Zimbabwe’s real gross domestic product (GDP) increased by 2.3% in 2016 compared with a 0.6% rate of growth in 2015. The real GDP at market prices was about $14.2 billion in 2016. Zimbabwe’s mineral output included an estimated 7.8% of the world’s platinum production, an estimated 5.7% of the world’s palladium output, and about 1.7% of the world’s diamond production (by weight). The country was the world’s third- ranked producer of platinum, fifth-ranked producer of palladium, and eighth-ranked producer of diamond. Zimbabwe had the world’s third largest platinum-group-metal (PGm) reserves

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Minerals in the National Economy

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In 2016, the mining and quarrying sector accounted for about 9.9% of real GDP. Owing to higher prices, real GDP growth in the mining and quarrying sector was 8.2%, making the sector the second highest performing sector in the country. In 2015 (the most recent year for which data were available), minerals accounted for about 55% of the total value of exports; gold, PGms, nickel, and diamond accounted for about 20%, 17%, 8%, and 5%, respectively, of the total value of exports, and such fuel products as diesel and gasoline were projected to account for a combined 19% of total imports. For 2016, the formal mining and quarrying sector accounted for an annual average

of about 36,300 employees (Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe, 2015; Zimbabwe National Statistics agency, 2017.