Zim car imports – Numbers & USD values (its big business)
Without an efficient public transport system, the only way that you can guarantee you can go from A to B in time is by car. That being said getting a vehicle of any kind is not that easy for most Zimbabweans. There aren’t a lot of people in Zim with cash on hand (in USD)…
Without an efficient public transport system, the only way that you can guarantee you can go from A to B in time is by car. That being said getting a vehicle of any kind is not that easy for most Zimbabweans. There aren’t a lot of people in Zim with cash on hand (in USD) to buy a car, be it brand new or second-hand locally or via imports.
However, that hasn’t deterred Zimbabweans from bringing them in through them by any means they know how. Additionally, you can’t go a mile without seeing a car sale these days.
All of this then got us wondering… what do the numbers look like? That question is difficult to answer because a Google search will bring you next to nothing or foreign estimates of car imports into Zim.
But, in a fortuitous turn of events, at the Zimbabwe Agricultural Show, we talked to the team from the Zimbabwe National Statistics Agency(ZIMSTAT) and they were kind enough to provide the data we needed.
The only problem with the information is that it doesn’t specify car models and makes. It appears that ZIMSTAT uses the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority(ZIMRA) classification of cars by engine type and capacity.
It makes it a little bit tough to find THE CAR that Zimbos are bringing the most but the data is interesting nonetheless.
Before we begin
The figures are a combination of second-hand and brand-new car imports to Zim.
Data covers 2017 – 2021
The cars below are more for private passenger carriage than for commercial purposes.
Quantity doesn’t necessarily translate to a higher amount, some vehicles can be a low value per unit with high volumes.
There are no makes or models, it’s just vehicle classes as they are recognised at the border by ZIMRA.
Figures are rounded up to the nearest whole number
The assumption is that the total cost is before duty
Car imports with Petrol engines of cylinder capacity not exceeding 1L (8703.21.90)
Year
2017
2018
2019
2020
2021
Quantity
4,283
9,054
–
584
3,863
Value in USD
$2,832,227
$12,625,013
$1,089,877
$1,109,426
$2,027,682
Car with a Petrol engine of cylinder capacity exceeding 1L but not exceeding 1.5L (8703.22.90)
Year
2017
2018
2019
2020
2021
Quantity
23,863
–
18,458
32,957
15,372
Value in USD
$37,832,063
$73,864,922
$31,615,241
$35,703,780
$37,163,526
Car imports with Petrol engines of cylinder capacity exceeding 1.5L but not exceeding 2L (8703.23.19)
Year
2017
2018
2019
2020
2021
Quantity
20,989
93,571
20,094
19,695
125,353
Value in USD
$37,346713
$57,683,962
$23,074,474
$18,332,566
$2,109,145
Car with a Petrol engine of cylinder capacity exceeding 2L but not exceeding 3L (8703.23.99)
Year
2017
2018
2019
2020
2021
Quantity
10,145
19,538
14,137
5,229
2,187
Value in USD
$16,536,809
$24,682,514
$15,213,922
$13,108,119
$12,409,843
Car Imports with Petrol engines of cylinder capacity exceeding 4L (8703.24.90)
Year
2017
2018
2019
2020
2021
Quantity
5,232
712
586
2,670
226
Value in USD
$5,478,683
$9,390,479
$5,085,268
$5,986,112
$4,514,653
Petrol Engine Pick-up Truck with a max payload not exceeding 800kg (8704.31.30)
Year
2017
2018
2019
2020
2021
Quantity
1,187
709
3,181
626
910
Value in USD
3,218,732
$2,342,211
$2,159,745
$1,635,096
$2,424,963
Petrol Engine Pickup truck with a payload of more than 800kg but not exceeding 1400kg (8704.31.40)
Year
2017
2018
2019
2020
2021
Quantity
925
5,250
1,237
658
2,798
Value in USD
$3,548,599
$5,852,873
$4,449,764
$2,462,224
$2,590,887
Car with a Diesel engine of cylinder capacity not exceeding 1.5L (8703.31.90)
Year
2017
2018
2019
2020
2021
Quantity
20
39
36
39
129
Value in USD
$93,058
$150,361
$86,441
$87,204
$487,254
Car imports with Diesel engines of cylinder capacity exceeding 1.5L but not exceeding 2.5L (8703.32.19)
Year
2017
2018
2019
2020
2021
Quantity
2,340
818
3,041
2,362
10,370
Value in USD
$1,453,099
$2,282,933
$2,235,211
$1,649,560
$2,954,572
Car with a Diesel engine of cylinder capacity exceeding 2L but not exceeding 2.5L (8703.32.99)
Year
2017
2018
2019
2020
2021
Quantity
4,410
3,538
9,907
494
4,508
Value in USD
$3,162,138
$3,835,321
$3,791,259
$4,036,705
$4,855,932
Car with a Diesel engine of cylinder capacity exceeding 2.5L (8703.33.90)
Year
2017
2018
2019
2020
2021
Quantity
10,745
12,080
4,266
8,000
3,278
Value in USD
$22,293,424
$44,823,165
$24,803,868
$26,635,192
$30,855,697
Diesel Engine Pick-up Truck with a payload not exceeding 800kg (8704.21.30)
Year
2017
2018
2019
2020
2021
Quantity
2,144
5,759
667
2,504
785
Value in USD
$8,746,558
$8,901,394
$2,046,594
$1,695,490
$2,878,164
Diesel Engine Pickup truck with a payload of more than 800kg but not exceeding 1400kg (8704.21.40)
