Acting Statistician General, Sheila Mudenda, says Zambia recorded mixed export performance in December 2025, with both traditional and non-traditional exports posting modest gains while refined copper earnings increased due a strong improvement in global copper prices. Mudenda explained that Traditional Exports (TEs) rose by 5.6 percent, increasing from K19.1 billion in November 2025 to K20.2 billion in December 2025, and accounted for 69.0 percent of total export earnings for the month. She added that Non-Traditional Exports (NTEs) also increased by 0.4 percent, edging up from K9.0 billion to K9.05 billion, representing 31.0 percent of Zambia’s export earnings in December.
Mudenda noted that due to stronger global commodity prices, Zambia’s refined copper export earnings increased by 4.9 percent from K18.7 billion in November 2025 to K19.6 billion in December 2025. Presenting the monthly bulletin for January, Mudenda said copper export volumes also declined by 4.5 percent, from 76.2 thousand metric tonnes to 72.8 thousand metric tonnes during the same period. This decline came even as copper prices on the London Metal Exchange rose by 9.3 percent, moving from US$10,800.8 per metric tonne in November to US$11,803.8 per metric tonne in December.
On a cumulative basis, she said refined copper export volumes between January and December 2025 reached 856.4 thousand metric tonnes, up from 802.0 thousand metric tonnes recorded over the same period in 2024, representing a 6.8 percent increase. Turning to NTE performance, Mudenda said agricultural products accounted for 27.1 percent of NTEs in December 2025, compared to 28.3 percent in November. Export earnings from agricultural goods fell by 3.9 percent, moving from K2.5 billion to K2.4 billion.
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“The leading commodities in this category were tobacco that is partly or wholly stemmed or stripped, maize flour, and other corn seed, which together shaped the overall agricultural export profile for the month. “Non-agricultural NTEs strengthened to account for 72.9 percent of total NTEs in December, up from 71.7 percent in November,” she said. Mudenda stated that: “Earnings in this segment increased by 2.1 percent, rising from K6.5 billion to K6.6 billion, with exports such as nickel ores and concentrates, zinc concentrates, and other non-alcoholic beverages contributing significantly to the growth.” Mudenda said Zambia’s exports in December 2025 were dominated by intermediate goods, particularly copper anodes for electrolytic refining and electro-won high-purity copper cathodes, which together accounted for 82.6 percent of total exports.
She observed that exports of raw materials rose from 8.9 percent to 9.9 percent, while consumer and capital goods collectively contributed 7.5 percent to total exports. “Canada emerged as Zambia’s leading export destination in December 2025, accounting for 27.9 percent of total export earnings, driven largely by demand for copper anodes, which represented 90.5 percent of Zambia’s exports to that country.
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