Goods, services exports rise by 19 per cent

DODOMA: EXPORTS of goods and services rose by 19.2 per cent in the year ending May this year, reaching 16.99 billion US dollars up from 14.25 billion US dollars in the same period last year driven by increased export earnings.

According to the latest Bank of Tanzania (BoT) monthly economic review, the strong performance was primarily driven by increased earnings from gold, tourism, agricultural exports and transportation services.

Exports of goods, which accounted for 58.4 per cent of total exports of goods and services, increased to 9.89 billion US dollars from 7.76 billion US dollars.

This growth was largely driven by higher exports of gold, cashew nuts, coffee, tobacco, sisal and horticultural products.

The strong growth in exports underscores the country’s expanding role in global trade, particularly through key sectors such as gold, agriculture and tourism.

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This diversification strengthens economic resilience and creates opportunities for sustainable development.

Increased export earnings also contribute to improving the country’s balance of payments, supporting macroeconomic stability and fostering investor confidence in the economy.

The external sector showed notable improvement in the year ending May this year with the current account deficit narrowing to 2.12 billion US dollars, down from 2.86 billion US dollars in the same period last year.

This positive development was largely attributed to robust export performance that outpaced import growth.

Gold exports rose to 3.84 billion US dollars from 3.12 billion US dollars, supported by favourable global market prices amid heightened economic uncertainty and increased central bank Manufactured exports also recorded growth, notably in fertilisers, ceramic products, plastic items, iron and steel and paper products.

On a monthly basis, goods exports reached 651.2 million US dollars in May this year, compared with 578.5 million US dollars in May last year, driven primarily by strong performances in gold and cashew nut exports.

Service receipts increased by 9.2 per cent, reaching 7.099 billion US dollars compared to 6.49 billion US dollars in the year ending May last year.

This growth was largely driven by a rise in travel (tourism) receipts, which accounted for 55.1 per cent of total service earnings.

The increase in travel receipts was largely attributed to a rise in international tourist arrivals, which grew to 2,170,360 from 1,961,870 over the same period.