Tanzania--Economy
CIA FactbookThe World Factbook 1993: Tanzania Economy

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 1991-92 featured a pickup in industrial production and a substantial increase in output of minerals led by gold.

National product: GDP - exchange rate conversion - $7.2 billion (1992 est.)

National product real growth rate: 4.5% (1992 est.)

National product per capita: $260 (1992 est.)

Inflation rate (consumer prices): 22% (1992 est.)

Unemployment rate: NA%

Budget: revenues $495 million; expenditures $631 million, including capital expenditures of $118 million (FY90)

Exports: $422 million (f.o.b., 1991) commodities: coffee, cotton, tobacco, tea, cashew nuts, sisal partners: FRG, UK, Japan, Netherlands, Kenya, Hong Kong, US Imports: $1.43 billion (c.i.f., 1991) 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 7% of GDP

Electricity: 405,000 kW capacity; 600 million kWh produced, 20 kWh per capita (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

Economic aid: 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 - 325.00 (November 1992), 219.16 (1991), 195.06 (1990), 143.38 (1989), 99.29 (1988), 64.26 (1987)

Fiscal year: 1 July-30 June