In the first half of the second millennium A.D., northern Mozambican port towns were frequented by traders from Somalia, Ethiopia, Egypt, Arabia, Persia, and India. The Portuguese were able to wrest much of the coastal trade from Arab Muslims in the centuries after 1500 and to set up their own colonies. Portugal did not relinquish Mozambique until 1975. Large-scale emigration, economic dependence on South Africa, a severe drought, and a prolonged civil war hindered the country’s development until the mid-1990s. The ruling Front for the Liberation of Mozambique (FRELIMO) party formally abandoned Marxism in 1989, and a new constitution the following year provided for multiparty elections and a free market economy. A UN-negotiated peace agreement between FRELIMO and rebel Mozambique National Resistance (RENAMO) forces ended the fighting in 1992. In 2004, Mozambique underwent a delicate transition as Joaquim CHISSANO stepped down after 18 years in office. His elected successor, Armando GUEBUZA, served two terms and then passed executive power to Filipe NYUSI in 2015. RENAMO’s residual armed forces intermittently engaged in a low-level insurgency after 2012, but a late December 2016 cease-fire eventually led to the two sides signing a comprehensive peace deal in August 2019. Elections in October 2019, challenged by Western observers and civil society as being problematic, resulted in resounding wins for NYUSI and FRELIMO across the country. Since October 2017, violent extremists - who an official ISIS media outlet recognized as ISIS’s network in Mozambique for the first time in June 2019 - have been conducting attacks against civilians and security services in the northern province of Cabo Delgado. In 2021, Rwanda and the Southern African Development Community deployed forces to support Mozambique’s efforts to counter the extremist group.
land: 786,380 sq km
water: 13,000 sq km
border countries (6): Malawi 1498 km; South Africa 496 km; Eswatini 108 km; Tanzania 840 km; Zambia 439 km; Zimbabwe 1,402 km
exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
lowest point: Indian Ocean 0 m
mean elevation: 345 m
arable land: 6.4% (2018 est.)
permanent crops: 0.3% (2018 est.)
permanent pasture: 49.6% (2018 est.)
forest: 43.7% (2018 est.)
other: 0% (2018 est.)
32,513,805 (2023 est.)
noun: Mozambican(s)
adjective: Mozambican
African 99% (Makhuwa, Tsonga, Lomwe, Sena, and others), Mestizo 0.8%, other (includes European, Indian, Pakistani, Chinese) 0.2% (2017 est.)
Makhuwa 26.1%, Portuguese (official) 16.6%, Tsonga 8.6%, Nyanja 8.1, Sena 7.1%, Lomwe 7.1%, Chuwabo 4.7%, Ndau 3.8%, Tswa 3.8%, other Mozambican languages 11.8%, other 0.5%, unspecified 1.8% (2017 est.)
Roman Catholic 27.2%, Muslim 18.9%, Zionist Christian 15.6%, Evangelical/Pentecostal 15.3%, Anglican 1.7%, other 4.8%, none 13.9%, unspecified 2.5% (2017 est.)
Mozambique is a poor, sparsely populated country with high fertility and mortality rates and a rapidly growing youthful population – 45% of the population is younger than 15, as of 2020. Mozambique’s high poverty rate is sustained by natural disasters, disease, high population growth, low agricultural productivity, and the unequal distribution of wealth. The country’s birth rate is among the world’s highest, averaging around 5 children per woman (and higher in rural areas) for at least the last three decades. The sustained high level of fertility reflects gender inequality, low contraceptive use, early marriages and childbearing, and a lack of education, particularly among women. The high population growth rate is somewhat restrained by the country’s high HIV/AIDS and overall mortality rates. Mozambique ranks among the worst in the world for HIV/AIDS prevalence, HIV/AIDS deaths, and life expectancy at birth, as of 2022.Mozambique is predominantly a country of emigration, but internal, rural-urban migration has begun to grow. Mozambicans, primarily from the country’s southern region, have been migrating to South Africa for work for more than a century. Additionally, approximately 1.7 million Mozambicans fled to Malawi, South Africa, and other neighboring countries between 1979 and 1992 to escape from civil war. Labor migrants have usually been men from rural areas whose crops have failed or who are unemployed and have headed to South Africa to work as miners; multiple generations of the same family often become miners. Since the abolition of apartheid in South Africa in 1991, other job opportunities have opened to Mozambicans, including in the informal and manufacturing sectors, but mining remains their main source of employment.
0-14 years: 45% (male 7,413,197/female 7,217,953)
15-64 years: 52.1% (male 8,153,175/female 8,787,792)
65 years and over: 2.9% (2023 est.) (male 461,904/female 479,784)
total dependency ratio: 86.1
youth dependency ratio: 81.3
elderly dependency ratio: 4.8
potential support ratio: 20.8 (2021 est.)
total: 17.2 years (2023 est.)
male: 16.6 years
female: 17.8 years
2.55% (2023 est.)
36.9 births/1,000 population (2023 est.)
9.9 deaths/1,000 population (2023 est.)
-1.5 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2023 est.)
three large populations clusters are found along the southern coast between Maputo and Inhambane, in the central area between Beira and Chimoio along the Zambezi River, and in and around the northern cities of Nampula, Cidade de Nacala, and Pemba; the northwest and southwest are the least populated areas as shown in this
urban population: 38.8% of total population (2023)
rate of urbanization: 4.24% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.)
1.852 million Matola, 1.163 million MAPUTO (capital), 969,000 Nampula (2023)
at birth: 1.03 male(s)/female
0-14 years: 1.03 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 0.93 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.96 male(s)/female
total population: 0.97 male(s)/female (2023 est.)
19.2 years (2011 est.)
note: data represents median age at first birth among women 20-49
127 deaths/100,000 live births (2020 est.)
total: 59.8 deaths/1,000 live births (2023 est.)
male: 61.7 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 57.8 deaths/1,000 live births
total population: 57.7 years (2023 est.)
male: 56.4 years
female: 59 years
4.74 children born/woman (2023 est.)
2.33 (2023 est.)
27.1% (2015)
improved: urban: 93.4% of population
rural: 61.5% of population
total: 73.3% of population
unimproved: urban: 6.6% of population
rural: 38.5% of population
total: 26.7% of population (2020 est.)
7.6% of GDP (2020)
0.09 physicians/1,000 population (2020)
0.7 beds/1,000 population (2011)
improved: urban: 71.9% of population (2015 est.)
rural: 24.7% of population
total: 42.2% of population
unimproved: urban: 28.1% of population
rural: 75.3% of population
total: 57.8% of population (2020 est.)
degree of risk: very high (2023)
food or waterborne diseases: bacterial and protozoal diarrhea, hepatitis A, and typhoid fever
vectorborne diseases: malaria and dengue fever
water contact diseases: schistosomiasis
animal contact diseases: rabies
note: on 31 August 2023, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued a Travel Alert for polio in Africa; Mozambique is currently considered a high risk to travelers for circulating vaccine-derived polioviruses (cVDPV); vaccine-derived poliovirus (VDPV) is a strain of the weakened poliovirus that was initially included in oral polio vaccine (OPV) and that has changed over time and behaves more like the wild or naturally occurring virus; this means it can be spread more easily to people who are unvaccinated against polio and who come in contact with the stool or respiratory secretions, such as from a sneeze, of an “infected” person who received oral polio vaccine; the CDC recommends that before any international travel, anyone unvaccinated, incompletely vaccinated, or with an unknown polio vaccination status should complete the routine polio vaccine series; before travel to any high-risk destination, the CDC recommends that adults who previously completed the full, routine polio vaccine series receive a single, lifetime booster dose of polio vaccine
7.2% (2016)
total: 1.46 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
beer: 1.03 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
wine: 0.22 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
spirits: 0.21 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
other alcohols: 0 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
total: 14.3% (2020 est.)
male: 23% (2020 est.)
female: 5.6% (2020 est.)
14.6% (2019/20)
63.7% (2023 est.)
6.3% of GDP (2020 est.)
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 63.4%
male: 74.1%
female: 53.8% (2021)
total: 10 years
male: 10 years
female: 9 years (2017)
increased migration of the population to urban and coastal areas with adverse environmental consequences; desertification; soil erosion; deforestation; water pollution caused by artisanal mining; pollution of surface and coastal waters; wildlife preservation (elephant poaching for ivory)
party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Climate Change-Paris Agreement, Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 2006, Wetlands
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements
tropical to subtropical
agricultural land: 56.3% (2018 est.)
arable land: 6.4% (2018 est.)
permanent crops: 0.3% (2018 est.)
permanent pasture: 49.6% (2018 est.)
forest: 43.7% (2018 est.)
other: 0% (2018 est.)
urban population: 38.8% of total population (2023)
rate of urbanization: 4.24% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.)
severe localized food insecurity:due to shortfall in agricultural production and economic downturn - the number of people in need of food assistance is expected to rise above the 1.86 million estimated in 2021-2022 because of three key factors; firstly, higher year‑on‑year prices of food and fuel are reducing households’ purchasing power, worsening their economic access to food, particularly for low-income households; secondly, the impact of extreme weather events on agricultural production in central and southern provinces in 2022 is likely to mean that farming households in the affected areas have both low food supplies from their own production and curtailed income-earning opportunities from crop sales, impinging on their food availability and economic access to food; thirdly, there has been an increase in attacks by non‑state armed groups in the northern province of Cabo Delgado in 2022
6.46% of GDP (2018 est.)
4.17% of GDP (2018 est.)
particulate matter emissions: 16.45 micrograms per cubic meter (2019 est.)
carbon dioxide emissions: 7.94 megatons (2016 est.)
methane emissions: 16.26 megatons (2020 est.)
municipal solid waste generated annually: 2.5 million tons (2014 est.)
municipal solid waste recycled annually: 25,000 tons (2014 est.)
percent of municipal solid waste recycled: 1% (2014 est.)
fresh water lake(s): Lake Malawi (shared with Malawi and Tanzania) - 22,490
Rio Zambeze (Zambezi) river mouth (shared with Zambia [s]), Angola, Namibia, Botswana, and Zimbabwe) - 2,740 km; Rio Limpopo river mouth (shared with South Africa [s], Botswana, and Zimbabwe) - 1,800 km
note – [s] after country name indicates river source; [m] after country name indicates river mouth
Indian Ocean drainage: Zambezi (1,332,412 sq km)
municipal: 370 million cubic meters (2020 est.)
industrial: 30 million cubic meters (2020 est.)
agricultural: 1.08 billion cubic meters (2020 est.)
217.1 billion cubic meters (2020 est.)
low-income East African economy; mostly rural labor force; natural resource rich; strong South African ties; Islamist terrorism in north endangers newly discovered natural gas; currently in court over massive (possibly unauthorized) debt
$39.351 billion (2021 est.)
$38.442 billion (2020 est.)
$38.923 billion (2019 est.)
note: data are in 2017 dollars
2.36% (2021 est.)
-1.23% (2020 est.)
2.31% (2019 est.)
$1,200 (2021 est.)
$1,200 (2020 est.)
$1,300 (2019 est.)
note: data are in 2017 dollars
$14.964 billion (2019 est.)
5.69% (2021 est.)
3.14% (2020 est.)
2.78% (2019 est.)
Fitch rating: CCC (2019)
Moody’s rating: Caa2 (2019)
Standard & Poors rating: CCC+ (2019)
note: The year refers to the year in which the current credit rating was first obtained.
agriculture: 23.9% (2017 est.)
industry: 19.3% (2017 est.)
services: 56.8% (2017 est.)comparison rankings:
household consumption: 69.7% (2017 est.)
government consumption: 27.2% (2017 est.)
investment in fixed capital: 21.7% (2017 est.)
investment in inventories: 13.9% (2017 est.)
exports of goods and services: 38.3% (2017 est.)
imports of goods and services: -70.6% (2017 est.)
sugar cane, cassava, maize, milk, bananas, tomatoes, sweet potatoes, rice, sorghum, potatoes
aluminum, petroleum products, chemicals (fertilizer, soap, paints), textiles, cement, glass, asbestos, tobacco, food, beverages
-0.42% (2019 est.)
14.137 million (2021 est.)
3.98% (2021 est.)
3.81% (2020 est.)
3.47% (2019 est.)
total: 8.1% (2021 est.)
male: 8.1%
female: 8.2%
46.1% (2014 est.)
54 (2014 est.)
lowest 10%: 1.9%
highest 10%: 36.7% (2008)
revenues: $4.569 billion (2019 est.)
expenditures: $4.591 billion (2019 est.)
-5.6% (of GDP) (2017 est.)
102.88% of GDP (2020 est.)
79.51% of GDP (2019 est.)
82.3% of GDP (2018 est.)
21.84% (of GDP) (2020 est.)
calendar year
-$3.601 billion (2021 est.)
-$3.869 billion (2020 est.)
-$2.934 billion (2019 est.)
$6.404 billion (2021 est.) note: data are in current year dollars
$4.37 billion (2020 est.) note: data are in current year dollars
$5.6 billion (2019 est.) note: data are in current year dollars
South Africa 16%, India 13%, China 12%, Italy 7%, United Arab Emirates 5%, Germany 5% (2019)
coal, aluminum, gold, natural gas, electricity, titanium, coke (2021)
$10.392 billion (2021 est.) note: data are in current year dollars
$8.63 billion (2020 est.) note: data are in current year dollars
$9.503 billion (2019 est.) note: data are in current year dollars
South Africa 31%, India 18%, China 17% (2019)
refined petroleum, chromium, iron, bauxite, electricity (2019)
$67.51 billion (31 December 2021 est.)
$47.597 billion (31 December 2020 est.)
$20.664 billion (31 December 2019 est.)
$10.91 billion (31 December 2017 est.)
$10.48 billion (31 December 2016 est.)
meticais (MZM) per US dollar -
Exchange rates:
65.465 (2021 est.)
69.465 (2020 est.)
62.548 (2019 est.)
60.326 (2018 est.)
63.584 (2017 est.)
population without electricity: 19 million (2020)
electrification - total population: 31.4% (2021)
electrification - urban areas: 77.3% (2021)
electrification - rural areas: 3.8% (2021)
installed generating capacity: 2.765 million kW (2020 est.)
consumption: 12,724,100,000 kWh (2019 est.)
exports: 10.771 billion kWh (2019 est.)
imports: 8.276 billion kWh (2019 est.)
transmission/distribution losses: 2.768 billion kWh (2019 est.)comparison rankings:
fossil fuels: 19.6% of total installed capacity (2020 est.)
nuclear: 0% of total installed capacity (2020 est.)
solar: 0.2% of total installed capacity (2020 est.)
wind: 0% of total installed capacity (2020 est.)
hydroelectricity: 79.6% of total installed capacity (2020 est.)
tide and wave: 0% of total installed capacity (2020 est.)
geothermal: 0% of total installed capacity (2020 est.)
biomass and waste: 0.6% of total installed capacity (2020 est.)
production: 7.25 million metric tons (2020 est.)
consumption: 46,000 metric tons (2020 est.)
exports: 8.355 million metric tons (2020 est.)
imports: 48,000 metric tons (2020 est.)
proven reserves: 1.792 billion metric tons (2019 est.)
total petroleum production: 0 bbl/day (2021 est.)
refined petroleum consumption: 35,400 bbl/day (2019 est.)
crude oil and lease condensate exports: 0 bbl/day (2018 est.)
crude oil and lease condensate imports: 0 bbl/day (2018 est.)
crude oil estimated reserves: 0 barrels (2021 est.)
0 bbl/day (2015 est.)
0 bbl/day (2015 est.)
25,130 bbl/day (2015 est.)
production: 5,423,828,000 cubic meters (2019 est.)
consumption: 1,397,604,000 cubic meters (2019 est.)
exports: 4,067,255,000 cubic meters (2019 est.)
imports: 0 cubic meters (2021 est.)
proven reserves: 2,831,680,000,000 cubic meters (2021 est.)
7.753 million metric tonnes of CO2 (2019 est.)
from coal and metallurgical coke: 109,000 metric tonnes of CO2 (2019 est.)
from petroleum and other liquids: 4.743 million metric tonnes of CO2 (2019 est.)
from consumed natural gas: 2.901 million metric tonnes of CO2 (2019 est.)
8.107 million Btu/person (2019 est.)
number of registered air carriers: 2 (2020)
inventory of registered aircraft operated by air carriers: 11
annual passenger traffic on registered air carriers: 540,124 (2018)
annual freight traffic on registered air carriers: 4.78 million (2018) mt-km
C9
98 (2021)
21
note: paved runways have a concrete or asphalt surface but not all have facilities for refueling, maintenance, or air traffic control; the length of a runway required for aircraft to safely operate depends on a number of factors including the type of aircraft, the takeoff weight (including passengers, cargo, and fuel), engine types, flap settings, landing speed, elevation of the airport, and average maximum daily air temperature; paved runways can reach a length of 5,000 m (16,000 ft.), but the “typical” length of a commercial airline runway is between 2,500-4,000 m (8,000-13,000 ft.)
77
note: unpaved runways have a surface composition such as grass or packed earth and are most suited to the operation of light aircraft; unpaved runways are usually short, often less than 1,000 m (3,280 ft.) in length; airports with unpaved runways often lack facilities for refueling, maintenance, or air traffic control
972 km gas, 278 km refined products (2013)
total: 4,787 km (2014)
narrow gauge: 4,787 km (2014) 1.067-m gauge
total: 31,083 km (2015)
paved: 7,365 km (2015)
unpaved: 23,718 km (2015)
460 km (2010) (Zambezi River navigable to Tete and along Cahora Bassa Lake)
total: 30 (2022)
by type: general cargo 9, other 21
major seaport(s): Beira, Maputo, Nacala
LNG terminal(s) (export): Coral Sul (FLNG)
manyapis