Zimbabwe: Food imports (% of merchandise imports)

Key figures

What the numbers say

In 2024, Zimbabwe's food imports (% of merchandise imports) rose 5.14 percentage points on 2023 (from 13.82% to 18.96%).

Across the 30 yearly changes before that (1992 to 2023), the average change was +0.33 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 6.2 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.8 standard deviations above that average, so it was an ordinary year: it sits within the range of normal year-to-year movement.

On record, the biggest yearly rise was 15.54 percentage points in 1992 and the biggest yearly fall was 10.88 percentage points in 2005. The numbers show how large and when, not why; for the cause, look at what happened in that country in those years.

From 2015 to 2024 there is no clear straight-line trend: a straight line explains 1% of the movement over 10 observed years, so the value is moving around more than it is heading anywhere.

Worked out from the yearly values above. How the checks work: standard deviation, z-scores and straight-line trends.

How it compares

In 2024, Zimbabwe had the 18th highest value of the 36 economies reporting that year. Higher is not always better: for some indicators the lowest value is the one to aim for. See the full ranking.

Closest to Zimbabwe in the 2024 ranking

• Bahamas, The — 15th of 36: 19.96%
• Honduras — 16th of 36: 19.47%
• Senegal — 17th of 36: 18.99%
• Lebanon — 19th of 36: 18.55%
• Madagascar — 20th of 36: 18.36%
• Albania — 21st of 36: 16.6%

What this measures

Food comprises the commodities in SITC (Rev. 3) sections 0 (food and live animals), 1 (beverages and tobacco), and 4 (animal and vegetable oils and fats) and division 22 (oil seeds, oil nuts, and oil kernels). This indicator is expressed as a percentage of merchandise imports which is comprised of goods whose economic ownership is changed between a non-resident and a resident and that are not included in the following specific categories: goods under merchanting, non-monetary gold, and parts of travel, construction, and government goods and services n.i.e.

Limitations: Previous editions contained data based on the SITC revision 1. Data for earlier years in previous editions may differ because of the change in methodology. Concordance tables are available to convert data reported in one system to another.

Regional and income-group figures are computed by the World Bank as a weighted average.

All 37 values

Food imports (% of merchandise imports) in nearby economies

• Angola — 15.62% (2025)
• Benin — 33.27% (2024)
• Botswana — 16.21% (2023)
• Burkina Faso — 11.18% (2024)
• Burundi — 13.65% (2023)
• Cabo Verde — 32.56% (2024)
• Cameroon — 21.75% (2023)
• Central African Republic — 20.92% (2024)
• Comoros — 42.07% (2023)
• Congo, Dem. Rep. — 10.5% (2024)

More private sector & trade data for Zimbabwe

• Merchandise trade (% of GDP) — 38.7% (2025)
• Merchandise imports (current US$) — US$10.11 billion (2025)
• Merchandise exports (current US$) — US$9.71 billion (2025)
• Import unit value index (2015 = 100) — 139.8 (2025)
• Merchandise imports from high-income economies (% of total merchandise imports) — 8.71% (2023)
• Merchandise imports from low- and middle-income economies outside region (% of total merchandise imports) — 27.05% (2023)
• Merchandise imports from low- and middle-income economies in Sub-Saharan Africa (% of total merchandise imports) — 64.24% (2023)
• Merchandise imports by the reporting economy, residual (% of total merchandise imports)

Reading data like this

• Where to find free public data, and how to check it before you trust it — 2 min read
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• Real change or random noise? A plain guide to reading your numbers — 2 min read

Questions people ask

What is Zimbabwe's food imports (% of merchandise imports)?

18.96% in 2024, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

How has it changed since 1984?

It is up 10.84 percentage points from 8.12% in 1984. The highest value was 23.68% in 2004 and the lowest 2.23% in 1991.

How does Zimbabwe rank?

18th highest of 36 economies with data for 2024.

Is the latest change in food imports (% of merchandise imports) unusual for Zimbabwe?

In 2024, Zimbabwe's food imports (% of merchandise imports) rose 5.14 percentage points on 2023 (from 13.82% to 18.96%). Across the 30 yearly changes before that (1992 to 2023), the average change was +0.33 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 6.2 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.8 standard deviations above that average, so it was an ordinary year: it sits within the range of normal year-to-year movement.

Source

World Bank, World Development Indicators, indicator TM.VAL.FOOD.ZS.UN, licensed CC BY 4.0. Original source: Comtrade database, United Nations (UN), publisher: UN Statistics Division; World Integrated Trade Solution system (WITS); Staff estimates, World Bank (WB) Figures are fetched from the World Bank API and refreshed monthly; see the series on data.worldbank.org. The full definition and method are in the World Bank's metadata glossary. Comparisons use the same World Bank release.

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