Zimbabwe’s trade deficit widened during the first quarter of 2021 to 354 million U.S. dollars from 254 million dollars recorded during the same period last year, according to a 2021 first quarter treasury bulletin released by the Ministry of Finance on Thursday.
The country exported goods worth about 1.1 billion dollars during the first quarter, against imports of about 1.4 billion dollars.
“Mineral exports dominated in the top 20 export products at 84 percent, with nickel ores and mates, ferrochromium, industrial diamonds, platinum, coal products registering growth.”
“On the downside were gold, flue-cured tobacco and other tobacco products,” the report said.
The country’s exports were mainly destined to countries including South Africa, the United Arab Emirates and Mozambique.
The country’s import basket was dominated by crude soya bean oil, fertilizers, medicaments and wheat as the COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in increased demand for medicaments and PPEs, the report said.
The country’s imports were mainly sourced from countries including South Africa, China and Singapore. Enditem
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