In a positive economic development, Tanzania has witnessed a remarkable surge in its export of goods and services, marking a substantial 15.5% increase to reach $13,544.3 million in the year ending October. This encouraging trend, as reported in the Bank of Tanzania's (BoT) monthly economic review for November, is attributed primarily to the robust performance of non-traditional exports, encompassing manufactured goods, minerals—especially gold—and horticultural products.
The export of non-traditional goods demonstrated a growth of 5.5%, with the value of gold exports escalating to $2,987.7 million, a notable increase from $2,813.9 million in the preceding year ending October. This surge is attributed to a combination of volume and price effects.
Meanwhile, the export of traditional goods also experienced an uptick, reaching $910.3 million from $742.7 million, predominantly fueled by exports of coffee and tobacco. Monthly data indicates a significant doubling of traditional goods exports, reaching $120.9 million compared to $64.5 million in the same month the previous year. Conversely, non-traditional exports saw a slight decline to $532.2 million from $552 million.
Despite these positive export figures, external shocks continued to exert pressure on Tanzania's current account position, foreign reserves, and exchange rate. The current account balance, while still in deficit, narrowed to $3,265.5 million in the year ending October 2023, compared to $4,990.1 million in the preceding year. The improved performance is attributed to increased seasonal earnings from tourism activities and traditional exports.
Service receipts demonstrated a robust increase, reaching $5,838.8 million in the year ending October, up from $4,555.1 million in the corresponding period the previous year. This growth was primarily driven by travel (tourism) and transportation receipts. The surge in travel receipts is indicative of a rebound in the tourism sector, with tourist arrivals reaching a record high of 1,750,557 compared to 1,381,881 in the year 2021 to October 2022.
On a monthly basis, service receipts totaled $550 million, a notable increase from $460.4 million in October of the previous year. In terms of foreign exchange reserves, the stock stood at $4,615 million, slightly lower than the $4,637.2 million recorded at the end of October the previous year. Despite this decrease, the reserves were deemed adequate, covering approximately 4.0 months of projected imports of goods and services.