Mozambique
As a least-developed country (LDC), Mozambique is a beneficiary of the EU's "Everything but Arms" (EBA) arrangement. The World Bank classifies Mozambique as a low-income economy with a per-capita income of $647 in 2024. Total EU imports from Mozambique amounted to about €1.7 billion in 2024; and EBA preferential imports to about €1.3 billion. Mozambique also trades with the EU under the Economic Partnership Agreement with six countries of the Southern African Development Community (SADC).
What is the EBA?
The EBA arrangement covers all LDCs as classified by the United Nations. This arrangement enables duty-free and quota-free access for all products originating in LDCs except for arms and ammunition. Unlike beneficiaries of the Standard GSP and GSP+, LDCs are not excluded from the scheme if they benefit from other preferential arrangements or agreements with the EU.
At a glance: EU preferential imports from EBA beneficiary countries (2024, € million)
34.6M (2024)
Population
Presidential Republic
Government
1.9% (2024)
GDP Growth
4.1% (2024)
Inflation
$ 22.4B (2024)
GDP
Facts about Mozambique's economy
Economic Growth
Mozambique could look back on a decade of significant economic expansion with an average annual growth of about 7% until covid-19. Since then, growth rates slowed; growth in 2023 was 5.4% but dropped to 2.1% in 2024.
Export Products
Mozambique's most important export products are coal, natural gas, and aluminium. Important agricultural export products are raw tobacco, sesame seeds and raw cane sugar.
Trade Partners
Mozambique's most important trading partners are China and South Africa (each with a share of 19% of total trade in 2024), followed by the EU (10%) and India (9%). Most imports originate from South Africa while China and India are the most important export markets.
Economic Structure
Agriculture is the mainstay of Mozambique's economy and consists mainly of smaller, family-run operations. Corn, cassava, beans, rice as well as different oilseeds and vegetables are the most important crops. Furthermore, Mozambique possesses considerable mineral resources, including iron ore, gold, bauxite, graphite, and the world's largest reserves of tantalite. On the industrial side, Mozambique has one of the world's largest aluminium smelters which also contributes to the external sector.
Usage of EBA Preferences
About 79% of the EU's total imports from Mozambique made use of EBA preferences in 2024. The preference utilisation rate, which represents the ratio of preferential imports to GSP eligible imports, was 96% in 2024.
Trade with the EU
Total trade with the EU summed up to €2.0 billion in 2024. With a share of 10% of total trade, the EU was Mozambique's third most important trading partner in tha year and ranked fourth as a destination for Mozambique's export products.
Mozambique and the EU
Imports from Mozambique by product section (2024, € million)
Imports from Mozambique over time (€ million)
MOZAMBIQUE AND THE EU GSP
Economic Impact
82%
A large share of Mozambique's exports to the EU were eligible for EBA preferences in 2024.
96%
Mozambique's preference utilisation rate in 2024.
99%
Share of zero-duty imports from Mozambique in 2024.
Preference utilisation and export diversification
EU imports from Mozambique (€ million)
Preference utilisation (%) vs. total eligible imports (in € million)
Mozambique is among largest beneficiary under the EBA arrangement. EBA-eligible imports from the country fluctuated around €1 billion until 2020. They dropped in 2021, only to rebound very strongly in 2022 (part of the imports in 2022 were shipments that could not be made in 2021 due to the pandemic), and 2023 and 2024 were again strong years. Since 2015, EBA preference utilisation rates have been above 95% in almost all years, and this hardly changed when the country ratified the EU Economic Partnership Agreement with SADC States (so now Mozambique is eligible for both EBA and EPA preferences) - in 2024, it was 96%.
The largest product sections under EBA (€ million, 2024)
EU imports from Mozambique under the EBA remain highly concentrated on metals (mostly aluminium), which accounted for 88% of preferential imports in 2024. Tobacco, fish, and fruit and vegetables are also imported using EBA preferences.
SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
The preferential access to the EU market granted by the EBA scheme is not bound to the ratification of international conventions. Nevertheless, Mozambique has a high level of ratification of international conventions. The country has ratified 14 out of 15 fundamental conventions on human rights and labour standards listed in the GSP Regulation, as well as all 12 conventions on environmental protection and good governance.
Core international conventions on human rights and labour standards
Ratified
- Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (1948)
- International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (1969)
- International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (1976)
- Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (1981)
- Convention Against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (1987)
- Convention on the Rights of the Child (1990)
- Convention concerning Forced or Compulsory Labour, No 29 (1930)
- Convention concerning Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise, No 87 (1948)
- Convention concerning the Application of the Principles of the Right to Organise and to Bargain Collectively, No 98 (1949)
- Convention concerning Equal Remuneration of Men and Women Workers for Work of Equal Value, No 100 (1951)
- Convention concerning the Abolition of Forced Labour, No 105 (1957)
- Convention concerning Discrimination in Respect of Employment and Occupation, No 111 (1958)
- Convention concerning Minimum Age for Admission to Employment, No 138 (1973)
- Convention concerning the Prohibition and Immediate Action for the Elimination of the Worst Forms of Child Labour, No 182 (1999)
Not Ratified
- International Covenant on Economic Social and Cultural Rights (1976)
Additional Conventions
- Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (1973)
- Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer (1987)
- Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and Their Disposal (1989)
- Convention on Biological Diversity (1992)
- The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (1992)
- Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety (2000)
- Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (2001)
- Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (1998)
- United Nations Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs (1961)
- United Nations Convention on Psychotropic Substances (1971)
- United Nations Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (1988)
- United Nations Convention against Corruption (2004)
EU-Mozambique Bilateral Development Cooperation
DG INTPA
Access all info about EU-Mozambique relations on the International Partnerships website.