Industry

ZAMBIA MANUFACTURING SECTOR KEY FIGURES 2025, GDP, GROWTH, FDI

Manufacturing contributed 8.75% to Zambia’s GDP in 2025 and grew 7.1% in real terms, led by food, beverages and tobacco processing, as the government pursues a diversification agenda built around 412 potential new products identified across 25 sectors.

The Ministry of Commerce, Trade and Industry, working with the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, has identified 73 of those products as directly linked to critical energy transition mineral value chains, positioning Zambia’s copper and cobalt endowment as the base for downstream manufacturing rather than raw export alone.

Sector Size and Composition

Manufacturing contributed 8.75% of Zambia’s nominal GDP in 2025, or ZMW 63.49 billion of the ZMW 725.6 billion total, and grew 7.1% in real terms over the year, spanning eight distinct sub-industries the Zambia Statistics Agency tracks separately^[1].

Food, Beverages and Tobacco

Food, beverages and tobacco processing is by far the largest manufacturing sub-industry, accounting for 36.2% of manufacturing GDP at ZMW 22.95 billion in 2025, and grew 7.7% in real terms over the year^[1].

Chemicals, Rubber and Plastics

Chemicals, rubber and plastic products is the second largest sub-industry at 19.2% of manufacturing GDP, ZMW 12.19 billion in 2025, growing 2.9% in real terms^[1].

Non-Metallic Mineral Products

Non-metallic mineral products, largely cement, account for 18.4% of manufacturing GDP at ZMW 11.70 billion in 2025, and was the fastest-growing manufacturing sub-industry, up 18.1% in real terms over the year^[1].

Basic Metal Products

Basic metal products account for 8.6% of manufacturing GDP at ZMW 5.48 billion in 2025, down sharply in nominal terms from ZMW 10.77 billion in 2024 even though real output actually grew 5.3%, a divergence pointing to a sharp fall in metal product prices over the year rather than a genuine drop in production^[1].

Machinery, Computers and Motor Vehicles

Manufacture of metal products, computers, machinery, motor vehicles, furniture and other goods accounts for 7.4% of manufacturing GDP at ZMW 4.71 billion in 2025, with real output down slightly, 0.9%, over the year^[1].

Paper, Textiles and Wood

The remaining three sub-industries are smaller: paper and paper products at 4.2% of manufacturing GDP, ZMW 2.64 billion, roughly flat in real terms; textiles, clothing and leather products at 3.8%, ZMW 2.39 billion, growing 8.4% in real terms, the second-fastest growing sub-industry after non-metallic minerals; and wood and wood products at 2.2%, ZMW 1.42 billion, essentially flat^[1].

The Diversification Agenda

The Ministry of Commerce, Trade and Industry, together with UNCTAD, launched a Rapid Assessment Report on Value Addition and Diversification identifying 412 potential diversification products across 25 sectors, with 73 of those products directly linked to critical energy transition mineral value chains^[2]. The report flags Zambia’s continued dependence on mineral extraction with limited downstream processing as a structural vulnerability to commodity price swings, exchange rate movements and external financing conditions, and points to opportunities to strengthen mining-adjacent manufacturing, services and technology-intensive activities^[2]. The assessment was sponsored by the government of Japan^[2].

Multi-Facility Economic Zones

The manufacturing sector has attracted more than USD 4.0 billion in investment, much of it through Multi-Facility Economic Zones^[4]. The Lusaka South Multi-Facility Economic Zone grew from 17 operational companies with a USD 264 million investment portfolio and over 7,000 jobs at the end of 2021 to 20 companies, USD 1.4 billion invested and more than 31,000 jobs four years later, with major investments in ceramics, steel, starch, milk processing, copper rods, electric cables, conductors and pharmaceutical products^[4]. The Jiangxi Multi-Facility Economic Zone in Chibombo has attracted more than USD 128 million in battery production and recycling and copper cable manufacturing, creating over 1,100 jobs, while the ZCCZ Chambishi Multi-Facility Economic Zone in Kalulushi, the Kalumbila Town Multi-Facility Economic Zone and the Luano Industrial Park in Ndola together account for more than USD 2.5 billion in investment and over 12,000 jobs^[4]. Four newly declared zones, the Wonderful Group Industrial Park in Chilanga, the Mukuni Multi-Facility Economic Zone in Kazungula District, the Monze Multi-Facility Economic Zone and the Golden Baobab Multi-Facility Economic Zone in Kafue District, target a combined USD 3 billion in investment and more than 13,000 additional jobs^[4].

Manufacturing and Foreign Investment

Manufacturing was the second largest sector for the stock of private sector FDI in Zambia in 2024, behind mining, which itself accounted for 64.8% of the FDI stock^[3]. Reinvested earnings, equity capital and debt inflows into manufacturing were substantial enough in 2024 to mark the highest level of foreign investment inflows on record since 2010, concentrated in a small number of major projects that the survey describes as signalling a transformative period for the sector^[3]. Majority-owned foreign affiliates in manufacturing contributed 19.7% of total foreign-affiliate turnover in Zambia in 2024, the second largest sectoral share after mining’s 51.4%^[3].

Policy Framework

Zambia’s industrial policy is anchored in the National Industrial Policy 2018-2027, whose Mid-Term Review and 2024-2027 Implementation Plan the Ministry of Commerce, Trade and Industry has been validating with the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa^[5]. The reopening of the Zambia-China Mulungushi Textiles plant in Kabwe, following a three-year revitalisation involving the Industrial Development Corporation, Chinese partners and the Ministries of Finance and Defence, is positioned by the Ministry as a flagship of that policy in action, aligned with the Eighth National Development Plan and replacing obsolete machinery with new equipment^[5]. Separately, the fertiliser sub-sector has turned Zambia from a net importer to a net exporter of the commodity^[4].

Investment Opportunities

The 412 products identified in the Rapid Assessment Report, and specifically the 73 tied to critical energy transition minerals such as copper, cobalt and manganese, mark out where Zambia’s own industrialisation strategy expects new manufacturing capacity to be built over the coming years^[2]. The scale of 2024’s equity-led FDI into manufacturing, concentrated in a handful of major projects, suggests investors are already positioning for that shift rather than waiting for the strategy’s full rollout^[3]. The four newly declared Multi-Facility Economic Zones, targeting a combined USD 3 billion, and the reopened Mulungushi Textiles plant’s role as a policy flagship, point to where the government is actively steering new industrial capacity^[4][5].

Last Update: August 2026

References

1. Zambia Statistics Agency, Final Annual GDP release, sectoral data
2. Ministry of Commerce, Trade and Industry, Zambia Unveils Roadmap for Industrialization and Economic Diversification
3. Bank of Zambia, Zambia Statistics Agency and Zambia Development Agency, Foreign Private Investment and Investor Perceptions in Zambia, 2025
4. Ministry of Finance and National Planning, 2026 Budget Speech
5. Ministry of Commerce, Trade and Industry, President Hichilema Reopens Zambia-China Mulungushi Textiles in Historic Industrial Milestone