Merchandise exports to low- and middle-income economies within region in Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe: Merchandise exports to low- and middle-income economies within region was 41.7% in 2023. ▲ Rising
Merchandise exports to low- and middle-income economies within region in Zimbabwe, 1964–2023
Source: Staff estimates, World Bank (WB). Measured in % of total merchandise exports.
Analysis
Zimbabwe recorded 41.7% for merchandise exports to low- and middle-income economies within region in 2023.
The figure is down 15.2% on the previous year and down 54.0% over ten years.
Over the whole period, merchandise exports to low- and middle-income economies within region in Zimbabwe peaked at 93.4% in 2016 and was at its lowest, 16.5%, in 2001.
That places Zimbabwe 35th out of 203 countries with data for 2023, putting it in the top quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 46 years of available data.
Merchandise exports to low- and middle-income economies within region in Zimbabwe, year by year
| Year | % of total merchandise exports | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1964 | 46.1% | — |
| 1965 | 50.6% | +9.7% |
| 1966 | 52.1% | +3.0% |
| 1981 | 37.3% | -28.3% |
| 1982 | 33.7% | -9.6% |
| 1983 | 33.4% | -1.1% |
| 1984 | 33.7% | +1.1% |
| 1985 | 27.5% | -18.5% |
| 1986 | 30.7% | +11.5% |
| 1987 | 29.8% | -3.0% |
| 1988 | 30.6% | +2.9% |
| 1989 | 31.3% | +2.2% |
| 1990 | 33.0% | +5.3% |
| 1991 | 31.8% | -3.6% |
| 1992 | 34.0% | +7.1% |
| 1993 | 36.7% | +7.7% |
| 1994 | 34.1% | -7.0% |
| 1995 | 32.9% | -3.3% |
| 1996 | 32.1% | -2.5% |
| 1997 | 34.9% | +8.8% |
| 1998 | 34.7% | -0.6% |
| 1999 | 29.5% | -14.9% |
| 2000 | 31.3% | +5.9% |
| 2001 | 16.5% | -47.1% |
| 2002 | 33.4% | +101.7% |
| 2003 | 28.5% | -14.7% |
| 2004 | 44.0% | +54.6% |
| 2005 | 58.6% | +33.2% |
| 2006 | 66.9% | +14.1% |
| 2007 | 67.6% | +1.0% |
| 2008 | 64.1% | -5.1% |
| 2009 | 58.3% | -9.2% |
| 2010 | 57.1% | -1.9% |
| 2011 | 74.0% | +29.5% |
| 2012 | 81.3% | +9.9% |
| 2013 | 90.7% | +11.6% |
| 2014 | 90.8% | +0.0% |
| 2015 | 92.9% | +2.4% |
| 2016 | 93.4% | +0.5% |
| 2017 | 90.0% | -3.6% |
| 2018 | 75.8% | -15.9% |
| 2019 | 74.1% | -2.1% |
| 2020 | 76.6% | +3.4% |
| 2021 | 61.2% | -20.1% |
| 2022 | 49.2% | -19.7% |
| 2023 | 41.7% | -15.2% |
Zimbabwe compared with similar countries
- Zimbabwe's 41.7% is above the median for lower middle income countries, which is 26.9%, 1.6× the median. (47 countries reporting)
- Zimbabwe's 41.7% is above the median for Sub-Saharan Africa, which is 16.5%, 2.5× the median. (48 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Merchandise exports to low- and middle-income economies within region in Zimbabwe changed far more than this series normally does. A large move can be a real event or a change in how the figure was measured — the source note below says who published it.
| Year | Change | From | To |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 | +101.7% | 16.5% | 33.4% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960s | 49.6% | 46.1% | 52.1% | 3 |
| 1980s | 32.0% | 27.5% | 37.3% | 9 |
| 1990s | 33.4% | 29.5% | 36.7% | 10 |
| 2000s | 46.9% | 16.5% | 67.6% | 10 |
| 2010s | 82.0% | 57.1% | 93.4% | 10 |
| 2020s | 57.2% | 41.7% | 76.6% | 4 |
Countries ranked near Zimbabwe
More private sector data for Zimbabwe
- Merchandise trade 38.7% (2025)
- Food imports 19.0% (2024)
- Manufactures imports 58.3% (2024)
- Merchandise imports 10.11 billion current US$ (2025)
- Food exports 21.6% (2024)
- Manufactures exports 6.7% (2024)
- Merchandise exports 9.71 billion current US$ (2025)
- Merchandise exports (current US$), per capita 572.66 current US$ per person (2025)
- Merchandise exports (current US$), per unit of GDP 0.1895 current US$ per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Merchandise exports (current US$), annual growth rate 30.61 % change on previous year (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is merchandise exports to low- and middle-income economies within region in Zimbabwe?
- Merchandise exports to low- and middle-income economies within region in Zimbabwe was 41.7% in 2023, according to Staff estimates, World Bank (WB).
- What is the highest merchandise exports to low- and middle-income economies within region recorded in Zimbabwe?
- The highest recorded value was 93.4% in 2016.
- What is the lowest merchandise exports to low- and middle-income economies within region recorded in Zimbabwe?
- The lowest recorded value was 16.5% in 2001.
- How does Zimbabwe rank for merchandise exports to low- and middle-income economies within region?
- Zimbabwe ranks 35th out of 203 countries with data for 2023.
- Is merchandise exports to low- and middle-income economies within region rising or falling in Zimbabwe?
- Over the last ten years it is down 54.0%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Zimbabwe data come from?
- The figures come from Staff estimates, World Bank (WB), published as part of Merchandise exports to low- and middle-income economies within region (% of total merchandise exports). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 46 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data).
About this data
Merchandise exports to low- and middle-income economies within region are the sum of merchandise exports from the reporting economy to other low- and middle-income economies in the same World Bank region as a percentage of total merchandise exports by the economy. Data are computed only if at least half of the economies in the partner country group had non-missing data. No figures are shown for high-income economies, because they are a separate category in the World Bank classification of economies.