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African economies
Tanzania · Economy

Tanzania economy: GDP, investment, trade and remittances

How large the Tanzania economy is and how fast it is growing, who invests in it, what it sells and buys, how much its citizens abroad send home, who it owes and what it holds in reserve. The latest published year is shown with each figure.

GDP
US$90.1 billion
current US$, 2025
Real GDP growth
5.9%
2025
GDP per person
US$1,319
current US$, 2025
Exports of goods
US$10.1 billion
2025
Remittances received
US$1.1 billion
2024, 1.4% of GDP
Foreign direct investment, net inflows
US$1.7 billion
2025, 1.9% of GDP

Tanzania economy snapshot: GDP, growth and income per person

Tanzania's GDP was US$90.1 billion in 2025, after real growth of 5.9%.

GDP

Current US dollars.

025bn50bn75bn100bn201520172019202120232025GDP 2015: US$47.4 billionGDP 2016: US$49.8 billionGDP 2017: US$53.3 billionGDP 2018: US$57.0 billionGDP 2019: US$61.0 billionGDP 2020: US$66.1 billionGDP 2021: US$70.7 billionGDP 2022: US$75.7 billionGDP 2023: US$79.0 billionGDP 2024: US$79.2 billionGDP 2025: US$90.1 billion

Real GDP growth

Annual change, per cent. Red bars are contractions.

0%2%4%6%8%201520172019202120232025Real GDP growth 2015: 6.2%Real GDP growth 2016: 6.9%Real GDP growth 2017: 6.7%Real GDP growth 2018: 5.5%Real GDP growth 2019: 5.8%Real GDP growth 2020: 2.0%Real GDP growth 2021: 4.3%Real GDP growth 2022: 4.6%Real GDP growth 2023: 5.1%Real GDP growth 2024: 5.5%Real GDP growth 2025: 5.9%

GDP per person

Current US dollars.

05001k2k201520172019202120232025GDP per person 2015: US$939GDP per person 2016: US$953GDP per person 2017: US$987GDP per person 2018: US$1,023GDP per person 2019: US$1,063GDP per person 2020: US$1,117GDP per person 2021: US$1,160GDP per person 2022: US$1,208GDP per person 2023: US$1,224GDP per person 2024: US$1,193GDP per person 2025: US$1,319

Source: World Bank, 2025. Method

Who invests in Tanzania and in what

Direct investment by investing country

United Kingdom was the largest investing country in Tanzania, at 27% of inward direct investment positions in 2023.

Inward direct investment positions in Tanzania at the end of 2023: the stock of foreign direct investment, not a year's new flow. The 10 largest investing countries.

United KingdomUS$5.2 billion26.9%
NorwayUS$1.8 billion9.3%
MauritiusUS$1.6 billion8.5%
NetherlandsUS$1.6 billion8.1%
NigeriaUS$1.0 billion5.3%
BarbadosUS$935 million4.9%
South AfricaUS$916 million4.8%
ChinaUS$769 million4.0%
KenyaUS$574 million3.0%
CanadaUS$550 million2.9%

Source: IMF, 2023. Method

What Tanzania sells and buys

Pearls, precious stones and metals was 49% of exports in 2025.

Tanzania sold the most to South Africa, 29% of exports in 2025.

Exports by product, 2025

Tile area follows value. Each tile is a customs chapter of the Harmonized System; hover for the full name.

Natural, cultured pearls: US$5.0 billion, 49.2%Pearls, precious stones and metals49%Tobacco and manufactured tobacco substitutes: US$600 million, 6.0%Tobacco6%Fruit and nuts, edible: US$489 million, 4.8%Edible frui…5%Coffee, tea, mate and spices: US$424 million, 4.2%Coffee, t…4%Ores, slag and ash: US$402 million, 4.0%Ores, sla…4%Vegetables and certain roots and tubers: US$318 million, 3.1%Vegetable…3%Oil seeds and oleaginous fruits: US$299 million, 3.0%Oil seeds…3%Cereals: US$231 million, 2.3%Fish and crustaceans, molluscs and other aquatic invertebrates: US$161 million, 1.6%Salt: US$136 million, 1.3%Mineral fuels, mineral oils and products of their distillation: US$130 million, 1.3%Glass and glassware: US$125 million, 1.2%All other chapters: US$1.8 billion, 18.0%All other chapters18%

Source: UN Comtrade, 2025. Method

Top buyers, 2025

Share of Tanzania's exports.

South AfricaUS$2.9 billion28.8%
United Arab EmiratesUS$1.3 billion13.1%
IndiaUS$938 million9.3%
ChinaUS$513 million5.1%
SwitzerlandUS$433 million4.3%
KenyaUS$419 million4.2%
BelgiumUS$356 million3.5%
SingaporeUS$328 million3.3%
Democratic Republic of the CongoUS$286 million2.8%
RwandaUS$252 million2.5%

Top suppliers, 2025

Share of Tanzania's imports.

ChinaUS$5.8 billion35.5%
IndiaUS$2.1 billion12.7%
United Arab EmiratesUS$1.7 billion10.2%
JapanUS$693 million4.3%
South AfricaUS$528 million3.3%
KenyaUS$438 million2.7%
Saudi ArabiaUS$417 million2.6%
United StatesUS$343 million2.1%
GermanyUS$315 million1.9%
RussiaUS$278 million1.7%

Source: UN Comtrade, 2025. Method

What Tanzania buys, 2025

The 8 largest product chapters in imports.

Mineral fuels and oilsUS$2.4 billion15.0%
VehiclesUS$2.1 billion12.8%
Machinery and mechanical appliancesUS$1.7 billion10.4%
Electrical machinery and equipmentUS$1.3 billion7.7%
PlasticsUS$946 million5.8%
Iron and steelUS$891 million5.5%
Iron or steel articlesUS$679 million4.2%
Chemical products n.e.c.US$482 million3.0%

Source: UN Comtrade, 2025. Method

Trade balance of goods

Exports minus imports. Red bars are years when imports were larger. A year is left out when either side is not published.

-10bn-7.5bn-5.0bn-2.5bn0201520172019202120232025Trade balance 2015: -US$8.9 billion (exports US$5.9 billion, imports US$14.7 billion)Trade balance 2016: -US$3.1 billion (exports US$4.7 billion, imports US$7.9 billion)Trade balance 2017: -US$3.6 billion (exports US$4.2 billion, imports US$7.8 billion)Trade balance 2018: -US$4.9 billion (exports US$3.7 billion, imports US$8.6 billion)Trade balance 2019: -US$4.1 billion (exports US$5.0 billion, imports US$9.1 billion)Trade balance 2020: -US$2.4 billion (exports US$6.1 billion, imports US$8.5 billion)Trade balance 2021: -US$4.5 billion (exports US$6.4 billion, imports US$10.9 billion)Trade balance 2022: -US$8.8 billion (exports US$6.8 billion, imports US$15.7 billion)Trade balance 2023: -US$7.8 billion (exports US$7.3 billion, imports US$15.1 billion)Trade balance 2024: -US$7.0 billion (exports US$8.7 billion, imports US$15.7 billion)Trade balance 2025: -US$6.2 billion (exports US$10.1 billion, imports US$16.2 billion)

Source: UN Comtrade, 2025. Method

Remittances against foreign direct investment in Tanzania

Foreign direct investment in Tanzania was 1.5 times remittances in 2024.

Remittances receivedForeign direct investment, net inflows
0500m1.0bn1.5bn2.0bn201520172019202120232025Remittances 2015: US$388 millionRemittances 2016: US$403 millionRemittances 2017: US$403 millionRemittances 2018: US$413 millionRemittances 2019: US$433 millionRemittances 2020: US$326 millionRemittances 2021: US$558 millionRemittances 2022: US$704 millionRemittances 2023: US$1.2 billionRemittances 2024: US$1.1 billionForeign direct investment 2015: US$1.5 billionForeign direct investment 2016: US$864 millionForeign direct investment 2017: US$938 millionForeign direct investment 2018: US$972 millionForeign direct investment 2019: US$1.2 billionForeign direct investment 2020: US$944 millionForeign direct investment 2021: US$1.2 billionForeign direct investment 2022: US$1.4 billionForeign direct investment 2023: US$1.6 billionForeign direct investment 2024: US$1.7 billionForeign direct investment 2025: US$1.7 billion

Source: World Bank, 2026. Method

Remittances and investment as a share of GDP

The same two flows measured against the size of the economy.

Remittances, share of GDPForeign direct investment, share of GDP
0%1%2%3%4%201520172019202120232025Remittances 2015: 0.8%Remittances 2016: 0.8%Remittances 2017: 0.8%Remittances 2018: 0.7%Remittances 2019: 0.7%Remittances 2020: 0.5%Remittances 2021: 0.8%Remittances 2022: 0.9%Remittances 2023: 1.6%Remittances 2024: 1.4%Foreign direct investment 2015: 3.2%Foreign direct investment 2016: 1.7%Foreign direct investment 2017: 1.8%Foreign direct investment 2018: 1.7%Foreign direct investment 2019: 2.0%Foreign direct investment 2020: 1.4%Foreign direct investment 2021: 1.7%Foreign direct investment 2022: 1.9%Foreign direct investment 2023: 2.1%Foreign direct investment 2024: 2.2%Foreign direct investment 2025: 1.9%

Source: World Bank, 2026. Method

Who Tanzania owes

External debt stock by type of creditor. Creditor types cover public and publicly guaranteed debt; the grey part is the rest of the total external debt stock. A creditor type with no published figure is not shown.

Multilateral creditors held 45% of Tanzania's external debt stock in 2024.

Public external debt owed to China was US$1.4 billion in 2024, 4% of the external debt stock.

MultilateralBilateralCommercial banksRest of the totalPublic debt owed to China
010bn20bn30bn40bn20152017201920212023Multilateral 2015: US$7.4 billionBilateral 2015: US$3.6 billionCommercial banks 2015: US$1.5 billionRest of the total 2015: US$5.7 billionMultilateral 2016: US$7.8 billionBilateral 2016: US$4.0 billionCommercial banks 2016: US$1.3 billionRest of the total 2016: US$6.5 billionMultilateral 2017: US$8.9 billionBilateral 2017: US$4.2 billionCommercial banks 2017: US$1.5 billionRest of the total 2017: US$7.1 billionMultilateral 2018: US$9.4 billionBilateral 2018: US$4.2 billionCommercial banks 2018: US$1.6 billionRest of the total 2018: US$7.3 billionMultilateral 2019: US$10.2 billionBilateral 2019: US$4.2 billionCommercial banks 2019: US$2.5 billionRest of the total 2019: US$7.6 billionMultilateral 2020: US$11.2 billionBilateral 2020: US$4.1 billionCommercial banks 2020: US$2.2 billionRest of the total 2020: US$8.2 billionMultilateral 2021: US$11.5 billionBilateral 2021: US$4.0 billionCommercial banks 2021: US$3.4 billionRest of the total 2021: US$9.9 billionMultilateral 2022: US$12.6 billionBilateral 2022: US$3.7 billionCommercial banks 2022: US$3.2 billionRest of the total 2022: US$10.9 billionMultilateral 2023: US$14.7 billionBilateral 2023: US$3.6 billionCommercial banks 2023: US$4.1 billionRest of the total 2023: US$12.2 billionMultilateral 2024: US$16.4 billionBilateral 2024: US$3.6 billionCommercial banks 2024: US$4.2 billionRest of the total 2024: US$12.1 billionPublic debt owed to China 2015: US$2.6 billionPublic debt owed to China 2016: US$2.6 billionPublic debt owed to China 2017: US$2.7 billionPublic debt owed to China 2018: US$2.5 billionPublic debt owed to China 2019: US$2.5 billionPublic debt owed to China 2020: US$2.2 billionPublic debt owed to China 2021: US$2.0 billionPublic debt owed to China 2022: US$1.7 billionPublic debt owed to China 2023: US$1.6 billionPublic debt owed to China 2024: US$1.4 billion

Source: World Bank, 2026. Method

Reserves and months of import cover

Total reserves including gold, and how many months of imports they cover.

Reserves, US$Months of imports
02.0bn4.0bn6.0bn024682015201620172018Reserves 2015: US$4.1 billionReserves 2016: US$4.4 billionReserves 2017: US$5.9 billionReserves 2018: US$5.0 billionMonths of imports 2015: 4.3 monthsMonths of imports 2016: 5.2 monthsMonths of imports 2017: 6.8 monthsMonths of imports 2018: 5.4 months

Source: World Bank, 2026. Method

Aid received by Tanzania

Net official development assistance and official aid received.

01.0bn2.0bn3.0bn4.0bn20152017201920212023Aid received 2015: US$2.6 billionAid received 2016: US$2.3 billionAid received 2017: US$2.6 billionAid received 2018: US$2.5 billionAid received 2019: US$2.1 billionAid received 2020: US$2.3 billionAid received 2021: US$2.6 billionAid received 2022: US$2.6 billionAid received 2023: US$3.1 billion

Source: World Bank, 2026. Method

More on Tanzania

World Bank data pages for Tanzania: GDP, GDP growth, GDP per person, remittances, foreign direct investment, reserves, months of imports, external debt, debt by creditor, aid. UN Comtrade: trade data. IMF: direct investment positions.