Africa-Press – Tanzania. THE external sector remained resilient, with the current account deficit narrowing by 2.23 per cent supported by improved performance in exports of goods and services, particularly tourism receipts and gold.
According to the latest Bank of Tanzania (BoT) Monthly Economic Review, current account narrowed to 2.11 billion US dollars in the year ending February, down from 2.15 billion US dollars in the corresponding period last year.
The BoT report shows that exports of goods and services rose by 12.4 per cent to 18.39 billion US dollars in the year ending February from 16.36 billion US dollars in the corresponding period last year.
“The expansion was largely attributable to higher tourism receipts, reflecting strong performance in the services account, together with increased merchandise exports, particularly gold,” stated the central bank report.
The exports of goods grew by 15 per cent to 10.87 billion US dollars in the year ending February from 9.45 billion US dollars in the corresponding period last year.
The expansion was dominated by gold, which accounted for about 45.7 per cent of total goods exports, alongside manufactured goods and tobacco. During the period under review, gold exports rose sharply by 35.8 per cent to 4.96 billion US dollars from 3.65 billion US dollars reflecting favourable global prices.
Manufactured goods also recorded a strong growth of 26.1 per cent to 1.71 billion US dollars from 1.35 billion US dollars. This signals a healthy shift toward value-added production and reduced reliance on raw commodities.
The BoT report said further that traditional exports registered a growth of 14.5 per cent to 1.69 billion US dollars in the year ending February driven by tobacco, coffee and cotton, benefiting from improved world market prices.
On a monthly basis, goods exports amounted to 965.2 million US dollars in February compared with 710 million US dollars in a similar month last year, on account of strong performance in gold and manufactured goods. In the year ending February 2026, the services receipts continued their upward trajectory, increasing by 8.8 per cent to 7.52 billion US dollars compared with 6.91 billion US dollars in the corresponding period last year.
The expansion was primarily driven by the tourism earnings, bolstered by a 4.2 per cent increase in international tourist arrivals to 2,255,006 visitors. Transport earnings, primarily freight, also strengthened to 2.73 billion US dollars compared with 2.38 billion US dollars in the year earlier.
On a monthly basis, service receipts stood at 608.6 million US dollars in February up from 598.8 million US dollars in February last year.
