The Bank of Mozambique (BoM) has announced that the cost of rice imports in 2024 will be 441 million dollars (27.8 billion meticals), an increase of 38.8 per cent compared to the 317.7 million dollars (20 billion meticals) recorded in 2023.
The central bank’s statistical report noted that last year’s figure is higher than the record registered in 2021, when the figure was around 342.3 million dollars (21.6 billion meticals). ‘In consumer goods alone, Mozambique imported more than 8.2 billion dollars in 2024, the lowest figure in the last three years,’ he recalled.
Last year, the National Statistics Institute (INE) said that cereal production in the country would fall significantly in 2023, with rice down 34 per cent and maize down 11 per cent.
In clear terms, 2.1 million tonnes of maize were produced in the period under review, compared to 2.3 million tonnes in 2022. The province of Tete, in the central region of the country, led the way in maize production in 2023, with 501,000 tonnes, followed by Manica, with 398,600 tonnes.
Rice production was 161,800 tonnes in 2023, compared to 245,700 tonnes the previous year. Zambézia province led production with over 48,500 tonnes, followed by Gaza with 40,900 tonnes.
The INE report also pointed to falls in the production of two other cereals of reference in the country, mapira, which fell 15% to 139,500 tonnes in 2023, and millet, which fell 32% to 17,000 tonnes.
