Tanzania Economy

Eighty percent of Tanzania's workforce is employed in agriculture, upon which the country's economy is heavily dependent. Agriculture contributes significantly more than half of Tanzania's GDP and 85% of its exports.

Tanzania's main exports are coffee, tea, cotton, cashew nuts, sisal, cloves and pyrethrum.

Unfortunately, the country's climate and topography are such that only four percent of its land is arable. Tanzania's industrial sector is one of the smallest in Africa, making up only 10% of GDP.

A three-year Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility agreement was started in 2003. This resulted in annual real GDP growth of about 4% since 2003. This is an improvement on the previous 20 years, but insufficient to affect the lives of ordinary Tanzanians. Real GDP growth was 6% in 2005, however, which coincided with an increase in mineral and industrial production

The economy remains very donor-dependent. Tanzania qualified as a Heavily Indebted Poor Country, resulting in the cancellation of debts worth $6 billion, but about 40% of total government expenditures are used to service the country's remaining external debt of about $7.9 billion.

Tanzania's ecotourism market has massive potential to generate income and investment. Half a million foreign visitors a year have generated up to US$750 million in revenue each year, an increase of five times since 1990. But this remains far short of the market's potential - Tanzania's ecotourism potential is still largely untapped.

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