- Agriculture, mining, and retail have been identified as the primary drivers of Zimbabwe's economy, according to a survey conducted by ZimStats
- The Covid-19 pandemic had a significant negative impact on the economy, particularly in the tourism sector, which came to a near halt due to travel restrictions
- The compilation of quarterly GDP estimates and a forthcoming economic census by ZimStat are intended to provide high-frequency statistics
Harare-The Zimbabwe National Statistics Agency (ZimStat) conducted a survey to determine the key drivers of the country's economy. The survey found that agriculture, mining, manufacturing, wholesale, and retail are the primary contributors to the economy.
The findings were presented in Bulawayo during a statistics dissemination meeting, where Mr. Taguma Mahonde, the Director-General of ZimStats, highlighted the adverse effects of the Covid-19 pandemic on general economic activity during the 2019-2021 period. The tourism sector was the hardest hit due to local and foreign travel restrictions, which grounded major operations to a halt.
The economy improved from the third quarter of 2021, with a growth of 23.7 percent on a quarterly basis and 24.6 GDP growth on a year-on-year basis.
According to Mr. Mahonde, the compilation of quarterly GDP estimates is a response to the increasing demand for high-frequency statistics. Quarterly estimates of GDP are a high-frequency indicator of economic activity, which helps in prompt policy interventions. The aggregates were derived from a wide variety of sources.
Agriculture, hunting, fishing, and forestry decreased by 13 to 9.7 percent from the $6.35 billion estimated in Q1 of 2022. On the other hand, the extractive sector, including mining and quarrying, had an increase from 1.8 percent in Q2 to 7.3 percent in the final quarter. The manufacturing sector's contribution dropped from 28.1 percent to -0.8 percent between the Q1 and Q4 of 2022.
The wholesale, retail trade, and repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles grew from 1.6 percent to 25.8 percent. Other contributing sectors to the GDP include construction, education, transport and storage, accommodation and food, information, and technology, human health, and social welfare activities.
ZimStat plans to conduct an economic census to establish the structure of the economy to feed into the GDP figures. However, the lack of record keeping from small enterprises affects the data capturing from informal sector players. ZimStat conducts the household survey every five years, which is then used when conducting GDP surveys.
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