22.24% hydro:  77.76% nuclear:  0% 
Electricity - consumption: 2.134 billion kWh (1999)  
Electricity - exports: 0 kWh (1999)  
Electricity - imports: 43 million kWh (1999)

Agriculture dominates Tanzania’s economy, employing more than three-quarters of the working population and accounting for 64 per cent of all exports. Key exports include coffee, cotton, sisal, cashew nuts, meat, tobacco, tea, cloves, coconuts, and pyrethrum (a pesticide made from chrysanthemums). Agricultural processing, producing mainly sugar, beer, cigarettes, and sisal twine, is the main industry, but Tanzania also makes textiles, clothing, footwear, construction materials, and fertilizer. The country also produces diamonds; other natural resources include phosphates, iron ore, gold, nickel, salt, and substantial but little-exploited reserves of coal and tin. Tourism is a potential growth sector.

Under the socialist policies adapted by Tanzania since the 1967 Arusha Declaration, the state sector performed badly and initiative was stifled by an increasingly inefficient and corrupt party bureaucracy. The rising oil prices of the 1970s and falling prices of the country’s main exports contributed to economic decline in the 1980s. After Ali Hassan Mwinyi became president in 1985, a programme of economic reform was introduced. Private sector investment was encouraged, and the government offered incentives to export-producing businesses. But progress has been slow. The gross domestic product (GDP) per capita is US$68.67 (1995 estimate), one of the lowest in the world. The currency is the Tanzanian shilling, or shilingi.

Agriculture - products: coffee, sisal, tea, cotton, pyrethrum (insecticide made from chrysanthemums), cashew nuts, tobacco, cloves (Zanzibar), corn, wheat, cassava (tapioca), bananas, fruits, vegetables; cattle, sheep, goats  
Exports: $937 million (f.o.b., 2000 est.)  
Exports - commodities: coffee, manufactured goods, cotton, cashew nuts, minerals, tobacco, sisal (1996)  
Exports - partners: India 20%, UK 10%, Germany 8%, Japan 8%, Netherlands 8%, Belgium 4% (1998)  
Imports: $1.57 billion (f.o.b., 2000 est.)  
Imports - commodities: consumer goods, machinery and transportation equipment, industrial raw materials, crude oil  
Imports - partners: South Africa 8%, Japan 8%, UK 8%, Kenya 7%, India 6%, US 5% (1998)  
Debt - external: $6.8 billion (2000 est.)  
Economic aid - recipient: $963 million (1997)  
Currency: Tanzanian shilling (TZS)  
Currency code: TZS  
Exchange rates: Tanzanian shillings per US dollar - 803.34 (December 2000), 800.41 (2000), 744.76 (1999), 664.67 (1998), 612.12 (1997), 579.98 (1996)  
Fiscal year: 1 July - 30 June

Culture