venue NW, Washington, DC 20009

Diplomatic representation from the US:
chief of mission: Ambassador Thomas McDONALD
embassy: 172 Herbert Chitepo Avenue, Harare
mailing address: P. O. Box 3340, Harare

Flag description: seven equal horizontal bands of green, yellow,
red, black, red, yellow, and green with a white equilateral triangle
edged in black based on the hoist side; a yellow Zimbabwe bird is
superimposed on a red five-pointed star in the center of the triangle

Economy

Economy--overview: The government of Zimbabwe faces a wide variety
of difficult economic problems as it struggles to consolidate
earlier progress in developing a market-oriented economy. Its
involvement in the war in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, for
example, has already drained hundreds of millions of dollars from
the economy. Badly needed support from the IMF suffers delays in
part because of the country's failure to meet budgetary goals.
Inflation rose from an annual rate of 25% in January 1998 to 47% in
December and will almost certainly continue to increase in 1999. The
economy is being steadily weakened by AIDS; Zimbabwe has one of the
highest rates of infection in the world. Per capita GDP, which is
twice the average of the poorer sub-Saharan nations, will increase
little if any in the near-term, and Zimbabwe will suffer continued
frustrations in developing its agricultural and mineral resources.

GDP: purchasing power parity--$26.2 billion (1998 est.)

GDP--real growth rate: 1.5% (1998 est.)

GDP--per capita: purchasing power parity?$2,400 (1998 est.)

GDP--composition by sector:
agriculture: 28%
industry: 32%
services: 40% (1997 est.)

Population below poverty line: 25.5% (1990-91 est.)

Household income or consumption by percentage share:
lowest 10%: 1.8%
highest 10%: 46.9% (1990)

Inflation rate (consumer prices): 32% (1998 est.)

Labor force: 5 million (1997 est.)

Labor force--by occupation: NA

Unemployment rate: at least 45% (1994 est.)

Budget:
revenues: $2.5 billion
expenditures: $2.9 billion, including capital expenditures of $279
million (FY96/97 est.)

Industries: mining (coal, clay, numerous metallic and nonmetallic
ores), copper, steel, nickel, tin, wood products, cement, chemicals,
fertilizer, clothing and footwear, foodstuffs, beverages

Industrial production growth rate: 10% (1994)

Electricity--production: 8.5 billion kWh