The economy of Mozambique is $14.396 billion by gross domestic product as of 2018, and has developed since the end of the Mozambican Civil War (1977–1992).

These steps, combined with donor assistance and with political stability since the multi-party elections in 1994, have led to dramatic improvements in the country's growth rate.

However, the opening of the Mozal aluminium smelter, the country's largest foreign investment project to date, has increased export earnings.

The large availability of capital from both Portuguese and international origin, allied to the wide range of natural resources and the growing urban population, lead to an impressive growth and development of the economy.

However, further industrialisation was stopped by the hasty exodus of 90 percent of the ethnic Portuguese citizens during and after the independence process which was concluded on June 25, 1975.

The situation was exacerbated by the Mozambican Civil War (1977–1992) during the following years that destroyed the remaining wealth and left the former Portuguese Overseas Province in a state of disrepair.

The exodus of trained Portuguese workers and the eruption of the Mozambican Civil War in 1977 opposing RENAMO to FRELIMO, drove the country to absolute chaos.

Unfortunately, the exodus, which totaled over 275,000 ethnic Portuguese, also led to a huge loss of professionals, productive machinery, entrepreneurs, and skilled workers.

"[page needed] The term refers to the situation in which socialist FRELIMO, with Soviet backing, was forced to fight a lengthy civil war (Mozambican Civil War) against a counterinsurgency movement of Mozambicans named RENAMO, funded and directed by the neighboring white minority states of apartheid South Africa and Rhodesia.

The Cold War was defined by animosity between capitalist and socialist world powers, and though there was never an outright military conflict between the former and the latter, each respectively funded counterinsurgency movements against governments they disfavored.

[11] The political pressure of the ideologically charged civil war, in conjunction with the excruciating need for aid and funds to finance imports, compelled FRELIMO to negotiate its first structural adjustment package (SAP) with the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) (commonly referred to as the Bretton Woods institutions) in 1986.

The series of SAPs that followed thereafter required privatization of major industries, less government spending, deregulation of the economy, and trade liberalization.

[11] The tendency towards austerity, privatization and other neoliberal reforms has continued throughout the following decades, for instance with the PARPA action plan (2001-2014) whose stated goal was the reduction of poverty.

It has been noted that GDP growth in this period did not result in a "trickle-down" effect: in fact, the poorest segments of society have become even poorer, while public education and healthcare also suffered from the austerity measures.

Fortunately, in the same year significant economic recovery did occur, as the real GDP growth rate reached 10 percent.

Major exports include prawns, cotton, cashew nuts, sugar, citrus, copra and coconuts, and timber.

Export partners, in turn, include Spain, South Africa, Portugal, the United States, Japan, Malawi, India, and Zimbabwe.

Import partners include South Africa, Zimbabwe, Saudi Arabia, Portugal, the United States, Japan, and India.

[15] All economic sectors ranging from manufacturing and agriculture to tourism and finance, declined sharply after independence from Portugal in 1975, but picked up in the 2000s after the end of the Mozambican Civil War, although they are still performing well below potential.

Total sugar production was expected to rise by 160% in the 2000s, which would make the country a major net exporter for the first time since independence.

After the Mozambican Civil War, the return of internally displaced persons and the gradual restoration of rural markets have enabled Mozambique to increase agricultural production dramatically.

Since 1995 production has increased sharply and was expected to grow by 33% in 2001 due to the expansion (costing US$860m) of the Mozal aluminium smelter which was approved in mid-2001.

The country's largest ever foreign investment, Mozal has little impact on employment, but is making a substantial contribution to balance of payments through taxes generated.

Internet usage in the country has been hampered by the inadequate fixed-line infrastructure and the high cost of international bandwidth, but this market sector has started to accelerate following the introduction of various kinds of broadband services including ADSL, cable modems, WiMAX wireless broadband and mobile data services, and then the landing of the first international submarine fibre optic cable in the country (SEACOM) in 2009.

Since the late 1990s, both national and international banking, established an environment for rapid economic growth and development of the financial system.

[28] The government's tight control of spending and the money supply, combined with financial sector reform, successfully reduced inflation from 70% in 1994 to less than 5% from 1998 to 1999.

Preparations for privatization and/or sector liberalization are underway for the remaining parastatals, including telecommunications, electricity, water service, airports, ports, and the railroads.

Traditional Mozambican exports include cashews, shrimp, fish, copra, sugar, cotton, tea, and citrus fruits.

Mozambique is becoming less dependent on imports for basic food and manufactured goods due to steady increases in local production.

Agriculture - products: cotton, cashew nuts, sugar cane, tea, cassava (tapioca), coconuts, sisal, citrus and tropical fruits; potatoes, sunflowers, beef, poultry Exports: $4.773 billion (2017 est.)