Zimbabwe: Shadow economy

The latest value from 2015 is 67 percent, an increase from 65.85 percent in 2014. In comparison, the world average is 27.78 percent, based on data from 158 countries. Historically, the average for Zimbabwe from 1991 to 2015 is 60.64 percent. The minimum value, 52.09 percent, was reached in 1998 while the maximum of 69.08 percent was recorded in 2009. See the global rankings or world map for that indicator or use the country comparator to compare trends over time.

Definition: The shadow economy as percent of total annual GDP. Detailed methodology of the estimations can be obtained from the following International Monetary Fund working paper by Leandro Medina and Friedrich Schneider (2018): Shadow Economies Around the World: What Did We Learn Over the Last 20 Years? The series are discontinued but can still serve as a benchmark in calibration exercises.