13061000
Shona (official; most widely spoken), Ndebele (official, second most widely spoken), English (official; traditionally used for official business), 13 minority languages (official; includes Chewa, Chibarwe, Kalanga, Koisan, Nambya, Ndau, Shangani, sign language, Sotho, Tonga, Tswana, Venda, and Xhosa)
HARARE (capital) 1.501 million (2015)
- Designação longa convencional
- Republic of Zimbabwe
- Abreviatura
- Zimbabwe
- Forma longa local
- Forma curto local
semi-presidential republic
- Nome
- Harare
- Coordenadas Geográficas
- 17 49 S, 31 02 E
- Fuso horário
- UTC+2 (7 hours ahead of Washington, DC, during Standard Time)
has not submitted an ICJ jurisdiction declaration; non-party state to the ICCt
Zimbabwe's economy depends heavily on its mining and agriculture sectors. Following a decade of contraction from 1998 to 2008, the economy recorded real growth of more than 10% per year in the period 2010-13, before slowing to roughly 4% in 2014 due to poor harvests, low diamond revenues, and decreased investment. Growth turned negative in 2016. Lower mineral prices, infrastructure and regulatory deficiencies, a poor investment climate, a large public and external debt burden, and extremely high government wage expenses impede the country’s economic performance.
- Inflação
- -1,56%
- Acções de dívida externa
- US$ 8.734.861.000
- Taxa de imposto total (% dos lucros empresa)
- 32,8%
- Taxa de juro real
- 572,936%
- Produção, valor acrescentado (% PIB)
- 9,853%
- Saldo Corrente
- US$ -1.520.624.250
- Força de trabalho, total
- 7.812.529
- Emprego na Agricultura
- 67,23%
- Emprego na Industria
- 7,35%
- Emprego nos Serviços
- 25,39%
- Taxa de Desemprego
- 5,09%
- Importação de Produtos e Serviços
- US$ 6.212.385.600
- Exportação de Produtos e Serviços
- US$ 3.637.965.500
- Total Comércio de Mercadorias
- 40,10%
- IDE, entradas líquidas
- US$ 399.200.000
- Exportações de serviços comerciais
- US$ 340.688.114
tobacco, corn, cotton, wheat, coffee, sugarcane, peanuts; sheep, goats, pigs
mining (coal, gold, platinum, copper, nickel, tin, diamonds, clay, numerous metallic and nonmetallic ores), steel; wood products, cement, chemicals, fertilizer, clothing and footwear, foodstuffs, beverages
- Mercadorias
- platinum, cotton, tobacco, gold, ferroalloys, textiles/clothing
- Parceiros
- China 26.6%, Democratic Republic of the Congo 13.4%, South Africa 12.4%, Botswana 12% (2015)
- Mercadorias
- machinery and transport equipment, other manufactures, chemicals, fuels, food products
- Parceiros
- South Africa 45.4%, China 12.4%, Zambia 6.1%, India 5.3% (2015)
- Índice de Risco do País
- E
- The highest-risk political and economic situation and the most difficult business environment. Corporate default is likely.
- Classificação de Clima de Negócios
- E
- The highest possible risk in terms of business climate. Due to a lack of available financial information and an unpredictable legal system, doing business in this country is extremely difficult.
- Abundant mineral resources (platinum, gold, diamonds, nickel)
- Agricultural wealth (maize, tobacco, cotton)
- Tourist potential
- Member of the SADC (Southern African Development Community)
- Normalization of relations with the international community
- Economic and financial situation destabilized by a long period of hyperinflation
- Shortage of liquidity
- Under-investment in infrastructure (energy in particular)
- Unsustainable food and healthcare situations: The majority of the population is dependent on international aid
- One of the highest rates of AIDS in Africa and the world
The economy contracted in 2016, largely as a result of a fall in agricultural output (tobacco, cotton, sugar cane), under the impact of the unfavorable climatic conditions in 2015/2016. Hydroelectric power generation and water supplies were also disrupted by the drought triggered by the El Niño and La Niña phenomena during the last two years. As for the mining sector, it suffered from low prices for its exported commodities. In 2017, despite the more favorable climate forecasts, the economy, which is paralyzed by a liquidity crisis, is expected to continue contracting. The roots of this crisis can be found in the decision by the government in April 2009 to abandon the Zimbabwean dollar in favour of the euro, the rand, the yuan and above all the US dollar. With the fall in commodities prices and the drought, export earnings collapsed, drastically reducing the inward flow of foreign currencies. In addition, deterred by the negative economic climate and the political context, investments have been and will be very limited. The shortage of liquidity means companies will, as they struggle to obtain foreign currencies, be limiting their activities and reducing their operations. At the end of November 2016, in an attempt to overcome this shortage, the central bank decided to issue bond notes indexed against the US dollar. However, perceived by its people as a reintroduction of the Zimbabwean dollar, this measure has created fears of the re-emergence of the hyperinflation experienced by the country in 2008 - 2009.
Struggling since then against deflationary pressures, inflation restarted in 2016 following the ongoing depreciation of the rand and higher food prices as a result of the droughts. Inflation is expected to continue this upwards movement in 2017.
Government revenues are shrinking as GDP contracts. Thus, in 2016, the budget deficit increased because of the poor tobacco harvest, the country’s leading export and revenue source for the Zimbabwean government. The drought also led to higher spending which exceeded the government’s target and thus increased the scale of the deficit. With better climatic conditions in 2017, improved tax receipts and lower spending should make it possible to reduce the budget deficit. Zimbabwe does however need to implement a fiscal consolidation to reduce what accounts for the biggest proportion of its spending: the government wage bill and debt servicing. The situation is all the more critical as the government will very probably not be able to count on assistance from multilateral lenders whilst it has yet to repay 1.6 billion dollars of arrears owed to the WB and AfDB, although it has fulfilled all its financial obligations with regard to the IMF with the repayment of 107.9 million dollars of arrears.
The major drought in 2016 resulted in a drop in exports and exacerbated by the fall in commodities prices and a loss of competitiveness linked with the scale of the depreciation of the currency of its major competitor, South Africa, against the US dollar. Imports of food increased following food shortages. In 2017, the current account deficit is expected to remain at a critical level and the flows of grants and FDI will remain well below what is needed to cover the financing needs. The ever increasing pressure on the balance of payments is exacerbating the shortage of dollars and liquidity.
Robert Mugabe, 92, may not be able to last until the end of his term in 2018. The struggle around his succession is becoming fierce with rising factionalism within his party (ZANU-PF) and a proliferation of opponents, including the former Vice-President, Joice Mujuru, who has launched her own “People First” party. In the current economic climate, Robert Mugabe finds himself in a tenuous position: Popular discontent is growing in a developing food crisis, with growing unemployment and poverty, as well as an absence of political change.
Mugabe can however count on the support of the countries in the region, namely the fifteen members of the SADC. The support of the international community however remains less certain. The only way to see a return of the loans and grants from international donors on which the country is heavily dependent in overcoming poverty and for investments in its infrastructures, is through a restructuring of the country’s debts and a change in its economic policies. The repayment in 2016 of its most recent financial obligations towards the IMF will not be enough to ensure further financial aid for Zimbabwe. The political instability and the worst business climate in the region (183rd place out of 190 countries according to the World Bank’s Doing Business 2017 survey) are not going to attract investors and no improvements are likely in the short term. The country has thus had to turn to China to finance its investments. The Asian giant thus has an increasing influence within the country, in particular with the adoption in 2015 of the yuan as an exchange currency.