Mozambique

GDP/capita CAGR

2.5%

Unemployment (2025)

6.6%

Gini index (2022)

49.6

CO2/capita (2024)

0.3 t

Mozambique: steady but modest growth, 1991–2024

After its 1977-92 civil war, Mozambique posted strong aid- and megaproject-driven growth that faltered after the 2016 'hidden debts' scandal and an insurgency in gas-rich Cabo Delgado province that delayed major LNG projects. Between 1991 and 2024, Mozambique's GDP per capita grew from $289 to $657 (current US$), a compound annual growth rate of 2.5% — steady but modest growth. Annual GDP growth averaged 4.8% with a year-to-year standard deviation of 5.9 points, reflecting considerable volatility and periodic crises. Structurally, agriculture's share of the economy moved from 33.9% to 25.2% of GDP (a classic decline as the economy industrialized/modernized), while services rose from 46.3% to 41.1% of GDP, a comparatively unusual pattern for this period. On human development, life expectancy rose from 44.0 to 63.8 years, while tertiary school enrollment moved from 0.1% to 7.5%, while the urban population share grew from 13.1% to 36.4%.

What this growth cost: Growth was not without cost: per-capita CO2 emissions rose from 0.22 to 0.29 tonnes CO2e per person; income inequality (Gini index) narrowed from 53.3 to 49.6; the poverty headcount ratio fell from 87.7% to 81.4%.

What it trades

Top exported and imported products, approximate share of total trade value.

Top exports

Mineral fuels, mineral oils and products of their distillation; bituminous substances; mineral ...57.6%

Aluminium and articles thereof15.4%

Ores, slag and ash6.2%

Oil seeds and oleaginous fruits; miscellaneous grains, seeds and fruit; industrial or medicinal ...3.4%

Natural or cultured pearls, precious or semi-precious stones, precious metals, metals clad ...3.1%

Tobacco and manufactured tobacco substitutes; products, whether or not containing nicotine, ...1.9%

Edible vegetables and certain roots and tubers1.8%

Edible fruit and nuts; peel of citrus fruit or melons1.5%

Salt; sulphur; earths and stone; plastering materials, lime and cement1.5%

Fertilizers1.2%

Top imports

Mineral fuels, mineral oils and products of their distillation; bituminous substances; mineral ...21.3%

Nuclear reactors, boilers, machinery and mechanical appliances; parts thereof11.3%

Vehicles other than railway or tramway rolling stock, and parts and accessories thereof7.3%

Cereals6.9%

Electrical machinery and equipment and parts thereof; sound recorders and reproducers, television ...6.4%

Inorganic chemicals; organic or inorganic compounds of precious metals, of rare-earth metals, ...4.7%

Animal, vegetable or microbial fats and oils and their cleavage products; prepared edible fats; ...3.3%

Pharmaceutical products2.9%

Articles of iron or steel2.2%

Plastics and articles thereof2.2%

Events shaping this economy

Central bank perspective

Why the charts below look the way they do, drawing on the country’s own central bank and monetary authority.

Leading companies in Mozambique

Hidroeléctrica de Cahora Bassa · Utilities Electricidade de Moçambique · Utilities Millennium bim · Banking CFM · Transportation Vodacom Moçambique · Telecom