Bulawayo province GDP rises

The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for Bulawayo province has risen from Z$25.75 billion in 2020 to Z$27.87 billion in 2022, showing that the economy has recovered from the Covid 19 pandemic, the Zimbabwe National Statistical Agency has said.

ZimStats macro-economic statistics division manager Tapiwa Gumbo said this during the dissemination of provincial GDP estimates on Wednesday.

GDP is the total monetary or market value of all finished goods and services produced within an area.

Zimbabwe’s economic growth slowed down around 2020 after the outbreak of Covid-19 pandemic, which forced the government to introduce lockdowns to contain the spread of the disease.

This impacted on production and growth as some workers were forced to stay at home, leaving companies to operate with skeletal staff.

The government had to introduce a number of measures, both fiscal and monetary, to put the economy back on track in the absence of financial support from international financial institutions which cut cooperation at the behest of the United States and the United Kingdom.

Gumbo said the GDP for Bulawayo was Z$27.87 billion in 2019, slumping to Z$25,75 billion due to the Covid-19 pandemic and rising slightly to $26.89 billion in 2021 after the adoption of measures to address the challenges.

He said the main drivers of the economic activity in the province include the manufacturing sector as well as good network of transport infrastructure namely road, rail and air.

“The province is also a hub of finance and insurance activities.

Wholesale and retail trade, repair of motor vehicles and motor cycles are some of the major economic activities in the province,” he said.

Gumbo said the province also experienced growth rates of 4.4 percent and 3.6 percent in 2021 and 2022 respectively.

As part of its devolution agenda, the government said it is imperative for the country to know the economic value of each province as this helps in projecting economic growth.

“The province has the highest per capita GDP of US$6 199 in 2022. The National Development Strategy (NDS1) aims to attain a GDP per capita of US$3 200 by 2025,” he said.

He also pointed out that the 2022 value added for wholesale and retail trade and manufacturing was estimated at ZW$9.0 billion and ZW$3.8 billion respectively.

“The Value added for Financial and Insurance activities as well as Information and Communication was estimated at ZWL$3.0 billion and ZWL$2.5 billion respectively,” said Gumbo.

Wholesale and retailing activities had the highest contribution of 32.2 percent to provincial GDP, while manufacturing accounted for 13.6 percent, he said.

Financial and Insurance services contributed 10.9 percent with the least being Information and Communication which contributed 8.9 percent of theoverall GDP of the province, explained Gumbo.

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