Tanzania rebases economy

Tanzania has rebased its economy to include the informal sector in an effort to expand economic activity coverage and boost the country’s financial status, which has relied heavily on agriculture.

Data from Tanzania’s National Bureau of Statistics shows the performance of key economic sectors such as agriculture, industry and construction has remained relatively flat, with the services sector becoming a major contributor to the country’s GDP.

Tanzania is rebasing its economy for the sixth time, with an initial rebasing in 1966.

Rebasing the national account, which includes the GDP, is the process of replacing an old base year with more recent base year –this is aimed at presenting a most accurate state of the economy as possible.

According to the United Nations Statistical Commission, countries should rebase their economies every five years.

In 2014, Kenya rebased its economy, increasing its size by 25 per cent and propelling the country to lower middle-income status. In the same period, Nigeria rebased its economy overtaking South Africa to become the continent’s biggest economy.

Zambia is also set to rebase its economy this year.