Zambia - Atlas of our Changing Environment

Economy

GDP Growth Rate %

The main pillars of Zambia’s economic growth are mining, agriculture, construction, transport and trade. The Zambian economy has grown an average of 6.1 per cent per annum between 2006 and 2009 compared to 4.8 per cent between 2002 and 2005. Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth rate was 7.6 per cent in 2010 and reduced to 6.6 per cent in 2011 as shown in Figure 1.3. The country’s annual average growth remains below the envisaged target of 7.0 per cent according to the government’s Vision 2030 (Ministry of Finance, 2012). Zambia’s poverty levels have reduced from 62.8 per cent in 2006 to 60.5 per cent in 2010. However, this is still far from attaining the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) of halving extreme poverty by 2015. Rural poverty levels have also remained high dropping from 80.3 per cent in 2006 to 77.9 per cent in 2010. Zambia’s economy is currently largely dependent on the mining industry however, efforts are being made to diversify the economy and to promote growth in key sectors such as agriculture and manufacturing.

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2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012

Figure 1.3 GDP growth rate World Bank, 2012

Tourism facilities along the Zambezi River near the Victoria Falls in Livingstone, Southern Province McMorrow, B. J., 2005

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ZAMBIA - ATLAS OF OUR CHANGING ENVIRONMENT