Mozambique: Rice imports in first nine months of 2024 up from previous years

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Mozambique: Rice imports in first nine months of 2024 up from previous years

6:21 CAT | 31 Jan 2025

File photo: Lusa

Mozambique imported $353.9 million (€339.5 million) worth of rice in the first nine months of 2024, more than in the previous four years, according to data from the Bank of Mozambique.

According to a statistical report from the central bank, with the volume of the country’s imports from January to September 2024, rice purchases were higher than the total for 2023, at $317.7 million (€304.8 million), for 2022, at $288.4 million (€276.7 million), for 2021, which totalled $342.3 million (€328.4 million), and for 2020, which reached $227.8 million (€218.5 million).

In terms of consumer goods, Mozambique imported $6.455 billion (€6.195 billion) worth over the nine months, compared to $9.179 billion (€8.809 billion) in the whole of 2023, according to the same report.

In 2023 as a whole, domestic production of the main cereals, namely maize, fell by 11%, while rice output was down 34%, according to data from the Mozambican National Statistics Institute (INE).

According to the INE report, which details the production of the main cereals in Mozambique, the country produced 2,124,749 tonnes of maize in 2023, compared to 2,382,511 tonnes in 2022. The 2023 figure is, however, higher than previous years – with INE figures showing 1,836,925 tonnes of maize was produced in 2021, 1,632,321 tonnes in 2020 and 1,451,686 tonnes in 2019.

The province of Tete led the way in maize production in 2023, with 501,080 tonnes, followed by Manica, both in the centre of the country, with 398,619 tonnes.

Rice production in 2023 fell to 161,829 tonnes from 245,792 tonnes the previous year. This production was still the lowest in the last five years, according to the historical data provided by INE.

The province of Zambezia, in the centre of the country, was the leading rice producer in Mozambique in 2023, with 48,537 tonnes, followed by Gaza province, in the south, with 40,946 tonnes.

The report also points to declines in the production of two other cereals of reference in the country, mapira, which fell 15% to 139,553 tonnes in 2023, and millet, which fell 32% to 17,098 tonnes.

Source: Lusa