Economic Growth Driven by Strong Exports and Services
Tanzania’s economy continued to show strong growth in the year ending September 2025, with exports of goods and services rising by approximately 15 percent to reach $17.09 billion. This growth was fueled by robust performance in gold, manufactured goods, and traditional agricultural products such as cashew nuts and tobacco.
The Bank of Tanzania (BoT) highlighted that the increase was largely due to strong earnings from these key sectors, alongside improved service receipts from tourism and transport. The central bank emphasized that the growth was driven by higher service income and better export performance in gold, manufactured goods, and traditional exports.
Goods Exports Surge
Goods exports saw a significant increase, reaching $10.12 billion in the year ending September 2025, up from $8.23 billion in the previous year. This growth was primarily attributed to the strong performance of gold, manufactured goods, cashew nuts, cereals, and tobacco.
Gold exports experienced a substantial rise, increasing by 35.8 percent to $4.43 billion, compared to $3.26 billion in the same period the previous year. This surge was driven by elevated global gold prices and steady production levels. Gold remained Tanzania’s largest foreign exchange earner, accounting for about 44 percent of total goods exports.
Traditional exports also recorded impressive growth, expanding by 38.3 percent to $1.48 billion from $1.07 billion in the previous year. This improvement was mainly supported by strong performance in cashew nuts and tobacco, which benefited from higher international prices and increased export volumes.
Cashew nut exports nearly doubled to $527.6 million, compared to $225.6 million in the previous year. Meanwhile, the value of manufactured goods exports rose from $1.3 billion to $1.56 billion. Cereal exports also saw a significant increase, almost doubling to $340.6 million from $194.2 million.
The BoT noted that this performance was largely underpinned by strong demand from neighboring countries such as Kenya, Rwanda, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Manufactured goods continued to perform well, supported by industrial expansion and regional market integration.
Service Receipts Grow
Service receipts totaled $6.97 billion during the year ending September 2025, compared to $6.67 billion in the corresponding period in 2024, reflecting a 4.6 percent increase. The growth was primarily attributed to higher earnings from travel and transport services, which together accounted for the largest share of service income.
Travel receipts continued to strengthen, reflecting sustained recovery in the tourism sector, with tourist arrivals increasing by 11.9 percent to 2,315,637 visitors. The report highlights that this improvement aligns with ongoing promotional campaigns and enhanced air connectivity.
Transport service earnings, mainly freight, rose to $2.54 billion, up from $2.28 billion in the previous year, supported by an increase in trade volumes across the East African region. However, on a monthly basis, total service receipts declined slightly to $576 million in September 2025, compared with $584.7 million a year earlier, partly due to seasonal fluctuations.
Imports and Trade Balance
On the import side, the report shows that imports of goods and services rose to $17.73 billion in the year ending September 2025, from $16.76 billion recorded in the corresponding period a year earlier. The increase was largely attributed to higher imports of industrial supplies, machinery and mechanical appliances, parts and accessories, and transport equipment.
However, oil imports, which accounted for 16.8 percent of total imports, fell to $2.47 billion, down from $2.75 billion in the previous period, mainly due to a decline in global oil prices.
On a month-to-month basis, imports of goods stood at $1.50 billion in September 2025, higher than $1.25 billion recorded in the same month of 2024. At the same time, service payments rose to $3.09 billion, up from $2.60 billion in the preceding year, driven largely by higher freight charges associated with the increased import bill.
Reflecting the strong export performance, the report notes that the current account deficit narrowed to $2.23 billion in the year ending September 2025, down from $3.04 billion a year earlier. Foreign exchange reserves remained robust at $6.66 billion, sufficient to cover more than five months of projected imports of goods and services—well above both the national and East African Community (EAC) benchmarks.
The BoT attributes this resilience to steady export earnings, prudent macroeconomic management, and favorable commodity prices, especially gold.