Harare, Zimbabwe (News of the South)-The Zimbabwe National Statistics Agency (ZIMSTAT) has released the country’s first ever Central Business Register Inquiry Report (CBRIR) which has once again revealed the pathetic levels of manufacturing in a country dominated by a retail sector.
The inquiry which was done between August 2013 and June 2014 reveals that the country’s economy is dominated by the wholesale and retail trade which accounts for 57 percent whilst manufacturing lags behind with a measly 13 percent.
The least number of establishments was in mining and quarrying which accounted for 0.2 percent.
The inquiry covered all the establishments operating at a fixed location in Zimbabwe which were either registered or licensed or both by an arm of government excluding government ministries.
The provincial distribution of establishments showed that Manicaland province has the highest number, 5895, of operating establishments constituting 15 percent whilst Matebeleland North province had the lowest, 2622 constituting 6.6 percent.
Speaking at the launch in the capital Harare, Mutasa Dzinotizei the Director General of ZIMSTAT said the CBR was fundamental for economic planning and would act as the benchmark for future reports.
“The CBR is a database of all establishments operating in Zimbabwe and contains particulars such as business names, addresses, main economic activity in which establishments are engaged in and also the institutional sector to which they belong”, he explained.
An accompanying Survey of services report also revealed that Harare has the highest income of US$7.1 billion and the highest expenditure, US$3.9 constituting 69.5 percent and 70.1 percent respectively.
Results by industry show that the Wholesale and Retail Trade; Repair of Motor Vehicles and Motorcycles industry received 47.6 percent of the national value of income realised.
The statistical results from ZIMSTAT provide yet another rude awakening to the deplorable state of the economy and the urgent need for corrective measures.
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