That dollar amount results from a 47.5% increase from $4.9 billion five years earlier in 2019.
Year over year, the total value of Tanzania’s globally exported products grew 6.6% compared to $6.8 billion starting from 2022.
The top 5 most valuable exports from Tanzania are unwrought gold, unmanufactured tobacco including tobacco waste, dried shelled vegetables, oil seeds then coffee. Combined, those 5 major exports represent well over half (56.9%) of Tanzania’s total exports by value for 2023.
Tanzania’s Main Trading Partners
The latest available country-specific data shows that 79.3% worth of products exported from Tanzania was bought by importers in: India (21.4% of the Tanzanian total), South Africa (15.4%), United Arab Emirates (9.4%), Switzerland (6.4%), mainland China (5.9%), Democratic Republic of the Congo (4.3%), Uganda (4.28%), Belgium (2.8%), Rwanda (2.6%), Kenya (2.43%), Burundi (2.37%) and Singapore (2%).
From a continental perspective, 46.4% of Tanzania’s exports by value was delivered to Asian countries while 36.6% was sold to importers in fellow African countries. Tanzania shipped another 15.5% worth of goods to Europe.
Smaller percentages went to buyers in North America (1.4%), Oceania led by Australia and New Zealand (0.07%) then Latin America excluding Mexico but including the Caribbean (0.02%).
Given Tanzania’s population of 63.3 million people, its total $7.3 billion worth of goods exported in 2023 translates to around $115 for each resident in the southeast African nation. That per-capita average outpaces the $110 one year earlier in 2022.
Tanzania’s Top 10 Exports
The following export product groups represent the highest dollar value in Tanzanian global shipments during 2023. Also shown is the percentage share each export category represents in terms of overall exports from Tanzania.
- Gems, precious metals: US$3.1 billion (43.2% of total exports)
- Oil seeds: $391.5 million (5.4%)
- Tobacco, manufactured substitutes: $378.4 million (5.2%)
- Vegetables: $318.7 million (4.4%)
- Coffee, tea, spices: $293.8 million (4%)
- Mineral fuels including oil: $285 million (3.9%)
- Fruits, nuts: $260.1 million (3.6%)
- Ores, slag, ash: $230.9 million (3.2%)
- Cereals: $173.5 million (2.4%)
- Fish: $164 million (2.3%)
Tanzania’s top 10 export categories generated over three-quarters (77.5%) of the overall value of its global shipments.
Tobacco encompassing manufactured substitutes was the fastest grower among the top 10 export categories, up by 77.6% from 2022 to 2023.
In second place for improving export sales was oil seeds: via a 69.8%gain led by ???.
Tanzania’s shipments of vegetables: posted the third-fastest gain in value up by 49.5%.
The leading decliner among Tanzania’s top 10 export categories was cereals: thanks to a -39.6% drop year over year
At the more granular four-digit Harmonized Tariff System code level, Tanzania’s most valuable export products are unwrought gold (42% of Tanzania’s total exports) trailed by unmanufactured tobacco and tobacco waste (4.7%), dried shelled vegetables (3.8%), oil seeds (3.2%), coffee (also 3.2%), cashew or Brazil nuts and coconuts (3%), copper ores and concentrates (2.6%), coal including solid fuels made from coal (2.5%), rice (1.7%) then non-alcoholic drinks excluding water, juice then milk (1.2%).
Products Creating Tanzania’s Largest Trade Surpluses
The following types of Tanzanian product shipments represent positive net exports or a trade balance surplus. Investopedia defines net exports as the value of a country’s total exports minus the value of its total imports.
In a nutshell, net exports represent the amount by which foreign spending on a home country’s goods or services exceeds or lags the home country’s spending on foreign goods or services.
- Gems, precious metals: US$3.1 billion (Up by 4.4% since 2022)
- Oil seeds: $364.6 million (Up by 73.2%)
- Tobacco, manufactured substitutes: $352.7 million (Up by 72.7%)
- Vegetables: $313.1 million (Up by 49.4%)
- Coffee, tea, spices: $289.8 million (Up by 12.4%)
- Fruits, nuts: $250.2 million (Down by -0.4%)
- Ores, slag, ash: $225.3 million (Down by -0.6%)
- Fish: $163.3 million (Down by -2.6%)
- Cotton: $77 million (Up by 11.6%)
- Salt, sulphur, stone, cement: $68.8 million (Down by -21.8%)
Tanzania has highly positive net exports in the international trade of gold and, to a lesser extent, precious stones and diamonds. In turn, these cashflows indicate Tanzania’s strong competitive advantages under the gems and precious metals product category.
Products Causing Tanzania’s Worst Trade Deficits
Tanzania incurred an overall -US$7.8 billion trade deficit for 2023, diminishing by -11.2% from -$8.8 billion in red ink one year earlier in 2022.
Below are exports from Tanzania that result in negative net exports or product trade balance deficits. These negative net exports reveal product categories where foreign spending on home country Tanzania’s goods trail Tanzanian importer spending on foreign products.
- Mineral fuels including oil: -US$3 billion (Down by -17.8% since 2022)
- Machinery including computers: -$1.8 billion (Up by 9.6%)
- Vehicles: -$1.6 billion (Up by 9.6%)
- Electrical machinery, equipment: -$922.5 million (Up by 11.3%)
- Iron, steel: -$725.9 million (Down by -6.2%)
- Plastics, plastic articles: -$657.9 million (Down by -22.1%)
- Articles of iron or steel: -$450.1 million (Up by 22.5%)
- Other chemical goods: -$434.1 million (Up by 11%)
- Pharmaceuticals: -$429.8 million (Down by -41.7%)
- Cereals: -$405.3 million (Up by 176.8%)
Tanzania has highly negative net exports particularly for refined petroleum oils, petroleum gases, and petroleum coke plus other petroleum oil residues under the mineral fuels including oil category.
Tanzanian Export Companies
Not one Tanzanian corporation ranks among Forbes Global 2000.
Wikipedia lists some exports-related companies from Tanzania. Selected examples are shown below.
- Dangote Industries Tanzania (cement)
- Nyati Cement (cement)
- Quality Group Limited (conglomerate)
- Swala Gas and Oil (oil, gas)
- Tanga Cement (cement)
- Tanzania Breweries Limited (beverages)
- Tanzania Cigarette Company (cigarettes)
- Tanzanian/Italian Petroleum Refining Co. Ltd (oil, gas)
- Twiga Cement (cement)
In macroeconomic terms, Tanzania’s total exported goods represent 3.2% of its overall Gross Domestic Product for 2023 ($226.2 billion valued in Purchasing Power Parity US dollars). That 3.2% for exports to overall GDP in PPP for 2023 compares to 3.3% for 2022. Those percentages suggest a relatively decreasing reliance on products sold on international markets for Tanzania’s total economic performance, albeit based on a short timeframe.
Another key indicator of a country’s economic performance is its unemployment rate. Tanzania’s unemployment rate averaged 8.8% for 2023, down from an average 8.9% for 2022 per metrics from Trading Economics.
Tanzania’s capital city is Dar es Salaam which literally means “residence of peace”.
See also Uganda’s Top 10 Exports, Somalia’s Top 10 Exports, Top Red Meat Exporters Ranked by Dollar Value and Top African Export Countries
Research Sources:
Central Intelligence Agency, The World Factbook Africa: Tanzania. Accessed on September 28, 2024
FlagPictures.org, Flag of Tanzania. Accessed on September 28, 2024
Forbes Global 2000 rankings, The World’s Biggest Public Companies. Accessed on September 28, 2024
International Monetary Fund, World Economic Outlook Database (GDP based on Purchasing Power Parity)
International Trade Centre, Trade Map. Accessed on September 28, 2024
Investopedia, Net Exports Definition. Accessed on September 28, 2024
Wikipedia, Gross domestic product. Accessed on September 28, 2024
Wikipedia, List of Companies of Tanzania. Accessed on September 28, 2024
Wikipedia, Purchasing power parity. Accessed on September 28, 2024
Wikipedia, Tanzania. Accessed on September 28, 2024