Zimbabwe’s ruling party, the Zimbabwe AfricanNational Union–Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF), heldits conference in December 2015 and selected the

country’s current president, 91-year-old Robert Mugabe,to be the party’s presidential candidate in the 2018 elec-tion. Although there was agreement on that point, theissue of who would succeed Mugabe after he diedremained unresolved. He had been the only leader of thecountry since independence in 1980. There were no offi-cial discussions regarding who would be his successor, butby the time of the party conference, it was clear that manybehind-the-scenes machinations had occurred withinZANU-PF, as some members jockeyed to claim the suc-cession; this was evident in the party factions that haddeveloped.

DemographyPopulation (2015): 13,503,0007.Density (2015): persons per sq mi89.5, persons per sq km 34.6.

Sex distribution (2014): male 49.89%;female 50.11%.

Population projection: (2020)15,024,000; (2030) 17,859,000.

Major cities (2012): Harare 1,485,231;Bulawayo 653,337; Chitungwiza356,840; Mutare 186,208; Epworth167,462.

Urban-rural (2014):

Vital statisticsBirth rate per 1,000 pop-ulation (2013): 32.4(world avg. 19.5).

Death rate per 1,000population (2013): 11.4(world avg. 8.1).

Life expectancy at birth(2013): male 53.8 years;female 53.9 years.

Age breakdown (2014):

Ethnic composition (2003): Religious affiliation (2011):

Zimbabwe

Official name: Republic of Zimbabwe.Form of government: unitary republicwith two legislative houses (Senate[801]; National Assembly [2702]).

Head of state and government: President3

Robert Mugabe.Capital: Harare.Official languages: 4.Official religion: none.Monetary unit: 5, 6.

Area and populationarea population area population

2012 2012Provinces sq km census8 Provinces sq km census8

Bulawayo 479 653,337Harare 872 2,123,132Manicaland 36,459 1,752,698Mashonaland Central 28,347 1,152,520Mashonaland East 32,230 1,344,955

Mashonaland West 57,441 1,501,656Masvingo 56,566 1,485,090Matabeleland North 75,025 749,017Matabeleland South 54,172 683,893Midlands 49,166 1,614,941TOTAL 390,757 13,061,239

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National economyBudget (2009). Revenue: U.S.$933,600,000 (tax revenue 94.5%, ofwhich VAT 39.3%, income tax 23.7%; nontax revenue5.5%). Expenditures: U.S.$920,900,000 (current expenditure87.3%; capital expenditure 4.9%).

Public debt (external, outstanding; 2013): U.S.$3,951,000,000.Population economically active (2014): total 6,650,000; partic-ipation rates: age 15 and over, male 92.3%; female 89.4%;unemployed 11.3%, of which youth (ages 15–24) 16.5%.

Gross national income (2014): U.S.$12,590,000,000 (U.S.$860per capita); purchasing power parity GNI (U.S.$1,710 percapita).

Production (metric tons except as noted). Agriculture,forestry, fishing (2012): sugarcane 3,700,000, corn (maize)968,000, cassava 228,000, seed cotton 200,000, tobacco115,000, bananas 100,000, oranges 98,000, peanuts (groundnuts)93,000, jute (2011) 2,298; livestock (number of live animals; 2013)5,150,000 cattle, 2,750,000 goats, 650,000 pigs; roundwood (2013)9,465,196 cu m, of which fuelwood 95%; fisheries production 18,510(from aquaculture 43%). Mining and quarrying (2012): chromite408,476; nickel13 7,899; copper13 6,300; platinum-group metals (palla-dium, platinum, rhodium, ruthenium, and iridium) 22,900 kg; gold14,743 kg; diamonds (2010) 8,435,244 carats14. Manufacturing (valueadded in U.S.$’000,000; 2011): beverages and tobacco products 175.2;fabricated metal products 140.5; chemical products 132.9; textiles132.7; food 129.1; wearing apparel and footwear 121.9. Energy pro-duction (consumption): electricity (kW-hr; 2014) 9,815,000,000(8,237,000,000), by source (2012): fossil fuels 30.2%; renewable ener-gy 69.8%, of which hydroelectric 68.9%, biomass 0.9%; coal (metrictons; 2012) 1,590,000 ([2011] 3,250,000); crude petroleum, none(none); petroleum products (metric tons; 2011) none (626,000).

Average household size (2012): 4.2.Land use as % of total land area (2011): in temporary crops or left fal-low 10.6%, in permanent crops 0.3%, in pasture 31.3%, forest area39.5%.

Foreign trade12

Imports (2013): U.S.$7,704,200,000 (chemicals andchemical products 22.7%, of which fertilizers 13.9%;mineral products 21.3%; machinery and electricalequipment 14.0%; transport equipment 9.4%). Major import sources:

Exports (2013): U.S.$3,507,000,000 (precious stonesand metals 28.4%; tobacco 25.5%; base and fabricat-ed metals 17.3%; mineral products 12.5%; textiles3.4%). Major export destinations:

Transport and communicationsTransport. Railroads (2010): route length 2,129 mi, 3,427

km; passenger-km, n.a.; metric ton-km cargo(2007) 1,580,000,000. Roads (2012): total length50,704 mi, 81,601 km (paved [2002] 19%). Vehicles(2007): passenger cars 1,214,137; trucks and buses202,356.

Education and healthLiteracy (2011): percentage of total popu-lation age 15 and over literate 83.6%;males literate 87.8%; females literate80.1%.

Health (2012): physicians (2011) 1,025 (1 per 12,502 persons); hospital beds53,955 (1 per 240 persons); infant mortal-ity rate 28.2; undernourished population(2006–08) 3,700,000 (30% of total popu-lation based on the consumption of aminimum daily requirement of 1,790calories).

MilitaryTotal active duty person-nel (November 2014):29,000 (army 86.2%, airforce 13.8%). Militaryexpenditure as percent-age of GDP (2014):2.7%; per capita expen-diture U.S.$27.

1Includes 60 members elected by a party-list system of proportional representation, with men and women being listed alternately on every list; 16 traditional chiefs are electedby the provincial assemblies of chiefs; 2 seats are reserved for the president and deputy president of the National Council of Chiefs; and 2 seats are reserved for representativesof people with disabilities. 2Includes 210 directly elected seats and, for the first two assemblies elected after the promulgation of the 2013 constitution, 60 indirectly elected seatsreserved for women. 3The prime minister post was abolished under the 2013 constitution. 4There are 16 official languages: Chewa, Chibarwe, English, Kalanga, Khoisan,Nambya, Ndau, Ndebele, Shangaan (Shangani), Shona, sign language, Sotho, Tonga, Tswana, Venda, and Xhosa. 5The use of the Zimbabwe dollar (Z$) as legal currency wassuspended indefinitely on April 12, 2009, because of long-term hyperinflation. 6Multiple foreign currencies (including the U.S. dollar and South African rand) became legal ten-der in January 2009. 7Includes roughly 3 million Zimbabweans living outside of the country, many of whom are in South Africa. 8Final. 9Indirect taxes less subsidies and lessimputed bank service charges. 10Includes 652,700 unemployed. 11Detail does not add to total given because of rounding. 12Imports c.i.f.; exports f.o.b. 13Metal content. 14InNovember 2011 the Kimberley Process cleared sanctions on Zimbabwe, in place since 2009, that had prohibited the country from exporting diamonds. 15Subscribers.

Internet resources for further information:• Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe www.rbz.co.zw• Zimbabwe National Statistics Agency www.zimstat.co.zw

Structure of gross domestic product and labour force2011

in value % of total labour % of labourU.S.$’000,000 value force force

Agriculture, forestry, fishing 1,222.1 13.8 3,573,900 58.7Mining and quarrying 920.7 10.4 107,700 1.8Manufacturing 1,409.1 15.9 269,800 4.4Construction 70.6 0.8 101,800 1.7Public utilities 432.1 4.9 13,100 0.2Transp. and commun. 1,084.6 12.2 106,700 1.8Trade, restaurants 749.7 8.5 545,100 9.0Finance, real estate 671.3 7.6 135,500 2.2Services 988.1 11.1 499,400 8.2Pub. admin., defense 321.4 3.6 70,800 1.2Other 995.89 11.29 659,90010 10.810

TOTAL 8,865.411 100.0 6,083,80011 100.0

Communications units unitsnumber per 1,000 number per 1,000

Medium date in ’000s persons Medium date in ’000s persons

TelephonesCellular 2014 11,79915 80815

Landline 2014 329 23

Internet users 2009 1,422 114Broadband 2014 15215 1015

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