Zimbabwe’s economy grew by 3.1% in the second quarter of 2026, compared to 6.5% recorded in the first quarter of this year, with manufacturing, mining and quarrying remaining the biggest contributors, official data shows.

According to data presented by the Zimbabwe National Statistics Agency (ZimStat), overall GDP at market prices expanded by 5.8% on a quarter-to-quarter basis, rebounding from a 3.5% contraction in the first quarter.

“The quarterly GDP figure for the second quarter of 2026 was ZiG457.3 billion. At constant prices, the quarterly GDP figure for the second quarter of 2026 was ZiG 412.4 billion,” ZimStat said.

On a quarter-to-quarter basis, the statistics agency said the top five industries that grew in the second quarter of 2026 were mining and quarrying at 33.3%, accommodation and food services at 5.1%, water supply, sewerage, waste management and remediation activities at 4.7%, wholesale and retail trade at 4.5%, and agriculture, fishing and forestry at 4.0%.

Despite the strong sequential surge in mining activity following a 23.2% contraction in the first quarter, the sector experienced significant headwinds when evaluated against the previous year.

On a year-on-year basis, mining and quarrying contracted by 8.9%, pulling down overall annual economic growth.

Conversely, the water supply, sewerage, and waste management sector registered the highest annual growth rate in the second quarter at 12.2%.

Human health and social work activities followed with a 9.8% year-on-year expansion, while real estate activities grew by 8.2%, transportation and storage by 7.8%, and agriculture, fishing, and forestry by 7.3%.

In terms of sectoral contributions to total output at constant prices, manufacturing remained the single largest contributor to GDP in the second quarter at 16.2%.

Mining and quarrying accounted for 15.4% of output, followed by agriculture, fishing, and forestry at 12.0%, and wholesale and retail trade at 10.8%.

Financial and insurance activities contributed 6.1% to total economic output during the period.

Quarter-on-quarter contractions were recorded in professional, scientific, and technical activities, which fell by 4.0%, financial and insurance activities, which declined by 3.6%, and activities of households as employers, down by 2.5%.

On an annual basis, administrative and support service activities contracted by 4.1%, while public administration and defence contracted by 0.8%.