Mozambique’s tobacco export revenues dropped 48% in the first quarter of 2025 compared to the same period in 2024, standing at 31.9 million dollars (around 2 billion meticais), according to official data from the Bank of Mozambique (BdM) cited by Lusa.
According to the BdM, in the first quarter of 2024 the country had exported tobacco worth 60.2 million dollars (3.8 billion meticais). This sharp decline recorded this year is linked to a 60% reduction in the volume exported.
Throughout 2024, tobacco exports reached 217.2 million dollars (13.7 billion meticais), the highest value in the last five years, according to the central bank’s records. The most recent BdM report emphasizes that the drop observed at the beginning of 2025 “is basically the result of the decline in the exported volume.” Meanwhile, in the budget execution report for the first half of 2025, the government acknowledged impacts on tax revenues, pointing to the “reduction in national tobacco production with the exit of British American Tobacco, one of the world’s largest tobacco multinationals, to South Africa.”
In the 2022-23 agricultural year, Mozambique had 76.9 thousand hectares of tobacco cultivation and produced 65.9 thousand tons, a 15% decrease compared to the previous period. For the 2023-24 season, the government projected an expansion to 129.3 thousand hectares and a production of 81.2 thousand tons, signaling a commitment to strengthening the crop.
A World Health Organization (WHO) report published in 2023 ranked Mozambique as the eighth-largest country in the world in tobacco cultivation area, with 91.5 thousand hectares. Within Africa, the country held the third position, behind Zimbabwe (112.8 thousand hectares) and Malawi (100.9 thousand hectares). Among Portuguese-speaking countries, only Brazil and Mozambique appear on the list of the world’s 50 largest producers.
Source: Diário Económico
