Share of plastic waste exports in Tanzania
Tanzania: Share of plastic waste exports was 0.5% in 2023. ◆ Volatile
Share of plastic waste exports in Tanzania, 2001–2023
Source: United Nations Comtrade Database (2025); United Nations Comtrade Database (2023) – with major processing by Our World in Data. Measured in %.
Analysis
Tanzania recorded 0.5% for share of plastic waste exports in 2023. That is the highest value across all 17 years on record.
The figure is up 5.1% on the previous year and up 285.9% over ten years.
Over the whole period, share of plastic waste exports in Tanzania peaked at 0.5% in 2023 and was at its lowest, 0.0%, in 2001.
That places Tanzania 32nd out of 162 countries with data for 2023, putting it in the top quarter.
The series is highly variable year to year, so single readings are best treated with caution.
Share of plastic waste exports in Tanzania, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2001 | 0.0% | — |
| 2005 | 0.0% | +3665.3% |
| 2007 | 0.0% | +64.1% |
| 2010 | 0.0% | +43.7% |
| 2011 | 0.1% | +115.3% |
| 2012 | 0.1% | +44.8% |
| 2013 | 0.1% | +38.6% |
| 2014 | 0.1% | +10.3% |
| 2015 | 0.1% | -1.5% |
| 2016 | 0.1% | -8.6% |
| 2017 | 0.1% | +10.7% |
| 2018 | 0.2% | +17.2% |
| 2019 | 0.3% | +87.8% |
| 2020 | 0.3% | +0.3% |
| 2021 | 0.3% | +8.2% |
| 2022 | 0.5% | +39.6% |
| 2023 | 0.5% | +5.1% |
Tanzania compared with similar countries
- Tanzania's 0.5% is above the median for lower middle income countries, which is 0.0%, 14.5× the median. (37 countries reporting)
- Tanzania's 0.5% is above the median for Sub-Saharan Africa, which is 0.0%, 15.2× the median. (33 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Share of plastic waste exports in Tanzania changed far more than this series normally does. A large move can be a real event or a change in how the figure was measured — the source note below says who published it.
| Year | Change | From | To |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | +3665.3% | 0.0% | 0.0% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 3 |
| 2010s | 0.1% | 0.0% | 0.3% | 10 |
| 2020s | 0.4% | 0.3% | 0.5% | 4 |
Countries ranked near Tanzania
More environment data for Tanzania
- Historical exposure to drought — Land soil moisture anomaly -7.52 Percentage change (2025)
- Historical exposure to drought — Cropland soil moisture anomaly -7.29 Percentage change (2025)
- Total greenhouse gas emissions excluding LULUCF (Mt CO2e), annual 3.06 % change on previous year (2024)
- Total greenhouse gas emissions excluding LULUCF (Mt CO2e), per unit 0 Mt CO2e per US$ of GDP (2024)
- Total greenhouse gas emissions excluding LULUCF (Mt CO2e), per capita 0 Mt CO2e per person (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Agriculture (Mt CO2e), annual growth rate 5.16 % change on previous year (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Agriculture (Mt CO2e), per unit of GDP 0 Mt CO2e per US$ of GDP (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Agriculture (Mt CO2e), per capita 0 Mt CO2e per person (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Building (Energy) (Mt CO2e), annual 0 % change on previous year (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Building (Energy) (Mt CO2e), per unit of 0 Mt CO2e per US$ of GDP (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is share of plastic waste exports in Tanzania?
- Share of plastic waste exports in Tanzania was 0.5% in 2023, according to United Nations Comtrade Database (2025); United Nations Comtrade Database (2023) – with major processing by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest share of plastic waste exports recorded in Tanzania?
- The highest recorded value was 0.5% in 2023.
- What is the lowest share of plastic waste exports recorded in Tanzania?
- The lowest recorded value was 0.0% in 2001.
- How does Tanzania rank for share of plastic waste exports?
- Tanzania ranks 32nd out of 162 countries with data for 2023.
- Is share of plastic waste exports rising or falling in Tanzania?
- Over the last ten years it is up 285.9%. The long-run trend across the full record is volatile.
- Where does this Tanzania data come from?
- The figures come from United Nations Comtrade Database (2025); United Nations Comtrade Database (2023) – with major processing by Our World in Data, published as part of Share of plastic waste exports. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 17 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).
About this data
Percentage of global plastic waste exports that a country accounts for.