Ramani news · 6 Nov 2026 · 1 min read
Tanzania’s exports are up a fifth. The base is still narrow.
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Tanzania earned USD 21.1 billion from exports of goods and services in the year to September 2026, up 20 percent. Gold was almost half of goods earnings. The next gains have to come from crops, factories, and the finance that gets a harvest onto a ship.
Tanzania earned USD 21,065.1 million from exports of goods and services in the year to September 2026. A year earlier the figure was USD 17,568.9 million, so the increase is 19.9 percent. Goods exports rose 23.7 percent, to USD 12,444.9 million.
The headline is strong. The mix behind it has barely changed: gold still makes up 46.9 percent of goods exports.
Gold exports reached USD 5,834.5 million, up 31.7 percent from USD 4,431.2 million. The Bank of Tanzania attributes the rise to higher world prices and higher domestic output.
No other goods export comes close. Because so much rests on one commodity, a fall in the gold price would hit the goods account right away, whatever happens on farms or in factories.
Factories gained, cash crops split
Manufactured exports rose 42.4 percent, from USD 1,546.2 million to USD 2,202.4 million, led by iron, steel, and glassware. Manufactures now make up 17.7 percent of goods exports, the clearest sign of broadening outside gold.
Traditional crops grew as a group, but the individual crops moved in different directions:
Tobacco rose 22.6 percent, to USD 596.1 million. Cashew nuts fell 30 percent, to USD 369.3 million. Coffee fell 15.1 percent, to USD 280.4 million.
Cashew and coffee are still among the country’s main cash crops, so their decline matters. Crops also face a constraint that gold does not. A refined gold shipment can leave in one consignment. A crop moves through a season: it is bought, stored, graded, shipped, and only then paid for. Each of those steps needs working capital, and that is where warehouse finance and faster clearance make a difference.
The port earns from other countries’ cargo
Service receipts totalled USD 8,620.2 million. Tourism brought in USD 4,565.8 million, up 4.1 percent. Transport grew much faster, rising 30.3 percent to USD 3,478.7 million, driven by freight from transit trade.
Cargo bound for or coming from Tanzania’s neighbours does not need to be grown or made in Tanzania to earn money there. The port and the corridor turn it into export earnings, and that capacity can grow independently of harvests.
Imports grew faster still
Goods imports were USD 18,686.1 million, leaving a goods trade deficit of USD 6,241.2 million. The current account deficit widened to USD 2,397.5 million, from USD 1,879.3 million, because imports outpaced exports.
Foreign reserves stood at USD 6,031.9 million at the end of September, enough to cover 4.3 months of projected imports. The Bank of Tanzania says this is above the national adequacy benchmark. Reserves are a safety buffer, though, and they are not money available to exporters.
For an individual exporter, the binding constraint is usually cash during the season. Purchasing, storage, freight, and the wait for payment after the vessel sails all have to be funded up front. A high gold price does none of that for a cashew trader.
What to watch next
Tobacco had the strongest year among the cash crops. Cashew and coffee earned less but remain major lines. Outside gold, the real growth was in iron, steel, and glassware.
All figures are provisional. Source: Bank of Tanzania, Monthly Economic Review, October 2026, year ending September 2026.