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Tourism earnings hit $3.9 billion as Tanzania’s exports expand
Tourism was Tanzania’s biggest foreign exchange earner in the year ended February, 2025 followed by gold, according to latest Bank of Tanzania statistics. PHOTO | FILE
What you need to know:
- The BoT’s Monthly Economic Review for March 2025 shows that exports of goods and services grew by 18.8 percent to $16.74 billion during the period under review, up from $14.10 billion recorded in the corresponding period in 2024
Dar es Salaam. Tanzania’s earnings from tourism continued on an upward trajectory, with latest figures showing the sector expanded by nearly 13 percent to generate $3.9 billion in the year ending February 2025.
According to the Bank of Tanzania (BoT), key contributors to the country’s foreign exchange inflows include tourism, gold, transportation, manufactured goods and agricultural produce.
The BoT’s Monthly Economic Review for March 2025 shows that exports of goods and services grew by 18.8 percent to $16.74 billion during the period under review, up from $14.10 billion recorded in the corresponding period in 2024.
“The increase was particularly notable in exports of gold, travel (tourism), agricultural products, and transportation services,” the central bank stated.
Goods exports—accounting for 58 percent of the total exports of goods and services—rose to $9.74 billion from $7.76 billion during the year ending February 2024.
This growth was largely attributed to increased shipments of gold, cashew nuts, tobacco, coffee and horticultural produce, according to the BoT.
“Gold exports surged to $3.66 billion from $3.11 billion in 2024, largely associated with high prices in the global market,” the report noted.
Traditional exports also rose, driven by higher production of cashew nuts and coffee.
However, the BoT observed a slowdown in manufactured exports, citing a decline in shipments of fertilisers, cement and wheat flour.
On a monthly basis, exports of goods reached $851.9 million in February 2025, up from $516.7 million in February 2024—primarily driven by gold and cashew nut exports.
Receipts from services rose by 10.6 percent to $7.00 billion during the year, compared with $6.33 billion in the same period in 2024.
The increase was mainly attributed to travel receipts, which accounted for 56.3 percent of total service earnings, bolstered by a surge in international tourist arrivals to 2,169,208, up from 1,881,823 a year earlier.
Meanwhile, imports of goods and services rose moderately to $17.51 billion during the year ending February 2025, compared to $16.04 billion in the previous period.
The moderate increase was attributed to reduced imports of refined petroleum products, machinery and wheat grain.
Nonetheless, there was a rise in imports of industrial transport equipment, plastic products and freight payments during the same period.
On a monthly basis, goods imports stood at $1.38 billion in February 2025, up from $1.06 billion in February 2024.
