Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries Manufacturing Survey 2022

The doing business environment in the year 2022 was challenging for the manufacturing sector. Despite the mammoth challenges the year 2022 presented for the manufacturing sector, the 2022. Manufacturing Sector Survey demonstrated the resilience of the manufacturing sector. Key findings from the survey are as follows:

• Close to half of the manufacturing firms (45%) registered an increase in output produced in 2022
• compared to 2021, with the average increase in output being 25%. However, about (34%) registered a decrease in output, with an average decline in output of 29%. About 17% of the firms maintained the same level of output.
• Capacity utilization for the manufacturing sector took a slight knock of about 0.2 percentage points from 56.3% in 2021 to 56.1% in 2022.
• The sentiments on the economic environment were almost evenly distributed. About 36% of the manufacturing sector perceived the economic environment to be better in 2022 compared to the previous year. However, 34% believe the economic environment of the country worsened, with the remaining 30% highlighting that it remained the same.
• Companies have been replacing antiquated machinery and upgrading their technologies. About 47% of the manufacturing firms upgraded their technology to stay competitive. However, there are about 50% of firms that have been using the same type of technology over the past five years.
• Less than half of the firms in the manufacturing sector (40.2%) created new permanent jobs in 2022.This resulted in a new permanent jobs creation ratio of 23% as a percentage of total employment. On the other hand, about 16.8% of the firms retrenched their workforce, with the retrenchment to total employment ratio being 13%.
• Most of the manufacturing sector firms indicated that their products are produced for the domestic market as only about 19% export their products. On average, about a quarter of the output that is produced by the exporting firms is destined for international markets and the main reason for participating in the international market is to earn foreign currency.
• The manufacturing sector sources almost half of its raw materials from external markets. On average, imported raw materials constituted about 48% of the firm’s total raw material procurement. The major reason for importing raw materials was non-availability of the raw materials in the local market.

The 2022 Manufacturing Sector Survey generally shows that the Zimbabwe manufacturing sector is very resilient. However, it is also quite apparent that a conducive macroeconomic environment remains the main driver of manufacturing sector performance. It is of paramount importance to ensure that the policy prescriptions foster a conducive macroeconomic environment for business.