CAPE TOWN: Zimbabwe exported goods worth US$2.8bn in 2016 against an import bill of US$5.2bn, latest figures from Zimstats have shown.
This means the country ended the year with a trade deficit of US$2,4bn. The deficit is however lower than 2015’s figure of US$3,3bn. According to figures released by Zimstats on Friday, at least $2,2bn worth of goods were exported to South Africa.This means South Africa accounts for 78,57% of Zimbabwe’s export proceeds.
On the import side, Zimbabwe sourced goods worth US$2,1bn from South Africa while goods worth US$1,1bn came from Singapore. Zimbabwe’s main exports are still dominated by commodities which are more vulnerable to external shocks, and this has had a negative impact on the total turnout.
Total imports dropped from US$6bn in 2015, mainly due to the general weak aggregate demand on the back of an economic slowdown. The introduction of measures which sought to restrict imports of certain goods also helped reduce the official import bill.
The country struggled to pay for imports, resulting in increased time lags for imports.
