Overview: Tanzania is one of the poorest countries in the world. The economy is heavily dependent on agriculture, which accounts for about 58% of GDP, provides 85% of exports, and employs 90% of the work force. Industry accounts for 8% of GDP and is mainly limited to processing agricultural products and light consumer goods. The economic recovery program announced in mid-1986 has generated notable increases in agricultural production and financial support for the program by bilateral donors. The World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, and bilateral donors have provided funds to rehabilitate Tanzania's deteriorated economic infrastructure. Growth in 1991-93 featured a pickup in industrial production and a substantial increase in output of minerals led by gold.

National product: GDP - purchasing power equivalent - $16.7 billion (1993 est.)

National product real growth rate: 3.2% (1993 est.)

National product per capita: $600 (1993 est.)

Inflation rate (consumer prices): 21% (1993 est.)

Unemployment rate: NA%

Budget:
revenues: $495 million
expenditures: $631 million, including capital expenditures of $118 million (1990 est.)

Exports: $418 million (f.o.b., 1992 est.)
commodities: coffee, cotton, tobacco, tea, cashew nuts, sisal
partners: FRG, UK, Japan, Netherlands, Kenya, Hong Kong, US

Imports: $1.51 billion (c.i.f., 1992 est.)
commodities: manufactured goods, machinery and transportation equipment, cotton piece goods, crude oil, foodstuffs
partners: FRG, UK, US, Japan, Italy, Denmark

External debt: $6.44 billion (1992)

Industrial production: growth rate 9.3% (1990); accounts for 8% of GDP

Electricity:
capacity: 405,000 kW
production: 600 million kWh
consumption per capita: 20 kWh (1991)

Industries: primarily agricultural processing (sugar, beer, cigarettes, sisal twine), diamond and gold mining, oil refinery, shoes, cement, textiles, wood products, fertilizer

Agriculture: accounts for over 58% of GDP; topography and climatic conditions limit cultivated crops to only 5% of land area; cash crops - coffee, sisal, tea, cotton, pyrethrum (insecticide made from chrysanthemums), cashews, tobacco, cloves (Zanzibar); food crops - corn, wheat, cassava, bananas, fruits, vegetables; small numbers of cattle, sheep, and goats; not self-sufficient in food grain production

Illicit drugs: growing role in transshipment of Southwest Asian heroin destined for US and European markets

Economic aid:
recipient: US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-89), $400 million; Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments (1970-89), $9.8 billion; OPEC bilateral aid (1979-89), $44 million; Communist countries (1970-89), $614 million

Currency: 1 Tanzanian shilling (TSh) = 100 cents
Exchange rates: Tanzanian shillings (TSh) per US$1 - 486.75 (January 1994), 405.27 (1993), 297.71 (1992), 219.16 (1991), 195.06 (1990), 143.38 (1989)

Fiscal year: 1 July-30 June

NOTE: The information regarding Tanzania on this page is re-published from the 1995 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Tanzania Economy 1995 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Tanzania Economy 1995 should be addressed to the CIA.