Tanzania has recorded a major increase in its trade surplus with countries in the Southern African Development Community (SADC), reaching USD 2.71 billion in 2025 compared to USD 988 million in 2020.

According to data presented by the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the growth has mainly been driven by strong export performance, especially gold exports to South Africa, together with increasing trade relations with the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).Tanzania’s exports to SADC countries increased from USD 1.46 billion in 2020 to USD 3.55 billion in 2025, while imports grew at a slower pace from USD 470.3 million to USD 837.9 million.

South Africa and the DRC remained the biggest destinations for Tanzanian exports, accounting for about 88 percent of total exports within the regional bloc.Tanzania exported goods worth USD 2.77 billion to South Africa alone during 2024/25, while imports from the country stood at USD 535.5 million.Exports to the DRC reached USD 304.2 million against imports of only USD 9.2 million.Gold continued to dominate Tanzania’s exports to SADC, contributing 76.8 percent of total regional exports.

Analysts, however, noted that this shows the country still relies heavily on mineral exports and needs to diversify into manufacturing and value-added industries.The government said it is improving standards and quality assurance systems to help Tanzanian products access more regional markets.

Minister for Industry and Trade Judith Kapinga also announced plans to establish a Market and Industrial Intelligence Unit to provide exporters and investors with market information, demand trends, trade requirements, and alerts on global market changes.The initiative is expected to strengthen Tanzania’s competitiveness and support export diversification beyond minerals.